Bl**dy Body Cracks

[Jason.goad]

Had a little knocking noise from the back when I went over a sharp bump. Thought it was a worn suspension bush, but sounded a bit too plastic-y.
Anyone got any tips for the repair? I'm afraid taking the body off isn't an option, not enough space.





Little swine was hiding underneath the fuel pump.

[majcd213]

Hi- what did you do about this problem please? Having seen the famous body off resto blog this is clearly a very big job! I was just wondering if it is in anyway feasible to cut an access hatch(es) through the body under the rear seat and fix these cracks with the body "on".
Just musing really
Mike

[Jason.goad]

Hello Mike. I've not tackled it yet to be honest. In a couple of months I'm taking it off road for winter, I'm stripping and painting the rear suspension so I'll sort it out then. You can't see the crack from the rear seat area . I'm hoping with the fuel tank out and suspension off I'll manage to repair it. The bolts weren't loose, can't help but think it's a manufacturing fault.

[Pete Boole]

Can't help but think it's a manufacturing fault.

Yes - later models have a different mounting arrangement - seems to be less troublesome.

Pete

[don.hasi]

http://www.lotusexcel.net/phpbb/viewtop ... Body+crack
http://www.lotusexcel.net/phpbb/viewtop ... 01&start=0

There are some hints...

[majcd213]

Yep I know later ones were changed... But mine is an '84 as well. Luckily I can see no cracks although I've not removed either pump or tank. As mine doesn't work I have no idea whether it makes any nasty noises but a fault like this would explain why it was taken off the road... Although so would the lack of detectable compression on two cylinders!!

I was wondering if there is a recommended retro fix or factory recall mod to stop it happening?
Mike

[Pjr]

I am also sad to say that I am in the cracks club. I have the tank out because it sprung a leak and my cracks are much wider than yours if that is any consolation! I hope to use this forthcoming week of warm dry weather to do a repair with the body on the chassis. A PO seems to have painted epoxy w/o matting or filler over the cracks and unsurprisingly it has cracked again. Here is my plan of attack in case it helps - comments welcome!

I am going to try some West System epoxy with woven roving tape to build up the cracks once they have been v-d out. My problem is that my cracks are quite wide because I suspect they have been there for years and the boot has sagged a bit under the weight of the spare wheel, battery etc. although I have gently jacked up the boot floor, the cracks are still quite wide. If anybody has experience of this, then I'd love to hear how to solve it.

Finally, in order to do this on the car without gluing it to the chassis, I was thinking of slipping tin foil or grease-proof paper up behind the area or through the cracks themselves (a bit like fixing tears in leather). I hope this will do the trick, but any advice will be most welcome. I am then going to reinforce the bit where the pump mounts and add fingers of glass going into the lower part of the castellated bit. I may put one layer across the higher castellated bits, but conscious that I have to get the tank back in! That should make the whole are v. Rigid. I am going to use alternate layers of woven and normal matting.

From reading/watching things online about fixing structural cracks in boats, doing it from one side only should be viable. If not, the materials are not that expensive, so I will just have to start again!

[muphy]

One of the posts above by Don is mine, I opted for body off and the warnings from Kieran (Fueltheburn) were true and my car is still in about 6000 bits though the body has now been repaired.

I've had yet another hiatus recovering from some health issues but will be back on the chassis next week and may be rebuilding suspension by October.

Hmmm, maybe next year I'll be driving her again

Mark

[Pjr]

Mark, sorry to hear you have been unwell. I am petrified of the body off option although I have just been talking to Dave Excell who made it sound like 15mins work - there isn't much that he hasn't done to Excels and Esprits, and what a nice chap. Esprit v8 in an excel for example...

Do you have any tips or recommendations from your body repairs? Any insight is welcome as I peer over the edge of the abyss......

[muphy]

If it's any consolation, I did it all on my own with the help of an engine crane and a jury rigged winch (ratchet straps) and whilst I felt daunted at first, it was not so bad.

Hmm, perhaps that's the same as women remember childbirth. It's certainly doable I just hope the putting back together is the same

M

[Pjr]

Hmm, my wife hasn't forgotten childbirth and won't let me either. Apparently yawning during a contraction demonstrates a lack of empathy......

I'm gonna give it a go with the body on, and so far I have whipped off the exhausts, battery and tool kit. However, even with a bit of jacking up under the spare wheel well the gaps are 3-4mm without jacking they are probably more like 6-7mm. Is there a trick to realigning them, or perhaps the grp has irreversibly sagged to that position? My feeling is that the external body is straight, so even if the wheel well has sagged, it shouldn't matter if I repair it a few mm lower than original - am I delusional?

I have been using a dremmel 80 grit sanding drum which is like a knife through butter. I recommend a proper respirator with canisters and a Hoover alongside a so grp dusk must be bad stuff. The postman brought fresh resin and woven and chopped mat materials, so soon it will be d day.

Last question, does anybody know how the fuel pump mounting rubbers can be removed? According to the parts manual they are studs screwed into a metal plate, but I cannot get mine to unscrew as there is nothing but rubber to grip. Any ideas?

Thanks

[jeff.fenton]

Hello Pjr, the rubber bobbins are from a BMC Mini I think, cheap on EBay, they are screwed to a plate with 3 captive bolts, through the body. They are rusted in place so trying to unscrew them will tear the rubber from the screwhead it was attached to. Helpfully the screwhead is round so difficult/impossible to grip. If you drill the heads off, the plate will push out into the wheelarch, to give you a pattern to make a new one. My car's PO had pulled just the lower rubber off, so I spent a couple of hours lying underneath with a junior hacksaw cutting off the captive bolt. The couple of remaining threads could be then unscrewed with hammer/chisel. I Hape this helps, Jeff.

[Jason.goad]

soon it will be d day.

I've still got a couple of weeks before I attempt to repair mine. Glad you're having a go first Feel free to post loads of pics.
I'm thinking of a similar route to yours. Don't have the space to remove the body. I personally think the reason they crack is due to a small gap between the chassis and body, causing the body to flex at that point. I think I'd do the repair where the body sits naturally (no jacking up) as that's where it will be most comfortable. Hope you get it sorted.
Cheers J

[Pjr]

Jeff, thanks for the info about the bobbins. Really helpful to know what I am dealing with. I'll probably drill them out and source replacements. That way the glass fibre job will be much better. Do the bobbins have an official name that I can search for?

Jason, it's nice to hear that I am not alone! I will take some photos soon. I did take some yesterday but the quality was awful so I'll spare you those!

My secret weapon is that Dave Excel kindly gave me his tow bar that he had taken off his old chassis. It mounts on the lower wishbone bolts and will sit under and against the spare wheel well. I hope this will just give enough extra support.

[jeff.fenton]

Hello Pjr, they're listed as 'classic mini exhaust mounting, cotton reels', seem to be £1 each+ postage. Jeff.