HEATER FAN REMOVAL ON CHIMAERA
Discussion
Just by chance I've been working on one today, was just checking on PH to see if anyone had found a way to remove the rear fixing of the heater fan to the heater box.
The battery, ecu, fusebox (1 nut removed from fusebox surround allows the fusebox & surround to be pulled off the bulkhead). There's a panel on the left at the back of the passenger footwell which is riveted in place. Once the rivets are drilled and silicone bonding is removed, the top of this panel is not possible to pull off, so I used a dremel with a speedclik cutting disc to cut straight horizontally along the top of the panel. The fibreglass cover can then me removed.
Next is the hard bit - there are 2 13mm headed bolts attaching the fan motor to the top of the fiberglass panel. The problem is TVR used a nyloc nut on the motor side, and the bolt it screw onto is free to spin. Therefore you will need to remove the side repeater to see the front bolt, and it's inside a second fiberglass skin where an access hole has been cut and filled with a foam insulation to seal the heater box. Move the foam out of the way & you will see the bolt slightly to the left. I used a 13mm offset spanner to get onto this, and a 1/4" drive extension with a 13mm socket on the inside. You'll need an assistant to hold the spanner through the side repeater hole while you undo the inside nut.
The back nut/bolt has yet to come off...working on a solution though as I happen to have an identical heater unit which is going to help. The bolt is also viewable through the side repeater hole but only using a mirror - so I think a 13mm offset spanner but modified to have a 90º elbow is the answer...however the inside nut is hidden by the motor's resistor unit & motor, so this is the tricky part. We did remove the air intakehose & airflow meter so the n/s inner wing access panel could be removed. This made a good place to shine a torch down to light up the area without getting in the way, but was not much use for accessing the two fixing bolts. As I have an almost identical motor, have a look at the pics so you can see the way it's fixed to the fiberglass & heater box.
Be prepared for fiberglass on your arms so wear suitable protection...also for your eyes when cutting off the access panel.
I will update this thread with progress next week.
The battery, ecu, fusebox (1 nut removed from fusebox surround allows the fusebox & surround to be pulled off the bulkhead). There's a panel on the left at the back of the passenger footwell which is riveted in place. Once the rivets are drilled and silicone bonding is removed, the top of this panel is not possible to pull off, so I used a dremel with a speedclik cutting disc to cut straight horizontally along the top of the panel. The fibreglass cover can then me removed.
Next is the hard bit - there are 2 13mm headed bolts attaching the fan motor to the top of the fiberglass panel. The problem is TVR used a nyloc nut on the motor side, and the bolt it screw onto is free to spin. Therefore you will need to remove the side repeater to see the front bolt, and it's inside a second fiberglass skin where an access hole has been cut and filled with a foam insulation to seal the heater box. Move the foam out of the way & you will see the bolt slightly to the left. I used a 13mm offset spanner to get onto this, and a 1/4" drive extension with a 13mm socket on the inside. You'll need an assistant to hold the spanner through the side repeater hole while you undo the inside nut.
The back nut/bolt has yet to come off...working on a solution though as I happen to have an identical heater unit which is going to help. The bolt is also viewable through the side repeater hole but only using a mirror - so I think a 13mm offset spanner but modified to have a 90º elbow is the answer...however the inside nut is hidden by the motor's resistor unit & motor, so this is the tricky part. We did remove the air intakehose & airflow meter so the n/s inner wing access panel could be removed. This made a good place to shine a torch down to light up the area without getting in the way, but was not much use for accessing the two fixing bolts. As I have an almost identical motor, have a look at the pics so you can see the way it's fixed to the fiberglass & heater box.
Be prepared for fiberglass on your arms so wear suitable protection...also for your eyes when cutting off the access panel.
I will update this thread with progress next week.
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