Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

If you are concerned about stability of the arms of the 2 post. Make a frame for the arms so they dont move. Even just a 2x4 with holes drilled, and rope secured to the arms.

As a PS to my earlier post, on the second plus 2 I disembodied - having looked at a couple of photos - I noticed that I had removed the doors.

I also removed the roof but that is another story.

PS to this PS, I can't remember if I removed the doors before or after I parted body and frame...it was a couple of decades ago.

Been thinking how to start my +2 restoration, and thought this group would have good ideas,. have looked through above

Very little space and wondered if could lift body off and pull chassis thru, able bodied men not so available at my age Was thinking of raising whole car, supporting body then lowering car, maybe without wheels, would a wood frame be sufficient, any ideas on weight of body with/without doors/trim?

See strong cills essential, presume they should be replaced before any parting of body?

Cheers

Paul

I think it depends on what lifting equipment you have available. The chassis without engine and gearbox is still a heavy lump to move and supporting the whole car then moving lifting equipment to separate chassis from body could be dangerous if you don’t have proper lifting gear. Think Health & Safety.

I would suggest it’s safer to lift the lighter body.
Remove as much weight from the body as is possible, all interior, door mechanisms, etc, taking as many photo's as possible as you do it. Believe bit me this is invaluable.
Then remove all body mounting bolts and carefully jack the body up. I use two hydraulic jacks onto blocks of wood positioned just inside the sills. Raise the body till it’s clear of the chassis then slide a couple of blocks between the body and chassis.
You now have many options for lifting the body clear. The method you choose will depend on space, available lifting equipment, supporting structure, height for lifting equipment and manpower.

I have recently trial fitted the body to chassis several times following extensive repair work. I did this single handed using ratchet straps attached to some roof beams, see pics.





This is cheap controllable and safe. Once the body was lowered onto blocks on the chassis I repositioned the straps through the rear turrets and round a beam in the engine bay. Final lowering is by the hydraulic jacks.

Dave

Thanks Dave, the pictures are helpful and interesting I have similar space, altho height maybe an issue but timber supports look feasible and also it doesn't look as tho lifting points are too critical? Is it best to leave doors on/off? And do I need to replace sill reinforecments first before lifting - I'm assuming they're shot?

Just thinking at moment but want to start in next few months.

Cheers

Paul

I originally lifted the body with the doors on and motors etc still in, or rather my mates lifted it while I called instructions and rolled the chassis away. In hindsight I should have either removed the doors or disassembled them. The weight was at the limit of my helpers.

If you're doing it on your own I would suggest you disassemble the doors. Leaving them in position once disassembled is a personal choice as they're not very heavy but removing them is better for access.

I removed the body using scafold tubing picking up on the jacking points, only afterwards did I realise how shot the sills were. You could replace the sills as the first tasks while the car is still on the ground, otherwise inspect and make sure they adequate to support lifting.

Dave

Thanks Dave, I'm assuming sills are rotten so will replace first. I like the idea of doing it myself (or 2 people), not easy to get sufficient people and wary of injuries at our ages.....also reading about mating to new chassis means it has to come off again and maybe again and I'm not made of beer Hence questions on timber supports as easiest to fabricate, scaffold bar underneath looks good too. Does anyone know the body weight?

Cheers

Paul

Hi Dave,
I like your solution and I’m tempted to follow it if my roof beams are strong enough and the spacing is suitable. Does anyone know what the weight of a stripped out body without doors, boot and bonnet is?

As I see it, you used a single central strap to get the body off the chassis and then used a more stable solution of 4 straps to lift it higher. For the first stage, how were the lower ends of the straps attached to support the body?

I have been using bottle jacks and axle stands to lift my body off the chassis onto concrete blocks with wooden beams under the length of the floor pan. Lifting and lowering is a slow process and the blocks prevent me from wheeling the chassis from under the body shell.

I think I would use wooden beams instead of scaffold poles, I already have them and they won’t be inclined to slide or twist.
Mike

The first stage is to jack the body from the chassis using a couple of hydraulic jacks placed either side onto a couple of blocks to spread the load. When clear of the chassis, about 12 inches lift, then slide 2 beams between the chassis and body.

I used 2 scaffold tubes for the beams with threaded bar into the jacking points. Attach a ratchet strap to each end of the beam and ratchet each strap a couple of times in succession to lift the body to the required height. About 36 inches from the ground is required to slide the chassis in/out. Note: the ratchets eventually bind up as the strap diameter increases. You then support one end of the beam, release the strap and reset. The same is required for lowering so beware not to run out of wrapped strap and release from the mechanism when lowering.

Having raised and lowered it several times I developed a short cut where the rear straps pass through the suspension turret holes under the floor were the fuel tank sits and up through the other suspension tower, using two straps (the rear glass is removed of course). They are best spaced apart on the roof beam as this gives it some sideways stability (this is not shown in the earlier pics). The front straps go round a beam placed in the engine bay as close to the bulkhead as possible. This short cut enables the body to be lowered to within 3 inches of the chassis. The final 3 inches being by hydraulic jack.

It's pretty simple and cheap, just be careful not to run out of strap when lowering the body or the strap will come loose. Not a disaster if you use four straps, as three will support the body so don't try to use only one strap at the rear.

Excellent, many thanks.

Just to complete this, here are couple of pics of the rear location and belt positioning.

Dave

Neat....

Interesting to see the methods of removing the body shell, I was a lot less knowledgeable back when I removed my body shell, first I removed the doors and disconnected anything that would prevent lifting the body from the chassis complete with engine transmission less Webers radiators etc.
Next step was to jack up the body with jacks and building four columns of timbers and bricks jacking up till it had the height to push the chassis out though from under the car onto the drive. At this point I built a frame under the body to support it at a height I could continue work. I cannot remember all the final details pity I did not photograph all the actions.
Returned the shell back on the body in the same way

All this was done single handed without any assistance I must have been mad it was a long time ago I take more care and thought over things now.





It worked for me

Dave,
I've lifted the car using ratchet straps as per your idea. How do you lower it again? Ratchet straps are great for lifting but......

thanks
Mike

With a bare bodyshell, no doors bonnet and boot lid, plus no glass or seats, four of us lifted it off easily and put it back without any problems, engine was out while we did it and just lifted while a fifth person rolled the chassis out and my body transit frame back in. Reversed the process to put the body back on.