36 replies to this topic

[Talk-torque]

Thanks for this! It was a great help.

[martinroger]

You're welcome !

 

Thanks for this! It was a great help.

 

[Atom]

Invaluable, great guide, thanks 👍

[FPVsketch]

Great guide, I am going to remove mine to do the timing chain and give the rear of the car a good check over.

[172Cup]

Used this guide today to remove rear clam, thanks very much Martin.

[hairy]

Used this guide today to remove rear clam, thanks very much Martin.

 

How long did it take?

[172Cup]

 

Used this guide today to remove rear clam, thanks very much Martin.

 

How long did it take?

 

 

I ended up doing it over 2 weekends as I got stuck on removing the passenger seat first time  Was probably 5 hours in total.

 

Now that I have done it once I reckon I could do it in 2 hours next time.

[Marchwoodduffer]

Thank you Martin.This guide was a great help, couldn't have done this job otherwise. Just to add my experiences.....

 

I found two of the 4 boot bolts were turning and not undoing. These had to be cut off. The fixings are of the threaded flanged rivet captive nut type, a bag lof them available on ebay for £5.95.

 

Two of the roll bar cover bolts sheared off. Haven't dealt with that yet. One of the captive nuts to the fuel cap surround was turning. You can just get to these nuts (with some difficulty) once the offside rear wheel inner liner has been removed.

 

One of the difficult jobs is to remove the relays from within the boot. Each relay has to be removed to get at the fixings. You are basically doing this by 'feel'.

 

Both of my original steel shims placed between the rear clam and chassis had rusted to such a point that it was difficult to establish their thickness.

 

All 4 mounts to the n/s rear light had broken.

 

Whilst the clam is off do as many jobs as you can with all of that great access! I changed the fan belt, oil and air filters and the spark plugs.

 

I am now past state retirement age and no great mechanic (enthusiastic amateur). I didn't rush the job but it took me 12 hours to remove the clam and 7 hours to put it back (slightly less than the 8 hours it took me to recently replace the battery!

 

I removed the front clam last year and I think it is worthwhile doing these jobs to attend to corroded fixings and I now have piece of mind that a) both clams can now be easily removed and all fixings were either replaced or refurbished with plenty of copper grease. The only downside was very slight scratching to some of the paintwork but my car needs a re-spray anyway so this was not a problem for me.

[martinroger]

You are very much welcome. I also had 2 out of the 4 boot fixings that just sheared off, never bothered replacing them. Do you have a link to the inserts you mention? I should do that job someday.

You seem to have been quite unlucky for the fixings under the rollbar cover and the fuel surround! There are good stainless steel fixing kits on eBay for both front and rear clams.

[Marchwoodduffer]

The threaded flange rivet captive nuts are available on ebay no. 372 038 775 984.

 

I assume the sheared roll bar cover fixings have to be drilled out through the fibreglass. Sounds difficult?

 

Cheers.

 

Bob

[martinroger]

It could be tricky, yes. Which ones are sheared, the M6 or the two finicky M4 or M5 on the sides?

[Marchwoodduffer]

The two M6, nearside. I've left them for the moment. When I took the clam off there was no nuts at all to the two finicky side fixings which made me wonder whether a previous owner had removed the clam although I could find no further evidence so I am guessing they just worked loose. Surely, they wouldn't have forgotten to fix these nuts at initial build time?

[martinroger]

Ah, I'm not 100% sure which fixings you are referring to re the M6. Can you take a picture?

Regarding the two finicky ones, certainly they must have been fitted from factory, but I guess people take liberties with re-installing them because they seem non essential, and can be a pain if the washer or the nut escapes your grip. And ratcheting spanners don't fit there usually.

[Marchwoodduffer]

The bolt/nut in question is shown in your seventh photograph and above it you state 'another 10mm bolt'. I assume the roll bar cover can be completely removed to facilitate access to this bolt but any advice gratefully received.

[martinroger]

Right, I see. It is a bit uncommon!

I think this would be a fairly involved repair actually, as you would probably need to cut the stem out of the fiberglass and bond a new one in. To remove the cover I think there are those four bolts plus the two small ones at the point meeting the rear clam. Then carefully lift off after unplugging the antenna and third brake light.

[Marchwoodduffer]

Yep, thought so. A job for next year perhaps. Need to drive it now until next lay off!

[gaffer1986]

Amazing guide!