Cerbera body off - diy home mechanic questions

[Lefty]

My teenage son and I have been gradually working on getting the body off our Cerbera - bought as an engineless project car.

I’ve read the various body off guides on here and watched Savib Salvage videos on YT - most helpful.

Every single nut and bolt is rusty AF as expected - the car lived outside without moving for a number of years before I bought it.

We’ve done about 18-20 I think.

First question. The bolts that go through the front roll cage plates and through the outriggers - are they threaded (the tubes through the chassis I mean)? I’ve got the nut off one and ground away the head of the bolt but can’t hammer the bloody thing out - though i haven’t tried too hard just in case it is threaded.

[Lefty]

[Lefty]

I’m the fourth owner.

First owner had it a year

Second had it 20 years or so, engine shat itself twice and he rebuilt it. Let go third time, he said fuggit and it sat and sat and sat some more.

Third owner (a mate of mine) bought it like that with grand plans of an m5 v10 and v8 m3 manual box but never got round to it. It then sat outside at his place for 4 years.

Original seized engine (4.2 v8) and box was sold off.

My intention is to put an LS3 in it. If it had the original engine and box I probably would have repaired it and kept it original but I’m viewing it as a blank canvas now.

[ukkid35]

I've only done this once, not on my own car, but to assist a Cerb buddy

If there's a nut then it's not threaded, from what I remember, but that was several years ago

https://vimeo.com/48726971

[notaping]

Hi Lefty,

Same problem when I did mine. I ended up cutting the bolts from the inside with a grinder. I think you'll get away with only the top horizontal cut. That's pretty much at the spacer level on the top of the rail.



If you cut any sections out - keep them and glass them back in when building up again.

You also need to open up the back - at the seat belt mount - to clear the retained nut. Its at the back of the mount.



I had to cut out a section at the rear of the tab to gain access to the captured nut - then glassed it back in when re-assembling.



Lots of photos on a flickr account - link in my profile.

Gordon

[Lefty]

Thanks gents, that’s most helpful.

I will have another go in the next few days. Must have been a right arse to build in the first place - they made some odd decisions!

[Champagne-Charlie]

notaping said:

Hi Lefty,

Same problem when I did mine. I ended up cutting the bolts from the inside with a grinder. I think you'll get away with only the top horizontal cut. That's pretty much at the spacer level on the top of the rail.


If you cut any sections out - keep them and glass them back in when building up again.

You also need to open up the back - at the seat belt mount - to clear the retained nut. Its at the back of the mount.


I had to cut out a section at the rear of the tab to gain access to the captured nut - then glassed it back in when re-assembling.


Lots of photos on a flickr account - link in my profile.

Gordon

You Sir are a wizard... How you managed to do all of that work on your Cerbera just by knocking together some home made hoist and a wooden cradle to take the top off and remove the engine etc all whilst outside in the harsh Scottish elements is just amazing.

I'd like to attempt the same but honestly I'm maybe going to chicken out because I've no access to a garage or covered area... Car park I have though frustratingly it's on an incline!!!