Removing Front Clam

[Jeff101]

Finally Diagnosed that my cooling fan is broken so im going to have to remove the clam

How much will a garage charge me? I want to do the job myself but do require a few new tools and some axle stands. So how much will i save.

Also is it still worth getting them to do it for piece of mind if they cock it up.

Appreciate any thoughts and pointers for removing clam. Have read Wiki's on SELOC but there may be more useful tips floating about

Cheers

[robbieduncan]

Have heard it's about £500 in labour... I need to take mine off soon too and am interested in the responses to this thread!

[JTBUSH]

Its very very easy. You don’t need any special tools to do it. Ive done it quite a few times now, and have managed to be able to get it off and back on again in a day. The only fiddly bit is getting the panels aligned properly afterwards, but I discovered that the panel gaps weren’t actually that good before I took it off (looking at photos of my car prior to removing clam) so I was actually trying to achieve the impossible.

The other thing to watch is ensure there are two people to lift the clam and support it until on the floor. You will crack it if you try on your own.

You don’t really need axle stands. I just removed one wheel at a time, supporting on the trolley jack. As soon as I had disconnected everything in the wheel arch, I put the wheel back on.

The only problem may be if you have stuck or hugely corroded fixings. Some of them are quite inaccessible to be able to cut off if they are stuck, and not sure what I can advise regarding this. All my fixings came off perfectly first time, and when I removed them, I coated them all with copper ease so they wouldn’t rust.

Give it a go, you’ve nothing to loose. Just do it very methodically, have pots set aside for all the fixings, and mark the pots up with where the fixings have come from.

Check out the techwicki on Seloc for a step by step guide on doing it!

[JTBUSH]

Edit

Edited by JTBUSH on Wednesday 23 April 16:36

[Lawrence5]

I paid about £500 in labour to remove the clam and fit a new radiator...... all my fixings were rusty and crap and had to be drilled out and ground down.

Fit a stainless tow eye while there and check the condition of the radiator, heater matrix and resistors on the heater controls. Talking to a guy who'd replaced his heater matrix himself and then had the rediator go three weeks later

Upgrade the fan power wise to - consider wiring a switch also. Can run it when needed and every now and then to stop it seizing again........

[Jeff101]

How would you wire in a switch?

[Lawrence5]

Guide for an S1......

http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=131841&...

Maybe worth asking in SELOC technical for an S2 guide.

[Philygumbo]

You won't be able to get it off and on in a day the first time you do it, you will find some fixings have to be replaced. The plastic rawlscrew fixings for the wheel arch inner are a pain, buy new before you start the job. Get stainless bolts to replace rusty ones. You will find there are spacer washers under the centre of the clam near the windscreen, these are glued in place but may come unstuck. There will be shims in the top of the filler panel, they will fall out as you remove it. SELOC techwiki is a good place to get info, print it out. Don't be scared to do it, if I can do it anyone can!