Felt Chassis Saddle

[RichardHawkins]

I am struggling to fit the body to the chassis whilst including the saddle. The body goes down onto the chassis without the felt but not with the felt.

Brian Buckland says the felt can be replaced with neoprene, both Brian and the manual say the saddle should be held in place with adhesive. When I dismantled my car there was no sign of adhesive.

Brian also says the purpose of the felt is to stop vibration.

Do I need to fit the saddle? Has anyone left the saddle out, and does this cause vibration?

Richard Hawkins

[661]

I would use some closed cell foam, something that won't absorb oil/water/detritus.
It sounds like you need a thinner layer than the existing felt. I would be loath to run a road car without something there

[jono]

Just buy a neopene camping mat from Go Outdoors or The Range for less than a tenner and use that.

Stick it on with spray contact adhesive and get it nice and tight. The body needs pushing down a bit but it will go and it makes a nice snug fit. The yellow stuff is just waxoyl that I liberally applied along the chassis seams.

[berni29]

Hi

I looked into this thinking that there must be a better more modern alternative but ended up ordering the standard felt from Susan Miller.

Im surprised the body will not go down over it. Are you sure it wont?

All the best

Berni

[RichardHawkins]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the advice, and I have found my problem, which is nothing to do with the felt. I had left a couple of loose bolts through the body at the bottom bracket of the dashboard, they were just there to stop the dash from moving about as I installed it and of course I had forgotten to remove them. What confused me was that they seemed to drop into the tapped holes in the chassis without the felt saddle, but not with the saddle.

Richard Hawkins (embarrassed)

[512BB]

When ever I carry out a chassis change now, I cut the felt 2" above the horizontal rail. I have seen to many chassis' rotted out in that area where the felt gets wet, stays wet, and rusts the chassis. The felt is not in contact with the body at that point anyway.

Leslie

[bitsobrits]

Having replaced chassis with large amounts of tunnel rust in 2 of my 6 Elans, and repairing rust in the tunnel area on two, I stopped replacing the felt altogether (more like horsehair on the early cars). There are modern, thinner, adhesive backed acoustic/heat resistant products available these days which will do an equal/beter job of sound/heat attenuation and don't hold moisture at all. And you can use them in the tunnel area or in the passenger compartment. No way I'd use the original product again.

[661]

https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/si ... arge-sheet

[RichardHawkins]

Leslie & Graeme,

Thanks for the advice, I have cut the felt short, but think I will try the rubber option. Not sure there is room for
10mm though.

Richard Hawkins

[RichardHawkins]

Steve,

Old man error, I forgot to include you for suggesting the rubber option.

Richard Hawkins

[661]

Leslie & Graeme,

Thanks for the advice, I have cut the felt short, but think I will try the rubber option. Not sure there is room for
10mm though.

Richard Hawkins

They do a 6mm one too. I was guessing on the felt depth as it's been a while

[RichardHawkins]

Thanks for the help everyone, I bought 9mm and 6mm foam rubber sheet, and today I have lowered the body onto the chassis using the 9mm. I have most of the bolts in, but am struggling with the 3/8”UNF that is tapped into the chassis at the base of the dashboard on the left hand side. Hopefully I don’t have to remove the body again.

Richard Hawkins

[tonyabacus]

Richard
When you say you are having problems with the left hand 3/8 UNF, what exactly is the issue, is ihe bolt not going in far enough, that the threads are defective or that the body is not aligning with the body correctly. Try using a spike of some sort or a fine screw driver to see if the holes are in alignment as a first step, if not it may mean pulling the body up a small amount and start all of the bolts without screwing them down tightly to ensure all the holes are correctly lined up, before final tightening
Tony

[rgh0]

If the misalignment is small then grinding a point onto the bolt can help getting it aligned and the thread started.

cheers
Rohan

[RichardHawkins]

Tony,

My difficulty is with misalignment of body with chassis after painting. I have managed to fit this bolt without the dashboard, but could not move it enough now the dash is in place. Poor access and lack of strength.

From underneath the car I have screwed a 3/8” UNF hex head set screw up through the chassis and into the bobbin, forcing the bobbin to move into alignment. I then tightened the drivers side bolt to hold the chassis and body together, removed the set screw from underneath, and put a bolt in the hole from the top where the set screw had been. The bolt was a bit tight but went in.

Thanks everyone for help and advice,

Richard Hawkins