Fitting the body

[Simon R]

I have tonight fitted the body..... or rather I have placed it upon the chassis and marvelled at how the body holes don't line up with mountings.

The body holes generally seem to need elongating upwards by up to 5mm - the worst one's being the front bulkhead ones - they all seem OK side to side..... does this match the experience of others? (Yes I have fitted the chassis sponge).

Also how the hell do you keep the body snug up against these front mountings whilst fettling the position? The slightest adjustment elsewhere sees gaps open easilly. I could fit the bolts in these but didn;t want to overstress the GRP when tweaking the position elsewhere.

And finally... how do I ensure that the body is square across the width of the chassis? Now I've covered the chassis up I've got no reference points?

Thanks in advance,

Simon

[RichardG]

I think the standard advise is to grease the mounts up with lard (or something else that will lube up the mounts but not rot the rubber). Also I think elongating the holes might not be a good idea, its bound to get the body in the wrong position that way. Have you got the body on four trolley jacks (one on each corner) so you can move the body around to line up on the mounts. Good luck.

[Simon R]

Originally Posted by RichardG

I think the standard advise is to grease the mounts up with lard (or something else that will lube up the mounts but not rot the rubber). Also I think elongating the holes might not be a good idea, its bound to get the body in the wrong position that way. Have you got the body on four trolley jacks (one on each corner) so you can move the body around to line up on the mounts. Good luck.

Greased them up with vaseline - went on no probs. I think I could move the body up to align the holes..... but then it won;t be sitting on the foam on the tunnel sheet.... is that a problem... if not then it begs the question as to it's purpose?

Simon

[RichardG]

Originally Posted by Simon R

Greased them up with vaseline - went on no probs. I think I could move the body up to align the holes..... but then it won;t be sitting on the foam on the tunnel sheet.... is that a problem... if not then it begs the question as to it's purpose?

Simon

IIRC I fixed one bolt loosely (most likely the rear most one on the trans tunnel) and then got the one on the opposite side in next and worked my way forward along the body, jiggling the body up & down to align it as I went.

I guess the foam will have a fair amount of play in it so "resting on it" could actually mean lots of things from just about touching it to crushing it completely, so I guess its worth having.

[Simon R]

Originally Posted by RichardG

IIRC I fixed one bolt loosely (most likely the rear most one on the trans tunnel) and then got the one on the opposite side in next and worked my way forward along the body, jiggling the body up & down to align it as I went.

I guess the foam will have a fair amount of play in it so "resting on it" could actually mean lots of things from just about touching it to crushing it completely, so I guess its worth having.

I found that by jacking and packing under the body floor I could get the mojority of holes cock on - particularly the ones on the front bulkhead.

However - disaster struck when the threaded insert on the offside front bulkhead mount became detached from the mount!!

Fortunately I found that by jacking thebody up 9 inches at the front and 12 at the back I could roll the chassis forward just far enough to undo the mount with a spanner and withdraw it. Close inspection showed it to be slightly deformed and the crimp wasn't formed correctly (rivnut type affair)

So currently sat waiting for a replacement mount from GD. 624 days to date so a couple more is neither here nor there I suppose.

Not a good day, but at least i didn't have to re-assemble the troops the lift the body off.

[Andy302]

Top job Simon, looks like a real car now then?

[RichardG]

Originally Posted by Simon R

I found that by jacking and packing under the body floor I could get the mojority of holes cock on - particularly the ones on the front bulkhead.

However - disaster struck when the threaded insert on the offside front bulkhead mount became detached from the mount!!

Fortunately I found that by jacking thebody up 9 inches at the front and 12 at the back I could roll the chassis forward just far enough to undo the mount with a spanner and withdraw it. Close inspection showed it to be slightly deformed and the crimp wasn't formed correctly (rivnut type affair)

So currently sat waiting for a replacement mount from GD. 624 days to date so a couple more is neither here nor there I suppose.

Not a good day, but at least i didn't have to re-assemble the troops the lift the body off.

Oh, I bet the air was blue!!

Glad it was going well (up until the mount came loose), and as you say don't worry about the odd setback I was seven odd years getting on the road and I'm still not finished

[Terry GD007]

I just had my body up (not off) to recondition the rear brakes. I have done this body up trick before because you can do it alone and get to most things. What I do is undo all mountings except the front two and raise the body from the rear with two jacks under the seat belt mounting points. You can pack the body above the transmission tunnel and take several bites with the jacks until the body is at about 30 degrees. However, today I had the dreaded loose rivnut syndrome on a mounting point in the worse possible position, top transmission tunnel in the middle. By oiling the stainless steel domed allen screw that I use in this possition, I managed to get it in but only to finger tight. This will have to do, the body is not comeing off just for this. Did anyone else have this experience?
Terry.

[Steve]

I have had those bloody rubbers seperate from the metal body, basically making them useless.......as i was taking the body off anyway, GD changed them all FOC, but I was glad it didnt happen at another time.

the mounting, I did find that jacking the body forwards to ensure the mounts in the top of the transmission tunnel were flush helped enormously. sort of jacked the body forward against the chassis at the back

[Terry GD007]

Hi Steve,
I have replaced one or two of these mountings over the years (19) because they have sagged or perished but I never had one separate. I hope your original set was a bad batch and this is not a new quality problem for the future. I use a two poster lift with the rear arms under the body, the consequences of the mountings separating is unimaginable.
Terry