Removing the Body?

[Drfatz]

Okay I recently purchased a 1990 SE that was in a "small" rear end collision. The damage destroyed the rear bumper, valence and split the rear quarter panel. It also caused the paint (possibly the fiberglass underneath) to stress crack. There is some minor mechanical damage around the trans but no frame damage. The question is should I remove the body from the chassis? At the least I will be pulling the engine/trans to do a full inspection/tune as well as an entire re-paint of the body. Also I will be removing and updating the interior. Basically I don't want to create more problems by pulling off the body, however I want to make sure I get at everything. Thoughts?

P.S. I have a lift in my garage if that makes any difference

[islandbloke]

Can't say if you should or not, but you MUST check the chassis/body mounts either side of the rear of the car - sort of inside the rear wheel area of the boot, under the floor. If you've been rear-ended they may be broken causing all sorts of problems. There's a fix here somewhere (think Carl C did it).

[CarlC]

Those crap mounting points go knacked without any rear end action so it would be a miricle if they arent in a bad way after a shunt.

Douglas is correct, I've done the pictures and write up on LEW for this particular repair. However thats nothing compared to the work your talking about. There are a few people on here who have done a full body off repair job. Im sure they can provide the necessary pointers to help you deceide. However it will give you a chance to sort out the rusted body mounting strips around the back of the car.

Good luck with your resue project and keep us posted on your progress. If you have any questions relating to my limited repair jobs, Ill be happy to help.

Best regards,

Carl

Edited November 28, 2006 by CarlC

[CNH]

Do you have the dimensional measure point locations to check if the frame is straight?

You can do quick check on a lift with a string then decide to pull the body or not.

What is the condition fo the mount points?

What do you need to know about removing the body?

[Drfatz]

Do you have the dimensional measure point locations to check if the frame is straight?

You can do quick check on a lift with a string then decide to pull the body or not.

What is the condition fo the mount points?

What do you need to know about removing the body?

I have a manual, but its almost 2000 pages and not marked so if you have the dimensions of the chassis mounting points that would be great! I will say this, I looked over the mounts and they seem to be okay except for the front right mount (the one furthest from the accident), where the mount enters the body is starting to crack.

I guess what I need to know about removing the body is just how much of a pain in the a** is it? Also can I fix body/chassis mount points without removing the body?

Cheers,

Graham

[CNH]

I have a manual, but its almost 2000 pages and not marked so if you have the dimensions of the chassis mounting points that would be great! I will say this, I looked over the mounts and they seem to be okay except for the front right mount (the one furthest from the accident), where the mount enters the body is starting to crack.

I guess what I need to know about removing the body is just how much of a pain in the a** is it? Also can I fix body/chassis mount points without removing the body?

Cheers,

Graham

If you have the manual you will see a picture/line drawing of the bare frame. It shows the measure points, what most people do is to take string and mark it from point to point in an X fashion. One point to check for is if the frame has any sort of twist in front T member.

It is a lot of work to remove the body but Keen Young has done it several times (not that he wanted to). When I have seen his cars with the body off he usually required a few people at the corners and the body was suspended from the rafters with 2-3" web straps with a ratchet.

The mounting points can be repaired in most cases without removing entire body. Dan repaired Chris Lee's old car without a body lift. If you send me your email address I can forward it to Keen and Dan along with a request for assistance. Not sure if Keen or Dan vist here much as both are out of the Esprit's for the time being. Maybe they will return to ownership someday.

Calvin

[Drfatz]

If you have the manual you will see a picture/line drawing of the bare frame. It shows the measure points, what most people do is to take string and mark it from point to point in an X fashion. One point to check for is if the frame has any sort of twist in front T member.

It is a lot of work to remove the body but Keen Young has done it several times (not that he wanted to). When I have seen his cars with the body off he usually required a few people at the corners and the body was suspended from the rafters with 2-3" web straps with a ratchet.

The mounting points can be repaired in most cases without removing entire body. Dan repaired Chris Lee's old car without a body lift. If you send me your email address I can forward it to Keen and Dan along with a request for assistance. Not sure if Keen or Dan vist here much as both are out of the Esprit's for the time being. Maybe they will return to ownership someday.

Calvin

I appreciate all of the help! Feel free to send them my e-mail ([email protected]) it is always good to get advice from people who have done things before. When all is said and done I would rather not remove the body. Tonight I will take a real close look at the mounting points as well as the damage and check the frame. If all is well then there will be no need to pull it...I will keep my fingers crossed.

Graham

[docf]

Unless you have way to much time on your hands or your name is guy therrien I would suggest you leave the body in place to do the repairs. I front clipped my car with the body in place and the repair came out just fine. As stated above check all of the body mount points individualy just to make sure the body didnt shift or crack at the mount points.. As far as "laser" calibration and dimension checking.. the 2 body shops that work on esprits laughed at the mention.. the backbone chassis has so little torsional stiffness that it just flops around under various loads so even if you got the car to within .000000001% of perfect spec all of that goes out the window the first turn you roll into. What would have been a good idea before you bought the car would have been to measure distances from shock mounts both diagonally across the car and front - back just to rule out any gross defect in the chassis but IMHO as long as you can align the car to lotus spec you will be fine.

Have fun with the project... you have my admiration, my praise, but most of all you have my sympathy..

oh yeah.. post pics!!!

[Drfatz]

Unless you have way to much time on your hands or your name is guy therrien I would suggest you leave the body in place to do the repairs. I front clipped my car with the body in place and the repair came out just fine. As stated above check all of the body mount points individualy just to make sure the body didnt shift or crack at the mount points.. As far as "laser" calibration and dimension checking.. the 2 body shops that work on esprits laughed at the mention.. the backbone chassis has so little torsional stiffness that it just flops around under various loads so even if you got the car to within .000000001% of perfect spec all of that goes out the window the first turn you roll into. What would have been a good idea before you bought the car would have been to measure distances from shock mounts both diagonally across the car and front - back just to rule out any gross defect in the chassis but IMHO as long as you can align the car to lotus spec you will be fine.

Have fun with the project... you have my admiration, my praise, but most of all you have my sympathy..

oh yeah.. post pics!!!

yeah I should have done a lot of things before I purchased her, but I couldn't get out to see the car in time. I had to take the sellers word for it (and of course I asked him about chassis damage and he claimed that his "Lotus Shop" checked the car over" ) and I am seeing that, that was a major mistake.

For now I think the body will stay on, but the motor is coming out ASAP!

-G

[lotus4s]

I have a manual, but its almost 2000 pages and not marked so if you have the dimensions of the chassis mounting points that would be great! I will say this, I looked over the mounts and they seem to be okay except for the front right mount (the one furthest from the accident), where the mount enters the body is starting to crack.

I guess what I need to know about removing the body is just how much of a pain in the a** is it? Also can I fix body/chassis mount points without removing the body?

Cheers,

Graham

The chassis dimensions are in the Service Notes but you can't measure them without the body off so they won't do you much good....