Calling experience in chassis delamination

[brett27]

Has anyone ever experienced a sharp banging noise coming from directly behind the seats, during gear changes or even any road bumps?

At first I thought it was the water pipes at the front of the engine hitting against the firewall bulkhead when the engine moves under high torque, but now I have been told otherwise!

I have just been told that the noise originates from fibreglass breaking away from the bulkhead. Apparently it's a common problem. Has anyone else experienced this?

I am hoping if its common then there is a common fix because it sounds expensive. What has to be done exactly and where can it be done? Can anyone shed some light on this?

Muchly appreciated

Brett

98 V8

[molemot]

The chassis fastens to the rear bulkhead by brackets and nuts and bolts. Tighten up the nuts and bolts and your problems will probably disappear. I undid all my fasteners and fitted steel plates to spread the load - everything fine now. The nuts and bolts are behind the leather trim on the bulkhead, and - on the other side -difficult to reach with the engine in situ. But it is unlikely to be anything really horrible like the bulkhead falling out!

[superdavelotus]

You need to get it checked out, you could have a broken engine mount instead!

[CarlC]

From what you have described by the noise and when you hear it I have to agree with Dave and John as I had both problems with my car and would have described the problem in the same way. In my case the banging noise was deffinetly resolved by sorting out the engine mounts which where replaced by PNM. It just so happens I have also had to put in steel plates in the boot where the fibre glass bolts to the chassis too but I did this after the banging was sorted.

Good luck!

Edited February 7, 2006 by CarlC

[Zhastaph]

Hi ya.

I had a similar problem with my bulkhead banging away. From everything i can tell sooner or later it happens on ALL Esprits due the the bulkhead being made of wood and contracting over time.

There's a lot of information in a thread of mine on PistonHeads including a step by step guide on how to fix it;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=172223

I'm sure you'll find that helpful.

[brett27]

Thanks a million guys..... That knowledgeable response is unbeatable. I will let you know how it goes.

Cheers