S1, Hidden body bolts? HELP, BODY WON'T BUDGE!

[davidh2905]

Hi, I'm a new S1 owner, trying to remove body to repair chassis.
I have removed 4 bolts from front footwells, 2 seatbelt stalk bolts, 2 seatbelt reel bolts, 2 bolts below seat belt reels, 2 bolts through floor near seatbelt stalks, 2 bolts in boot floor and all of the dash and heater is out. Tried to lift body, but still feels like there may be something in the centre of the car holding it on.
Really appreciate any help.

Regards, David

[phillpot]

On later cars (didn't think they were used on S1) there are two bolts under the centre console, forward of the gearlever.

The handbrake lever has to come off.

Have you tried the advanced search, if its working, there have been various threads with pictures and sketches in the past and there are also several owners blogs etc. See the top few entries of this forum.

Good Luck !

[Gerald-TVR]

Watch out for the speedo and reverse gear connections on the gearbox and the tenk sender unit. Also the petrol filler pipe needs removing or disconnecting from the top of the petrol tank.

Bothe the brakes and clutch hydraulic pipes need disconnecting.

Both wooden blocks under the floor pan by the from mounting bolts and jack up the body a couple on inches at the front once all the above and hand brake (thanks phillpot) are disconnected.

I have had a bosdy stick to themounting rubbers which were in turn stuck to the chassis but the intertion of a ( foot pole and the application of steady pressure resulted in a big bang as the body freed itself

Good luch

Norman

[davidh2905]

Thanks for the advice guys, hopefully it's just stuck, have had a look for drawings/photos, but can't find one that clearly shows all chassis mountings.

[tvrgit]

This article explains exactly where all the mounting bolts are - although this was for a partial lift so most of the electrical and hydraulic connections could remain in place.

http://www.tvrgit.com/bodylift.html

[The Big G]

Here is a link for a diagram of body off bolt positions

http://www.tvrccoxford.co.uk/images/chassisbolts.p...

Shamelessly lifted from barkychoc's body off thread.

As said before the earlier cars didn't have the bolts through from beneath the centre console.

His thread is here and it has lots of good info on it.

Hope this helps

Edited by The Big G on Sunday 13th November 12:20

[shoab]

Having read lots of the posts and advice on body lifts on this site, mine appeared to be stuck until I remembered reading one post which advised that crud can lodge between the long sill side rail and the body. I pushed up a flexible scrape between the gap and lots of grit and small stones came out. Trying to lift it again it moved slightly but was still stuck so I let it down and repeated the process the next time it came up quite easily.

Graham

[Gerald-TVR]

Forgot S1 could well be a speedo cable not electrical connections.

[davidh2905]

Thanks for all replies, have just been out and removed lots of small stones from in between chassis rails and body. Body now moves freely, just need half dozen strong guys to lft body off!

Just for future reference, how can I add photos to these messages?

Kind regards, David

[M@H]

davidh2905 said:

Just for future reference, how can I add photos to these messages?

Kind regards, David

Look for "Upload an Image (beta)" in the reply window just above where you type the text in, belwo the smileys, its pretty self explanatory. Or you can host yourself and use PIC tags (see the "Formatting help" for that)

[Jaye R]

davidh2905 said:

...Body now moves freely, just need half dozen strong guys to lft body off!...

David

Where in the UK are you located? - it doesn't say on your profile. As I discovered when I did mine - ask for volunteers (optionally provide tea, coffee & maybe biscuits/bacon sarnies) and people will come to your aid

Cheers
Jaye

[davidh2905]

[davidh2905]

[Donnysoutherner]

Hi David, Just down the road in Doncaster and did my body off last winter so if you need anything give me a shout.

[shoab]

David, from the photo it looks like the handbrake is still in situ, make sure that you remove it completely. Also dont be tempted to lift the body without having the roof panels fitted back in place as the body is quite flexible and they help to keep everything stiffer. When the body is off the rear end may droop so you may want to support it properly.

regards

Graham

[Dave_M]

Happy to help lift, no use with spannery things though

[Jaye R]

Also happy to help - just give me a bit of notice on the chosen date so I can make sure I'm available.

Cheers
Jaye

[davidh2905]

Hope to have body ready for lift weekend 26th or 27th November, if any local guys are free? I'm 3 miles north of Lincoln (LN3 4DN).
Also the roof front clips are broken off and didn't want to lift without roof secure, any ideas where I can source new ones?

Thanks again, David

[M@H]

Southco plastics do the roof clips and IIRC Leven did a shiney set too. To be honest I wouldn't worry about them as the rear braces hold it firmly in place and all the forces from lifting the body will be pushing the roof tighter against the hoop and the windscreen. Bear in mind the Griff and Chimaera didn't have these clips but still use the same panel fitment design (albeit one piece)

[Gerald-TVR]

TVR Car Parts have them at £18 +VAT or these will work just need a slight modification
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/latches/3402285/
or these
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/latches/4474887/
but check dimensions for both.

Comments from jwoffshore

What you need is the type with "hook" and "exposed base". These fit on the existing mounting pads on the roof panels and will latch on to the existing keeper on the windscreen frame. If you wished to use the type with "concealed base", then you would need to fashion new pads and move the screw locations.

The two main candidate useful types are:

1. 91-552-52 This is the basic type latch, stainless with hook and exposed base

2. 91-562-52 This is the same but has an additional secondary catch. The advantage of the secondary catch is that it stops the latch rattling or popping loose when driving on bumpy roads. The downside is that it does not have such a clean appearance.

You may find that you need to trim the vertical sides of the base slightly to get clearance for the screw heads. Careful use of a junior hacksaw and small file will sort that."


Or the originals http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/latches/2455547/

But the latches only serve to stop the panel flighing off in the case of an accident so not necessary for storeage purposes