Discussion
There are people on the list who have done this.
I intend to do it next year and would also be interested to know how, pitfalls and methods.
I have looked around the car to do it and reckon I could easily get everything disconnected and labelled in a day.
Advice in the past has suggested that even when you think you have everything undone, expect to find half a dozen other bits that need undoing aswell. Secondly the body is a lot heavier than you expect it might be and to reduce weight you need to take as much out of the interior as possible, seats etc etc.
I intend to do it next year and would also be interested to know how, pitfalls and methods.
I have looked around the car to do it and reckon I could easily get everything disconnected and labelled in a day.
Advice in the past has suggested that even when you think you have everything undone, expect to find half a dozen other bits that need undoing aswell. Secondly the body is a lot heavier than you expect it might be and to reduce weight you need to take as much out of the interior as possible, seats etc etc.
I took the body off my s2 a couple of years ago, from memory there are only about 12 main bolts that hold the body onto the chassis, its a good idea to take the seats out as the body is extremely heavy!!!! It took about 10 of us to lift mine.
Just some helpful tips:
keep the doors on the body and keep them closed as they are part of the structure of the body, if you take them off it can break the body.
when taking the body off, you have to lift the back end of the body first, about 2ft to clear the rear suspension mounts, then the body needs to be slid backwards as the body and chassis have a taper effect near the engine and gearbox, so you can't just lift the body in a vertical direction.
hope this has helped, don't forget its harder to put the body back on as it is to remove it, you may need some one directing you. Its worth the effort though, I now have a shiney red chassis, after getting it powdercoated.
Ps. I was told there is a 50/50 chance of your windscreen cracking when removing the body, so bare this in mind when lifting.
Just some helpful tips:
keep the doors on the body and keep them closed as they are part of the structure of the body, if you take them off it can break the body.
when taking the body off, you have to lift the back end of the body first, about 2ft to clear the rear suspension mounts, then the body needs to be slid backwards as the body and chassis have a taper effect near the engine and gearbox, so you can't just lift the body in a vertical direction.
hope this has helped, don't forget its harder to put the body back on as it is to remove it, you may need some one directing you. Its worth the effort though, I now have a shiney red chassis, after getting it powdercoated.
Ps. I was told there is a 50/50 chance of your windscreen cracking when removing the body, so bare this in mind when lifting.
I took the body off mine early last year.
It is not that hard though beware, any crazing you have in the body now will expand significantly!
Weight wise is took five to get it off, four to lift it and one running about putting wood under the correct bits when we lowered it.
Putting it on is harder, you need to lower the nose down onto the transmission tunnel and move forward as the tunnel is tapered towards the bottom this took four of us but one more would have been an advantage. Getting the door gaps is also difficuilt - mine are still not right!
As stated to keep the weight down make sure you removal all the bits you can (seats, empty the boot etc.)
The one odd thing you need to ensure you remove is the handbrake and all accessories as this goes through the body.
I had my chassis shot blasted, zinc primered, hammerite and then waxoyl - I havn't looked recently to see how it is doing, but removing the body and not shot blasting the chassis would be a false economy. I would have liked to have had it powder coated but this proved to be a logistical nightmare!
Give me a shout if you/anyone wants more info.
Good luck.
Steve.
Edited by steve B on Friday 4th January 11:58
It is not that hard though beware, any crazing you have in the body now will expand significantly!
Weight wise is took five to get it off, four to lift it and one running about putting wood under the correct bits when we lowered it.
Putting it on is harder, you need to lower the nose down onto the transmission tunnel and move forward as the tunnel is tapered towards the bottom this took four of us but one more would have been an advantage. Getting the door gaps is also difficuilt - mine are still not right!
As stated to keep the weight down make sure you removal all the bits you can (seats, empty the boot etc.)
The one odd thing you need to ensure you remove is the handbrake and all accessories as this goes through the body.
I had my chassis shot blasted, zinc primered, hammerite and then waxoyl - I havn't looked recently to see how it is doing, but removing the body and not shot blasting the chassis would be a false economy. I would have liked to have had it powder coated but this proved to be a logistical nightmare!
Give me a shout if you/anyone wants more info.
Good luck.
Steve.
Edited by steve B on Friday 4th January 11:58
why do you want to take the body off!
If the chassis appears solid at the front around the outriggers and radiator crossmembers, then check the bonnet hinge front rail for any rust. the cars are in general, very well welded, and in most cases, it is the areas that have taken damage that will require attention. If all the exposed areas are solid, then its a good bet the tranmission area will be in good order. Having checked my s2 1988 for this i have stripped the front end which appeared bad, but found after scraping off all the rust the metal was very solid.
