Chassis Leg Replacement

[DavidJay]

Hi, I need to replace one of my chassis legs and asked a question about the alinement of the replacement. Bmcecosse offered some excellent advice about using the eye bolt holes. I have just realised that this method is only possible with the engine removed. This got me thinking, so, my question is, do I need to remove the engine ( I am thinking of the weight on the engine mounting),before cutting out the original leg or is it possible to leave it in place.
Thanks

[chrisryder]

could you make a banana shaped jig that curves under the engine, but still picks up on both eyebolt holes?

[Dean]

Please be careful when jacking up the car, a member of this forum sadly passed away last week due to an axle stand accident whilst working under his car. Please take special and extra precautions incase your car falls while underneath.

[chickenjohn]

I would take the engine out, you can then use the tower on the chassis leg side that you are replacing to locate the new leg, in addition to the eyebolt hole. Plus take lots of measurements!

[DavidJay]

Hi all,
As I have said, I need to replace the whole leg. I was/am concerned that the replacement will have to go on in exactly the right position. I have taken lots of measurements etc. However my replacement leg arrived yesterday from BM and looking at it, I have an observation to make. As it is a whole leg the lengthwise position is determined by the flanges on the end that are welded to the crossmember. There are also the holes for the engine mounting and the captive nuts for the transmission tunnel cover. Whilst I am not being complacent, I occurs to me that, using these, it is going to be quite difficult to get the positioning very wrong.
What does anyone else think

[Dean]

I wouldn't take it for granted David.

Have you looked at Taupe's restoration thread? He does a pretty detailed explanation how he, and where he took his measurements from when doing the leg. Now his car is in a bad way, so quite extreme, but a good guide none the less. I refer to this as I wish to help, but haven't tackled the job myself.

The link below, takes you to where I think he started working on the leg. Have a read anyway, it is inspiring.


http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... &start=150

[bmcecosse]

I think that will be near enough! Offer it up - and then check the dimension to the hole and compare it with the sizes you noted before you removed the old one...... or at least - compare with the other side. But I imagine this will be a v difficult job to do working with the engine in place........ How will you get in to weld the inner seam ?

[oilypaws]

I did the front half of the chassis legs on both sides on mine. I had the car stripped and on its side which made things a LOT easier. The engine weight sits on the front of the chassis legs so removing them with the engine in would be problematic.

When I pulled mine apart I discovered that it had been crashed and badly repaired at some point. The front cross member was bent like a banana and the chassis legs (and therefore the whole front end) were pulled in by a few mm. When I cut through the cross member the ends sprung apart... Also, measurements showed that the chassis legs forward of the suspension mount point were about 4 mm shorter than the new ones!

For spacing, I just took measurements from the chassis legs at the back by the cross member, and used that at the front. As for the length, by the time I had hammered all the wrinkles out of the engine bay and inner wings, things seemed about right again!

I have the front suspension back on now, and it looks good, and I figure that the alignment must be better than it was! The car is not exactly a formula one anyway, and there's quite a bit of tolerance in the fit of everything. However, I haven't put the engine back in yet so fingers crossed that it still fits!

I have a gallery of photos here:

http://pics.livejournal.com/bubblesthem ... y/0004sq3k