going to attempt bumper removal this weekend
Discussion
I have not found much specific info about the order of operations.. I will have to just jump into it with both feet...
Need to get a little re-spray done and the body shops want several hundred dollars for the R&R...
If anyone has a link or some info on a bumper removal, please let me know.
Bruce
S4s
Need to get a little re-spray done and the body shops want several hundred dollars for the R&R...
If anyone has a link or some info on a bumper removal, please let me know.
Bruce
S4s
I can't think of anything specific (but then it's been a while since I took a bumper off an Esprit......with tools I mean, rather than a crash barrier
)
I'd suggest emptying the contents of a can of penetrating fluid onto every nut/bolt etc tonight and then some more tomorrow while you're finding the correct size spanners....
Good luck!
) I'd suggest emptying the contents of a can of penetrating fluid onto every nut/bolt etc tonight and then some more tomorrow while you're finding the correct size spanners....
Good luck!
It's been a while but I'll tell you what I remember.
Pull the spoiler lip and undershields, loosen the oil coolers so you can move them out of the way, remove the horn and fog lights, and you can then get to all the 10mm nuts and bolts to remove the lower valance or front spoiler in Lotus parlance.
Now for the fun part
To remove the bumper, IIRC all the nuts/bolts are accessed from inside the boot. You need to remove the bolts from the bracket that secures the ABS pump and move it out of the way along with the wiper fluid reservoir. You should then be able to access all the little 10mm nuts/bolts around the outer edge of the bumper. A 1/4" drive ratchet is nice to have and a 10mm gear wrench is a wonderful thing.
Good luck,
Jim
Oh I just remembered I archived a very humorous write up on the subject posted by Geoff Moat a while back.
Enjoy:
I had the pleasure of removing one from my S4 and I guess that the
S4s is broadly the same.
Begin by studying basic gynaecology and elementary contortionism.
Remove the skirt protection lip and oil cooler and radiator crap
guard panels
Remove the front skirt - there are nuts and bolts hidden all over
begining at the front of the wheel arches - all accesible from below.
There is also one at each front corner accessible through a hole in
the skirt.
Once all the bolts are undone, a bit of judicious manipulation should
free it from the bumper and the car.
Stop all bleeding, clean shredded hands, apply elastoplast as
required then continue.
Remove spare wheel and mouldy sandwiches etc. from inside bonnet
Remove ABS cover and brackets attached to inner wing and pull unit
back enough to allow access to bumper bolts.
Climb inside bonnet with suitable 10mm sockets and spanners and begin
to undo even more nuts and bolts - they run around the entire front
inner edge and the ones in the vicinity of the front corners provide
hours of harmless entertainment.
When the last one is out, grasp the bumper firmly, utter the magic
words "let go you F****** B******" and it should fall gently to the
ground.
Along the way light relief is provided by odd bits of trunking and
lighting cable plugs to undo.
Clean up, go to pub and win "hunchback of the week" prize.
Go to bed and have nightmare about putting it all back!
Geoff Moat
Pull the spoiler lip and undershields, loosen the oil coolers so you can move them out of the way, remove the horn and fog lights, and you can then get to all the 10mm nuts and bolts to remove the lower valance or front spoiler in Lotus parlance.
Now for the fun part
To remove the bumper, IIRC all the nuts/bolts are accessed from inside the boot. You need to remove the bolts from the bracket that secures the ABS pump and move it out of the way along with the wiper fluid reservoir. You should then be able to access all the little 10mm nuts/bolts around the outer edge of the bumper. A 1/4" drive ratchet is nice to have and a 10mm gear wrench is a wonderful thing. Good luck,
Jim
Oh I just remembered I archived a very humorous write up on the subject posted by Geoff Moat a while back.
Enjoy:
I had the pleasure of removing one from my S4 and I guess that the
S4s is broadly the same.
Begin by studying basic gynaecology and elementary contortionism.
Remove the skirt protection lip and oil cooler and radiator crap
guard panels
Remove the front skirt - there are nuts and bolts hidden all over
begining at the front of the wheel arches - all accesible from below.
There is also one at each front corner accessible through a hole in
the skirt.
Once all the bolts are undone, a bit of judicious manipulation should
free it from the bumper and the car.
Stop all bleeding, clean shredded hands, apply elastoplast as
required then continue.
Remove spare wheel and mouldy sandwiches etc. from inside bonnet
Remove ABS cover and brackets attached to inner wing and pull unit
back enough to allow access to bumper bolts.
Climb inside bonnet with suitable 10mm sockets and spanners and begin
to undo even more nuts and bolts - they run around the entire front
inner edge and the ones in the vicinity of the front corners provide
hours of harmless entertainment.
When the last one is out, grasp the bumper firmly, utter the magic
words "let go you F****** B******" and it should fall gently to the
ground.
Along the way light relief is provided by odd bits of trunking and
lighting cable plugs to undo.
Clean up, go to pub and win "hunchback of the week" prize.
Go to bed and have nightmare about putting it all back!
Geoff Moat
If you come across any hangups let me know, the whole process is still fresh in my mind. Yes,.... burned into my mind like the first scarry movie you see when your a child, some of the images just don't go away for a long time. But for me it was a little more frustrating because I had to pull the front suspension apart to repair bent pieces also. Loose dirt, understeer, and concrete kept me busy for about a month.
