25-06-2011 Body off at last!!

After a month away from the car it was time to make some major headway, the first things to do were to undo a few things that were still bolted through the chassis and body tub. The first item was the final suspension mounting that had been partly fibreglassed into position but had enough surface on it that we could attach a socket on it.
We undid the reinforcing steel rods that had been bolted through the chassis to provide extra support to the window frames when the roof was sawn off.
we had to attach a socket to one side and a spanner the other in each case to ensure that the bolts came through without turning in the holes.
Also to remove were the seatbelt mountings on the car, these were undone with a large spanner then hand turned till they were released.

Seat belt mountings undone from the seat tub.

Pillar support mounting.

Reverse side

Once these items had been removed it was time to start working on the removal of the body tub. We started off by using the two jacks with a couple of planks of wood placed between them and the rearward part of the underside of the seat pans, we then raised the jacks to effectively push the rear of the car up and off of the chassis.

Blocks of wood placed at the rearmost section of the seat pans on either side

Chassis rail starting to drop below the side skirt.

a bit further now!!

Seat pan gradually being pushed upwards.

At this point the body tub wasnt moving so both dad and I stood on the wheel rims and gently jumped to push the seat pans clear of the rearward chassis rails we also discovered at this point that there were two remaining chassis bolts still in the fuel tank area. The compartment though had already sheared though this is an easy-ish repair job as it just needs to be fibreglassed back into position again.

Cracks showing either side of the compartment

This can apparently be re-fibreglassed back in place.

Chassis raised at the rear end of the car.

Removal of the Manifolds to aid the chassis clearance.

We found that as well as the earlier problem within the fuel tank area, the exhaust pipes connected to the manifolds were rubbing against the chassis so it was not travelling backwards.

Chassis removed initial view of chassis looks good!

 

The Immaculate Gearbox! and pretty good chassis rails too!

 

 

More excellent condiditon chassis rails.

Body work removed.

With the chassis now removed, the next items are to concentrate on disconnecting the propshaft at the diff end of the car, and then by disconnecting the prop shap from the gearbox. The remaining steering rack can be disconnected, followed by the removal of the wheels. The engine and gearbox should be able to be removed using a hoist.
Until next time.