SIIa bulkhead removal

[rockley12]

Hi there every-one,

I am in the process of a bare chassis rebuild. I have removed everything from the chassis except the engine/g-box, running gear and firewall/bulkhead.

Everything has been removed from the firewall and all nuts and bolts removed EXCEPT the 2 main (11/16 I think) bolts that hold the bullkhead to the chassis out-riggers. They do not want to come out.

Is there a trick to removing these large last 2 bolts?

:confused:

[Landy Smurf]

if the nuts are off then get a punch and tap them through might tke abit but will come

[JDNSW]

As Tony said. But although they are galvanised, they are likely to be rusted firmlu in place. Long soaking in penetrating oil will help, as will applying heat (I assume you are painting everything, so getting it hot enough to remove paint won't hurt).

One Series 2a I dismantled I ended up hacksawing between the chassis and the firewall and (eventually) managed to punch out the bits from the chassis and the firewall.

John

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Time and a little effort. First undo and remove the nut. Spray on a penetrating oil and let it sit. Then using a long ring spanner (or preferably single hex socket & 3/4" or 1" square drive breaker bar ) on the bolt head and get the bolt turning. If unsuccessful you can even add a little heat with a primus or butane torch but an oxy/acetylene torch is too hot. heat it up and spray on more penetrating fluid, let it sit overnight to cool down and repeat. Rome wasn't built in a day and butchers can destroy things in seconds.

Once the bolt is turning you can try to drift it out, but if you do have to resort to violence, replace the nut so that the bolt is at the same height as the nut face. You can use a lump hammer or small sledge hammer to "tap" the bolt while applying a turning moment on the spammer at the other end.

Clean and inspect the bolt, if rusted it is preferable to replace the bolt with a new or good condition second hand one. Before reassembling the chassis/firewall. Clean out and de-rust the tubes with coarse wet and dry and possbly phosphoric acid to kill any rust and clean out again. When inserting the bolt apply grease liberally to both the bolt and the tubes (or use neverseize). Next time it wont be such a problem.

Remember patience is the key.

(If Rockley is what I think it is, become mates with Justin for Land Rover knowledge!)

[peterg1001]

Then using a long ring spanner (or preferably single hex socket & 3/4" or 1" square drive breaker bar ) on the bolt head and get the bolt turning.


When I did mine I cut the nut end of the bolt off flush with the chassis, then put a 1 metre pipe on the end of the socket breaker bar and leaned.

This was after about half a gallon of WD40 - it started turning eventually, and then I was able to drift it out.

Peter

[d@rk51d3]

One of mine came out quite easily, the other was a nightmare.

The nut came off ok,............ so did the head.:(

Took many days of WD40 and driving it out with another bolt and a big hammer.

[The ho har's]

IIRC "bessie" the fire wall was the easiest to remove...door still has broken doortop bolts in it:(

Mrs hh:angel:

[Lostkiwi]

Mine were easy! The whole lot had rusted away:D Bit harder putting it back together thou:(

[rockley12]

Many thanks for all the suggestions...all with a common underlying theme!

Patience, persistencce and (possibly) pain!

btw, Rockley is about 35km south of Bathurst, NSW.

any one in the area, please drop in for a visit...i'm not hard to find if i am in the shed, bloody hard to find if i'm not.

cheers:)

[drifter]

My in-laws are in Bathurst. They used to be out on a property by Burraga - and have family in Rockley.

[rockley12]

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

i ended up heating one with a butane torch and i had to jump up and down on the ring spanner, wiggle it around and jiggle it to get some small movement. Came loose after a while.

The bulkhead is now at media blasting and will get a new pair of foot wells before painting.

[WillD]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post actually- i have been lurking here for a year or two and only just found an SIIa so haven't posted until now.

I am having the same problem with the two main bolts. I can get them to rotate (with the nut off) but am timid about banging it out with a hammer- will it damage the thread of the bolt?
Would supporting the weight of the bulkhead help?

Cheers,

Will

[JDNSW]

Use a brass drift to hit the bolt. It is likely that you will want to replace it in any case. Supporting the bulkhead will make little difference to how easy it is to get the bolts out, but you need to support it in any case to avoid damage from falling when the second one comes out (although replacing the first bolt out with something that is a loose fit such as a tent peg is probably a good idea).

John