Bundalene's Puma project

**Bundalene** · 22nd October 2010, 06:03 PM

I managed to get onto a local panel beater who came around this morning to look at the work required on the chassis. He seemed to think it would be a relatively easy fix. He has all the stretching gear.

He has a largish project coming up but hopes to fit it the chassis repair in in about a week. I have a doner front end of a 130 chassis for a sample as well as fabricated bits.

I got to do a bit on the PUMA this afternoon. First priority was to remove the passenger guard and then run the engine. This took about an hour.

the engine started first turn of the key, it sounds so sweet, very quiet compared to the TD5 IMHO

I spent the next 2 hours marking plugs, hoses, taking pics of bits to be connected and also removed the radiator / intercooler etc.

I would hate to remove a radiator with this hose clamp in this positioning. It was difficult to remove without guards.

I also found why the power steering was out of fluid. The suction line from the pump to the fill bottle was squashed and leaked. The radiator and intercooler are intact and the condensor needs straightening as it is a bit twisted.

Next job - remove all cables from the engine going through the firewall.

Erich

**Bundalene** · 23rd October 2010, 08:05 PM

Andrew came up and gave a hand

We removed heaps off the firewall, undid a few bolts and then lifted the body off the chassis, using the hoist.

We then rolled the chassis into the shed as the weather turned nasty with wind and rain.

Next step was to remove the engine / gearbox in one piece. I have an overhead lifting beam at the front end of the shed and we chain blocked off this, with a come-a-long as a cross support and a ratchet strap to stop twisting. We used the lifting eye at the front of the engine and a strap around the gearbox

Next step was to strip the front of the chassis ready for straightening. We left as much on each assembly to make the rebuild easier.

A lot of room is needed for such a project.

Finally we lowered the body down close to the ground for safety. To remove the chassis I will lift the body up again and roll it out. The engine stays suspended until it goes back onto the chassis.

Next job to order bits needed. The chassis won't go for straightening for a week or more.

Erich

**Narangga** · 23rd October 2010, 08:51 PM

Thanks for the update Erich.

All I did today was change the centre console.

**grover7488** · 23rd October 2010, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by Stuuu

All I did today was change the centre console.

all i did was go out for lunch. To the inlaws

All day

Looks like a great project Erich. Envoy all the space you have

I have to change tyres out in the street

**dmdigital** · 23rd October 2010, 09:13 PM

Erich are they stainless or alloy billet door hinges or is it just the light in the picture making them look very shiny???

And all I did was clean the Puma's dash and mow the lawn... and sweat a lot

Ean Austral · 23rd October 2010, 09:18 PM

Wow

and all I did was Sleep today..

will admire your progress while im working tonight tho..

Its powering on, that front certainly looks as tho it took a good whack.

Cheers Ean

**Bundalene** · 23rd October 2010, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by dmdigital

Erich are they stainless or alloy billet door hinges or is it just the light in the picture making them look very shiny???

And all I did was clean the Puma's dash and mow the lawn... and sweat a lot

Well spotted. That is a brand new door plated hinge to temporarily replace the damaged hinge which was on this door.

We thought it a good idea to have all doors closed when lifting the body, to make it a bit more structurally rigid. That's why we left the roof rack on as well, even with the additional weight.

Erich

**87County** · 23rd October 2010, 10:50 PM

Erich - I'm enjoying this but don't you ever sleep ?

Questions that come to mind are -

when you lift the body of a a whole in that way, do you remove the steering column first ? .... or do you disconnect at the steering box ?

**dmdigital** · 24th October 2010, 06:27 AM

Originally Posted by Bundalene

Well spotted. That is a brand new door plated hinge to temporarily replace the damaged hinge which was on this door.

We thought it a good idea to have all doors closed when lifting the body, to make it a bit more structurally rigid. That's why we left the roof rack on as well, even with the additional weight.

Erich

Ah that explains it. Thought, with the leather seats and all, it may have had stainless hinges or some such.

That chassis sure took a good whack at the front

Also it's interesting to note that the new ARB bar mounts are not inline with the chassis using the original holes but rather use a plate to offset to the left and right. Makes me thing it might be made to fit something else as well.

**Bundalene** · 24th October 2010, 06:58 AM

This stage was relatively simple, one step at a time. I started around 7.30 am, Andrew got here at around 8.30-9 am and all was done before 5.00pm.

A point to remember is that we are fortunate with this being a brand new car and every bolt is nice and shining, no corrosion, rust, and only a little surface dirt to worry about.

Hi 87County, the steering link between the end of the column and the steering box has to be removed. There are 3 bolts securing this and once these are removed, it is possible to slide the joint far enough up the steering column to remove the knuckle off the steering box.

Removing the body in this way is the same as when the vehicle is originally built, in 2 separate lines, one with the chassis assembly merging with the body assembly.

The biggest PITA was removing the 3 plugs and especially the 2 loom fasteners, on top of the transfer, which were in the same loom as the loom going to the controls under the drivers seat. These should be in their own loom and be separately plugged IMHO.

Erich

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