The bolt-on floor debate
Discussion
My S1 has a new chassis and the floor was converted to bolt on before I bought it. However, it looks like the channels in the floor, to take the chassis members, are a bit "out". I am not yet at the stage where I can actually bolt the body back on, there are a lot of stress cracks to deal with and so on, but I have been giving this a bit of thought recently. This, and a long conversation with STeVeR got me thinking about maybe converting back to a glassed in floor. I am erring towards originality with sensible updates and I am begining to like the idea of re glassing. Those of you that have done the body off job, did you convert or not and why....?
Edited by Astacus on Sunday 6th May 14:52
How often are you planning to take the body off the chassis after you have built the car??
Having drove and owned both an S1 and an S2 Vixen I can honestly say that the S1 vixen felt much stiffer without as many interior rattles as the S2 had on its best day. That said I amongst other bits and bobs converted the S1 to a bolt on chassis.
Its easy enough to do.. What you do find when you swap chassis is that the old body seldom fits the new chassis..Bolt on cars are less of an issue than originally bonded cars but in reality jigs for chassis and wishbones are either original factory or Made from a pattern chassis and from a number of sources..Parts seldom factory fit first time and generally have to be fettled to fit
The question of bolt on versus bonded is simple..How original do you want your car?? and How often are you planning to remove the body..
I do know that if I was bonding a body I would want to invert the car to do the job properly and eliminate any air pockets from the void where the chassis rails sit...
Original cars seemed to have lasted 30 - 40 years with good maintenance though so as long as you have good atention to detail this should be a minimum lifespan between the next restoration??
Mine is now a racer so obviously a bolt on option was the only way to go..
New channels are easy enough to make using suitable diameter plastic waste pipe as a mould.
N.
Having drove and owned both an S1 and an S2 Vixen I can honestly say that the S1 vixen felt much stiffer without as many interior rattles as the S2 had on its best day. That said I amongst other bits and bobs converted the S1 to a bolt on chassis.
Its easy enough to do.. What you do find when you swap chassis is that the old body seldom fits the new chassis..Bolt on cars are less of an issue than originally bonded cars but in reality jigs for chassis and wishbones are either original factory or Made from a pattern chassis and from a number of sources..Parts seldom factory fit first time and generally have to be fettled to fit
The question of bolt on versus bonded is simple..How original do you want your car?? and How often are you planning to remove the body..
I do know that if I was bonding a body I would want to invert the car to do the job properly and eliminate any air pockets from the void where the chassis rails sit...
Original cars seemed to have lasted 30 - 40 years with good maintenance though so as long as you have good atention to detail this should be a minimum lifespan between the next restoration??
Mine is now a racer so obviously a bolt on option was the only way to go..
New channels are easy enough to make using suitable diameter plastic waste pipe as a mould.
N.
Not much left to do..But still time consuming..restoration and building a race car are 2 different kettles of fish really..Its a learning process every day due to the fact that everything is a puzzle and needs to be worked out, trial fitted, fettled etc etc.
I am working pretty much flat out to get the car out now..I have also been promised wiring next weekend so the car will be finished apart from wiring..Then its down for wiring and firing at Blackpool.
Some Pics..
And for the purists who Think the only diff to use is a 4HU..This is why on other cars I like a light cosworth one.. Diff was removed, checked and re fitted last week..Yes you really need an engine crane!!
All a very long way from this....
I am working pretty much flat out to get the car out now..I have also been promised wiring next weekend so the car will be finished apart from wiring..Then its down for wiring and firing at Blackpool.
Some Pics..
And for the purists who Think the only diff to use is a 4HU..This is why on other cars I like a light cosworth one.. Diff was removed, checked and re fitted last week..Yes you really need an engine crane!!
All a very long way from this....
heightswitch said:
And for the purists who Think the only diff to use is a 4HU..This is why on other cars I like a light cosworth one.. Diff was removed, checked and re fitted last week..Yes you really need an engine crane!!
At least it helps with the weight distribution with that big lump under the bonnet 
heightswitch said:
And the bigger one behind the wheel 
N.
My original post was going to be "with that big lump at the front" and just as I was about to submit realised it could be misinterpreted so I deliberately changed it to avoid that inference! N.
Never unintentionally rude and all that
Gassing Station | TVR Classics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff