Ways to remove S1 chassis

[460384]

I have read and learned that you can get the chassis out from under or thru the rear of the car. At Log 35 I met David M from OR.  He told me that he has removed it from under three times.  I also know that Serge S and Jim B removed the frames thru the firewall. My observations of the two methods are:

A. Remove chassis from under the car
(1) Do not have remove most of the stuff attached to the chassis
(2) Easier to drop the chassis out and roll it away on wheels
(3) Harder to cut from under without a lift
(4) Higher risk to damage the body due to lack of structure support after cutting
(5) Fiberglass work to patch the opening under the car is hard after the chassis is repaired

B. Remove chassis thru engine bay
(1) Do have remove everything from chassis
(2) Harder to extract the chassis thru the firewall
(3) Less risk to damage the body due to more support from the interior floor, but front compartments still subject to damages
(4) Fiberglass work to patch the firewall and under the T-section is a bit easier.

How did the Lotus do it at the factory when they put the Europa together? Please share your experience on this subject.  A wise man said, measure three times and cut it one time. I just want to make sure before I am taking on this major task.

[jbcollier]

The factory sandwiched the frame between upper and lower body sections.

I removed mine through the firewall.  Not hard to do at all.  Under two hours to get it out.  Lots of work to fibreglass it back in though.  Try to take out large sections!  Much easier later on!!

[Grumblebuns]

Tom,

I've had my S1 for several years now and have not done anything with it, got too many other projects ahead of it. I would be very interested in following your progress as reference when I do get to mine. Please take a lot of pictures.

Joji Tokumoto
FAllbrook, Ca

[Serge]

Did mine through the firewall as well.

[Tom Bartlett]

I, too, am considering removing the chassis of my S1 as I am almost finished with my Lotus 7 replica.  My goals are simply to check the integrity of the chassis and to install a modern engine while the chassis is separate from the body.  My question is, if I cut the fiberglass from the bottom of the chassis in order to remove it, won’t the remaining body be similar to a Series 2? (I don’t mind adding a few temporary braces while the body is removed.) Thanks for any information about what I am about to attempt.
Tom Bartlett

[Serge]

Please do remove the chassis for inspection. You never know what you can expect. Mine looked like this:








Serge

[jbcollier]

Lucky!

Mine looked like this:

http://s250.photobucket.com/user/jbcollier/library/Europa%20frame?sort=3&page=1

(caution, photo bucket has turned into an annoying site with lots of pop-up ads)

[jbcollier]

Best to talk to someone who cut it out the bottom as they'll know the pluses and minuses.  Try the yahoo list as there are more S1 owners there.

[BDA]

Yikes! Those are some UGLY frames! I'm glad you guys got yours out before something really bad happened! And I know you're even gladder!

[jbcollier]

Because the frame is fully enclosed, there is no drainage and moisture get in and stays in with the illustrated results.  I would be surprised if any original S1 frame didn't need major work.

[BDA]

For the reasons you mentioned, and the fact that it was not a replaceable item, it should have been made out of stainless steel - or galvanized at least - but then that would have probably made it too expensive.

[460384]

Thank you for sharing the pics of your frames.  I will try Yahoo list to see what S1 owners have to say about the cutting.  I know already that my frame is rusted in front and it needs repair or replacement.

[Tom Bartlett]

So, I finally finished my (2) Lotus 7 replicas, and now have started to tackle the Europa.  After doing as much research as I could find (including YouTube) I decided to remove the chassis from the bottom.  Now that I accomplished that, the following are my observations:
1. Removal of the chassis from the bottom seems to require much less cutting than going through the firewall, according to the videos on Youtube.
2. I followed the outline of the T-section and the main backbone closely with a sawzall so a relatively small portion was removed.
3. The body remains surprisingly rigid.  I can even open and close the doors (but I left them closed).
4.  The body (devoid of interior, instruments, and most wiring) must weigh less than 250 pounds.  Easy to lift with my engine hoist.
5.  I plan to re-glass the cut portions back after the chassis is repaired.

[jbcollier]

Congrats.  Would love to see photos of what it looks like underneath now the frame is out.

Reread the whole thread.  Lotus supplied galvanized chassis for a while and then stopped.  Too many were distorting during galvanizing.

[jbcollier]

PS:  The nice thing about doing an S1 is that you feel more than half way done when the replacement/repaired chassis is back in place... and that is where everyone with S2s and TCs starts!