Once you get it back on you'll see, its well worth the effort. The freshly painted parts look fantastic.
Cheers
John
Once you get it back on you'll see, its well worth the effort. The freshly painted parts look fantastic.
Cheers
John
If you find a way, or if someone else knows a way, to get to the but at the corners, blocked by the headlights, please let me know. I need to tighten those on my car and cannot find a way to get to them!
When inside the boot, keep a cell or a friend handy. When you crawl into it to get to the nuts there, it can be a real pain to get out! Otherwise, good advice from everyone here.
When inside the boot, keep a cell or a friend handy. When you crawl into it to get to the nuts there, it can be a real pain to get out! Otherwise, good advice from everyone here.
I did not find any bolts that hard to get at.
THere are several that are difficult but all manageable with either a long socket or a box end wrench.
Taking pictures was a bit of a waste. The camera angles from under the car just show many pics of seemingly the same thing.. cant get the camera far enough away to give you any spatial reference.
I took things apart as outlined here.. tried to keep a zip-loc bag with the screws for each part.
Lower lip first ( easy) - (can you belive they actually used a wing nut here ?)
Next the covers in the corners below the fog lights. they come off easily too.
there are more baffles and ducting that guide air to the oil coolers that had to come out.. nothing crazy there. one has the horns attached to it and was harder to get out. the horn wires pass through a rubber grommet that was very stuck in place so i left the wires there and just disconnected the wires at the actual horns.
then the lower spoiler came off with a number of screws and bolts .. was not really that hard...everything from below i think.
the actual bumber is the hardest part. there screws along the front centre are ahead of the spare tire but you can reach them easily _ had car up on jackstands and that made it easier to reach without bending over too far. there are two screws per side in some holes in the body work under the front hood. small hands and this is easy, my helper is a big guy and could not do it at all. it was easy for me.
A slight pain to remove the ABS unit - that bracketry is a joke. will make me swear on re-assembly.
then there are some screws from below that need a long extension in the corners... when they were undone..the bumper fell off easily.
My car is very unrusted but i would say that if there are rusty fasteners, the job would quickly turn to a night mare.. and could even be impossible.. i wil make sure every screw is coated in never-seize when i reassemble. I cant wait to get it all together.. the front end will belike new.. everything is already washed and ready to go back..
will drop off the parts for painting tomorrow.
Over all it took 4 hours with two of us to remove the bumper.. this included eating sausages on the BBQ and drinking 12 bottles of beer..
Bruce
THere are several that are difficult but all manageable with either a long socket or a box end wrench.
Taking pictures was a bit of a waste. The camera angles from under the car just show many pics of seemingly the same thing.. cant get the camera far enough away to give you any spatial reference.
I took things apart as outlined here.. tried to keep a zip-loc bag with the screws for each part.
Lower lip first ( easy) - (can you belive they actually used a wing nut here ?)
Next the covers in the corners below the fog lights. they come off easily too.
there are more baffles and ducting that guide air to the oil coolers that had to come out.. nothing crazy there. one has the horns attached to it and was harder to get out. the horn wires pass through a rubber grommet that was very stuck in place so i left the wires there and just disconnected the wires at the actual horns.
then the lower spoiler came off with a number of screws and bolts .. was not really that hard...everything from below i think.
the actual bumber is the hardest part. there screws along the front centre are ahead of the spare tire but you can reach them easily _ had car up on jackstands and that made it easier to reach without bending over too far. there are two screws per side in some holes in the body work under the front hood. small hands and this is easy, my helper is a big guy and could not do it at all. it was easy for me.
A slight pain to remove the ABS unit - that bracketry is a joke. will make me swear on re-assembly.
then there are some screws from below that need a long extension in the corners... when they were undone..the bumper fell off easily.
My car is very unrusted but i would say that if there are rusty fasteners, the job would quickly turn to a night mare.. and could even be impossible.. i wil make sure every screw is coated in never-seize when i reassemble. I cant wait to get it all together.. the front end will belike new.. everything is already washed and ready to go back..
will drop off the parts for painting tomorrow.
Over all it took 4 hours with two of us to remove the bumper.. this included eating sausages on the BBQ and drinking 12 bottles of beer..
Bruce
Check out www.unity1.co.uk/Lotus/Project/Bumpers/rearbump.htm
It's a great site. It took me 6 - 8 hours to remove the Bumber. There is like 30 - 40 bolts/screws/rivets.
Good luck!! The Unity1 site rocks!!!
ø¤ºø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º- Christian Waldron -º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø
V8 Lotus Esprit "New Lotus Yellow" #178 (aka Ferrar - a - ghini)
Lotus, It's not my hobby. It's my obsession!!!
http://members.cox.net/chia9876/
It's a great site. It took me 6 - 8 hours to remove the Bumber. There is like 30 - 40 bolts/screws/rivets.
Good luck!! The Unity1 site rocks!!!
ø¤ºø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º- Christian Waldron -º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø
V8 Lotus Esprit "New Lotus Yellow" #178 (aka Ferrar - a - ghini)
Lotus, It's not my hobby. It's my obsession!!!
http://members.cox.net/chia9876/
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