Separating the body from the frame on a TC

[BDA]

A buddy of mine is finally talking about doing a body-off restoration of his TC. It's been a long time so I don't remember how I separated the body from the frame on my car (I do remember I did it by myself). Is it easier to take the motor out first? Or does it make any difference?

[jbcollier]

Myself, I would leave the engine in place.  The relevant section of the manual:

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/a/index.htm

TC - S2 chassis removal pretty much the same procedure.

[BDA]

Thanks, JB!

[Sherman Kaplan]

I just separated mine yesterday    I would suggest referring to:

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/misc/body/Body_Removal.html

My engine was already out of my car.  It did make it more convenient to remove things from the engine compartment as I was able to stand inside, but I think you could manage with the engine in place.

I did it all myself. 

Good luck.
Sherman
Windsor, Colorado

[BDA]

Thanks, Sherman! That's a very nice write up!

[EuropaTC]

Hi BDA,

I took the carbs off but left the engine & gearbox in place. That way it's still a rolling chassis so it's just a case of unbolting and disconnecting all the wiring/plumbing/oil feed to gauge and then getting the body high enough to roll it out.

Brian

[BDA]

Thanks, Brian! That makes a lot of sense. I guess the determining factors might be personal preference and garage setup.

[4129R]

If you are doing a body off full restoration, the gearbox and engine have to come out sometime.

I am on my 3rd bare chassis at the moment, and they were all separated with the engine and gearbox out.

It makes getting at all the cables you have to disconnect much easier. Also you can see down the tunnel as they are hopefully coming apart, to see what, if anything is left connected.

I always forget the cable from the handbrake horseshoe in the tunnel to the reaction lever.

I get down to complete bare shell, and complete bare chassis, so it all has to come apart at some time.

Probably a matter of personal preference, but I lift the bodyshell up, and slide the chassis out on a wooden pallet trolley, and that is light and easy without the engine and gearbox mounted.

Then the bodyshell is unjacked on to another 4ft square pallet on castor wheels, and they are both easy to move about.   

[BDA]

I was hoping to hear from you, Alex since you probably have more and more recent experience.

This is very preliminary at the moment. I've been waiting for my friend to finally get serious about his Europa but he's had a lot of other irons in the fire over the years. We'll be talking about his plans soon so I'll know more about what he wants to do.

Thanks for your input.

[4129R]

I was hoping to hear from you, Alex since you probably have more and more recent experience.

My last separation was 4 weeks ago.

I pull as much off the chassis and shell as I can before separation, including the heavy doors.

The shell only has the wiring loom and 2 glass screens in it when I separate.