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14 bolts : 7 pairs : ranging from the suspiciously easy, to the three-days-of-swearing variety.
As previously mentioned, the water trap designed by LR meant that the front-most bolts were totally immovable, so by a combination of heat, flame, and dremel I removed the rubber bushes, thereby allowing the body to be lifted up over what was left of the bolt head
The bulkhead bolts weren’t too bad – once the engine was out of the bay and I could get a suitable socket in to hold the top while attacking the nut underneath. It might be worth taking the time to cut the bolt as close to the nut as possible first – rusty threads take a lot of effort!
Front outrigger bolts were surprisingly easy – lift the cap and undo.
Front seat bolts were the easiest of the lot. Rear seat mounts were second.
The rear sill mounts! Now these were a b*st*rd! The steps were rusted to oblivion and have been scrapped, and the extension piece that holds the steps on was solid. Not much shape left to the top of the bolt, and next to impossible to get anything on to it anyway. Having taken the grinder to the extension piece and gotten the step out of the way, I eventually resorted to grinding off a section of the outrigger in order to be able to remove the body, and then dealt with the remaining section with the body off.
The rear crossmember bolts were ok – worth noting that these are upside down.
And so to lifting the body. 2 problems. Height. And Width.
It was easy enough to raise each corner of the body slightly and insert wooden blocks between the chassis and the body in order to check that it was free all round, and that all hoses, wires, pipes etc were disconnected. Then it was a question of raising the back and the front alternately until sufficient clearance was given for the wheels to roll under the body work. Quite a bit higher than it first looked! Blocking it up using the mounting points was straightforward… BUT…. In order to roll the chassis out, it was necessary to have the supports outside the line of the vehicle. So four stacks of breeze block with timber on top and scaffolding poles under the front and rear seat mounts, remove the blocks under the mounts….and get it out!
Once the chassis was clear I built another stack of blocks under the rear floor, and added extra 4x2 lengths of timber under the body – it might be a wee while before I was ready to lower it again. No elf and safety worries here…just kids and such!!
Hallelujah – surely things must get easier from here onwards!
As previously mentioned, the water trap designed by LR meant that the front-most bolts were totally immovable, so by a combination of heat, flame, and dremel I removed the rubber bushes, thereby allowing the body to be lifted up over what was left of the bolt head
The bulkhead bolts weren’t too bad – once the engine was out of the bay and I could get a suitable socket in to hold the top while attacking the nut underneath. It might be worth taking the time to cut the bolt as close to the nut as possible first – rusty threads take a lot of effort!
Front outrigger bolts were surprisingly easy – lift the cap and undo.
Front seat bolts were the easiest of the lot. Rear seat mounts were second.
The rear sill mounts! Now these were a b*st*rd! The steps were rusted to oblivion and have been scrapped, and the extension piece that holds the steps on was solid. Not much shape left to the top of the bolt, and next to impossible to get anything on to it anyway. Having taken the grinder to the extension piece and gotten the step out of the way, I eventually resorted to grinding off a section of the outrigger in order to be able to remove the body, and then dealt with the remaining section with the body off.
The rear crossmember bolts were ok – worth noting that these are upside down.
And so to lifting the body. 2 problems. Height. And Width.
It was easy enough to raise each corner of the body slightly and insert wooden blocks between the chassis and the body in order to check that it was free all round, and that all hoses, wires, pipes etc were disconnected. Then it was a question of raising the back and the front alternately until sufficient clearance was given for the wheels to roll under the body work. Quite a bit higher than it first looked! Blocking it up using the mounting points was straightforward… BUT…. In order to roll the chassis out, it was necessary to have the supports outside the line of the vehicle. So four stacks of breeze block with timber on top and scaffolding poles under the front and rear seat mounts, remove the blocks under the mounts….and get it out!
Once the chassis was clear I built another stack of blocks under the rear floor, and added extra 4x2 lengths of timber under the body – it might be a wee while before I was ready to lower it again. No elf and safety worries here…just kids and such!!
Hallelujah – surely things must get easier from here onwards!