If the chassis appears solid at the front around the outriggers and radiator crossmembers, then check the bonnet hinge front rail for any rust. the cars are in general, very well welded, and in most cases, it is the areas that have taken damage that will require attention. If all the exposed areas are solid, then its a good bet the tranmission area will be in good order. Having checked my s2 1988 for this i have stripped the front end which appeared bad, but found after scraping off all the rust the metal was very solid.
dear gadgit,
checking the front of the chassis only is giving you a false sense ofsecurity. it is the trailing arm area plus the arms which are the biggest problem.
when considering a chassis overhaul on an S it is well worth budgeting for new trailing arms, they will be a pig to take off even with the body off as in the design they havent allowed decent access to the pivot bolts with sockets. Also the drive shaft fixings are a splined cap head type which eat the sockets to undo them.
checking the front of the chassis only is giving you a false sense ofsecurity. it is the trailing arm area plus the arms which are the biggest problem.
when considering a chassis overhaul on an S it is well worth budgeting for new trailing arms, they will be a pig to take off even with the body off as in the design they havent allowed decent access to the pivot bolts with sockets. Also the drive shaft fixings are a splined cap head type which eat the sockets to undo them.
Gadgit,
A couple of words of warning. I had checked both my trailing arms and the rear fuel cradle whilst fitted to the car and they all seemed totally serviceable and just in need of a lick of paint after removal of a surface rust.
Very different story once you start to clean them up properly. The fuel cradle showed no signs of the massive corrocsion I found, it was subsequently replaced completely. The trailing arms had been inspected by me on several occasions to make sure that when I did the rear end rebuild I wasn't going to incur that cost aswell. Got 'em off the car and hey presto they were starting to go. They had to be replaced aswell.
I hope yours is not the same as mine !
Cheers
Mark
A couple of words of warning. I had checked both my trailing arms and the rear fuel cradle whilst fitted to the car and they all seemed totally serviceable and just in need of a lick of paint after removal of a surface rust.
Very different story once you start to clean them up properly. The fuel cradle showed no signs of the massive corrocsion I found, it was subsequently replaced completely. The trailing arms had been inspected by me on several occasions to make sure that when I did the rear end rebuild I wasn't going to incur that cost aswell. Got 'em off the car and hey presto they were starting to go. They had to be replaced aswell.
I hope yours is not the same as mine !
Cheers
Mark
I removed every single component, I had the chassis and all the swing arms powder coated by Wedge automotive in sheffield, he had to weld a new piece of tubing by the chassis number plate as it had rusted, he also fitted polyurethane bushes, I think the total cost was around £700. It took about a week for wedge automotive to do the job.
Its hard for me to say how long it took me to complete as I spend a lot of time "de-rusting" alot of the parts and painting them, I also put all new brake and clutch piping in place.
It did take about 2-3 months but this was in the winter time, and I had to work on the driveway as theres no space in the garage!!! It was very cold, I'm trying to do all my work in the summer now!
I'll try a get some pictures up.
Its hard for me to say how long it took me to complete as I spend a lot of time "de-rusting" alot of the parts and painting them, I also put all new brake and clutch piping in place.
It did take about 2-3 months but this was in the winter time, and I had to work on the driveway as theres no space in the garage!!! It was very cold, I'm trying to do all my work in the summer now!
I'll try a get some pictures up.
One more point:
when I had my powder coating done by Wedge automotive, he didn't clean all the dirt of the chassis (i.e. in some of the corners where the tubing meets), so when the powder was applied, it stuck to the dirt rather than the metal, So it just flaked off.
I over come this by removing the dirt and painting the areas with Hammerite!
Edited by dejay on Monday 7th January 14:54
when I had my powder coating done by Wedge automotive, he didn't clean all the dirt of the chassis (i.e. in some of the corners where the tubing meets), so when the powder was applied, it stuck to the dirt rather than the metal, So it just flaked off.
I over come this by removing the dirt and painting the areas with Hammerite!
Edited by dejay on Monday 7th January 14:54
Hi all....
I am also planning to take the body off my S1 to tidy the chassis and take the opportunity to changed the clutch (plates and hydrolics).
Even though most of the chassis appears intack... the body off route seems like a very good idea to check everything under the skin!!
Any photo's of someone else doing the same would be appreciated!!!!!!!
Cheers Matt
PS... If more than one of use are trying this.... it might be worth having a small email group to help eachother????
I am also planning to take the body off my S1 to tidy the chassis and take the opportunity to changed the clutch (plates and hydrolics).
Even though most of the chassis appears intack... the body off route seems like a very good idea to check everything under the skin!!
Any photo's of someone else doing the same would be appreciated!!!!!!!
Cheers Matt
PS... If more than one of use are trying this.... it might be worth having a small email group to help eachother????
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