Bodyoff

Author
Discussion

maxd

Original Poster:

52 posts

285 months

Friday 29th March 2002
quotequote all
Does anybody have pictures of taking the body off an S?

steve b

97 posts

289 months

Friday 29th March 2002
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I have pictures of mine with the body off but none of actually taking it off and putting it back - it is very quick (too heavy to hang about). I have electronic copies if you wish - e-mail me and I will send them.

gadgit

971 posts

274 months

Friday 29th March 2002
quotequote all
Like everyone else, the problem is finding shots of the body just before, during and after its removed.
The first person to video this proceedure from start to finish could sell loads of copies. (I'd buy one) I asume that the body is heavy and its all hands on deck at the final moments and thats why there's no pic's of this fascinating moment! Even the great Bible has no shots of it!

Gadgit.

steve b

97 posts

289 months

Monday 1st April 2002
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It is rather heavy.

I managed to use four removal men who were passing when I removed it - they made light work of it.

Refitting it was harder, there were only four of us (could have done with five or even six (one to direct, one to film!!)), the secret is to nose dive it as you lift it from the rear of the car, over and then down - tou have to lift it high to get over the reat shocks/mountings.

Once it is on the ground it is not too bad, you can tip it on your own quite easily.

The only problem with the process is that and small craze you have will extend significantly, I have been spending the weekend grinding them out and re-glassing them, slow but should be rewarding.

trevorlittlelegs

23 posts

272 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2002
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hi all
I am thinking of removing the body from my s soon to give it that tender loving attention it is crying out for,Is it as bad as it looks an how long did it take to stip down and rebuild ? thanks all

steve b

97 posts

289 months

Thursday 4th April 2002
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It's not that hard,

It takes 1 day to disconnect everything and lift off the body, and about the same to re-fit.

If you are having it sand blasted (highly recommended) then you will need to remove engine, gearbox, diff, suspension, etc. It gave me excellent access to remove and replace the manifolds (with stainless steel ones).

All in it took me about 1 month working in my spare time only.

I have posted my pics on the following website:
www.fotango.com/cgi-bin/public_gallery_item.cgi?id=127487&index=0&key=

There is a link in my profile.

>> Edited by steve b on Thursday 4th April 10:44

>> Edited by steve b on Thursday 4th April 10:45

tav

121 posts

280 months

Thursday 4th April 2002
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Great pics - The way your chassis rusted right through under the manifold is quite worrying. When I did the chassis 18 months ago I treated the rust there and painted it with hammerite, but (presumably due to the heat in the area) it has come back again quite quickly. I dont think its anywhere near getting holes in but has anybody got suggested treatments for preserving the metal in that particular area???

cheers

Dave

M@H

11,298 posts

279 months

Thursday 4th April 2002
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how about that thermotec exhaust wrap on the chassis tube..?

Cheers
Matt.

GreenV8s

30,485 posts

291 months

Thursday 4th April 2002
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quote:

how about that thermotec exhaust wrap on the chassis tube..?

Cheers
Matt.



Works well on the manifold because that is so hot, but on the chassis tubes I fear it would act like a damp sponge most of the year and accelerate the corrosion.

roulli

175 posts

276 months

Thursday 4th April 2002
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quote:

has anybody got suggested treatments for preserving the metal in that particular area???

cheers

Dave



Dave,

when it comes to protecting iron on hot places, I would recommend the following 2 steps after de-rusting of course.
1) paint or spray with "liquid zinc" on bare metal, let dry 24h
2) paint or spray with engine enamel. I used red one, that I sprayed a Volvo engine wit, 12 years ago. I remember that the engine was still shiny and red after 2 years. The engine should still be the same today s.w on an adic, but the car stopped existing all in a sudden, 10 years back

Cheers Patrick

M@H

11,298 posts

279 months

Thursday 4th April 2002
quotequote all
quote:

quote:

how about that thermotec exhaust wrap on the chassis tube..?

Cheers
Matt.



Works well on the manifold because that is so hot, but on the chassis tubes I fear it would act like a damp sponge most of the year and accelerate the corrosion.



Stove Paint..!! works on my woodburner nicely. !

steve b

97 posts

289 months

Friday 5th April 2002
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The most worying thing about those pictures is that the car passed it's MOT only 1 month earlier!! (I wont say who but thay are a very large chain - formerly Lucas!!)

You may be interested to note the repair to the chassis was done using a secion of tube, sliced in half, encased the existing (rusty) tube and welded - the source of the tube - a NCK Nova HC65 65 tonne crawler crane jib!!

>> Edited by steve b on Friday 5th April 10:08

db800

200 posts

290 months

Friday 5th April 2002
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I removed the body of my S1 and at the same time tried to do a major renovation.This took the best part of a year and a half.photos can be seen on http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/cartoman800

johno

8,520 posts

289 months

Friday 5th April 2002
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db800,

Those are great looking shots of the car and the work. My hat goes off to you sir and the way it looks.

I would love to have the space, time and availability of anither car to do the same to mine. It deserves the tlc.

Its great to see so many on the group who have decided to do this to S's and not just upgrade to something else. (which is what I will probably end up doing)

Cheers

Mark
ps - were you at Virginia waters in that car the other Sunday ??

db800

200 posts

290 months

Friday 5th April 2002
quotequote all
Mark as far as i know the car never left my garage in Scotland as i have taken the engine out again to replace the steel timing gear with a new standard Ford one(after 4months looking as the steel one made to much of a whine)
dave

johno

8,520 posts

289 months

Friday 5th April 2002
quotequote all
Are you anywhere near Edinburgh ???

Mark

roulli

175 posts

276 months

Friday 5th April 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Mark as far as i know the car never left my garage in Scotland as i have taken the engine out again to replace the steel timing gear with a new standard Ford one(after 4months looking as the steel one made to much of a whine)
dave




Hello,
1) Heard from a "Ford Specialist", that one need to replace timing gear after 80.000 km, in order to avoid the risk of a broken "tooth" and a f..ked-up distribution. Is that true?
2) does one really need to take out the engine from the S to replace timing gear? According to Haynes and the "Ford guy" one does not need to do so in the Scorpio, different breed I know...

Cheers Patrick

>> Edited by roulli on Friday 5th April 15:43

db800

200 posts

290 months

Friday 5th April 2002
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if top and bottom gears are to be replaced as a set the sump needs to come off.

Dave_H

996 posts

290 months

Friday 5th April 2002
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DB800,

Fantastic restoration pics!!!, I removed everything from the front of my S3 and that was quite involved, but what you've done is fantastic.

I echo what Johno says, too many people just upgrade, it's great to see these fine cars restored such as yours.

Cheers,

Dave.

HarryW

15,279 posts

276 months

Friday 5th April 2002
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DB800

Excellent pictures, looks like you had to remove the sofa to fit the car in your front room! BIG garage.
Almost a shame to have to get it dirty and rusty again, saying that, the actual condition before the work looks fairly acceptable for an early S. Its only when you compare the new front shocks and springs before the restoration does the condition of the rest of it look drab. Given that later models are complaining about rust inside 18 months it's probably in better condition than 90% of Tivs on the road regardless of age. Good job

Harry