Couple of quick questions

[kev80]

Hi All,

Not sure if anyone can help, but I have a couple of questions regarding lifting the body, and copper brake lines...

1) Most people seem to use the engine crane method to lift the shell, and I note most people talk about rolling the PPF out from under the shell once hoisted. I'm unclear on how to do this, as the legs of the engine crane will be between the wheels, and I don't have enough room to move the shell to the side (perhaps bad planning on my part)! Any thoughts, or is it time to cut her up?

2) What diameter copper lines are people using for the brakes? I'm keeping the ABS, but I'm not sure what size the copper equivalent of my steel line is. 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Cheers,
Kev

[iain64]

Hi Kev I lifted my body off using an engine hoist and a small chain block. I purchased 4 eye rings from e-bay and bolted through these with the bolts that fixed the seat runners. A couple of 1 tonne strops (2 mtrs long) and up it came. The engine hoist wouldn't sit in the middle of the car if just used that, that's why I had to use the chain block. I've attached a couple of photos to show how I did it. It looked pretty precarious when I lifted it but all was fine. DON'T FORGET to remove the VIN Plate before you scrap the body and don't let your scrap dealer convince you he needs the V5, he doesn't, you do. Good luck.

[kev80]

Thanks Iain, that's really helpful.

How did you then get the shell away from the ppf, did you move it to one side? That is where I'm struggling, as I don't have enough space left to swing it away from the PPF, and I have a nice slope on the drive behind it.

I was going to use my block and tackle in the garage, but alas, my Exocet is sat in there at the moment!

[russhowell]

I lifted mine gradually and chocked it with large blocks of wood so I could see day light right through. This helped remove things such as earth straps and hand brakes etc.
Once totally happy i ended up with approx 8 inches of daylight between body and PPF, then I employed 5 friends and we lifted the body off.
Note, that the body had all removable items taken off and it was still damn heavy, and was probably not a good idea. However in future, I would do it again but have 8 of us, so that edging your feet round the hubs is made easier as more shared weight.

We then put the body down on the drive to recover. Note, that it was even worse lifting it from so low down.
Front of the car was heavier than rear, I guess becuase of wind screen.

I contemplated cutting it into 3 sections but i thnk it would be a real prob cutting it especially the larger box sections running then length of the body.

Body was collected in 1 piece by local people of no fixed abode,

Cheers
Russ

[hammy3601]

I lifted the rear wheels over the legs by hand, you could also use a trolley jack to do the same thing

[jleigh5]

Hi Kev,
I did very similar to Russ, I didn't use an engine hoist, just 1 guy on each corner with another running around making sure there were no earth straps, fuel lines etc attached. Once we were sure of that, we moved it off over the rear tyres (I would recommend taking the gear stick out (3 x 10mm bolts on the gear lever boot) as this was the highest point of the PPF and kept getting caught on the body way out).
Retaining the V5C and VIN plate from the car is very important for IVA if you don't want a Q reg.

[Stiggy]

Lifting by hand is seriously discouraged, why risk hurting your volunteer mates by slipping a disc or dropping on toes just to save the cost of hiring an engine hoist for half a day?
The body weighs around 475kg with doors, tank, seats and boot lid etc.
You can get that down to around 320kg by removing everything but asking 4 blokes to lift 80kg each whilst leaning forward and walking is asking for trouble.
The body can be cut up with a 9" angle grinder but again we must consider safety

You can buy a hoist on Ebay for £89 delivered and sell it the next day after "testing it".

[iain64]

May 20, 2019 11:30:43 GMT kev80 said:

Thanks Iain, that's really helpful.

How did you then get the shell away from the ppf, did you move it to one side? That is where I'm struggling, as I don't have enough space left to swing it away from the PPF, and I have a nice slope on the drive behind it.

I was going to use my block and tackle in the garage, but alas, my Exocet is sat in there at the moment!

Fortunately there is another drive next to mine so I just pulled the hoist back onto the other drive. I then lowered it onto a trolley made from a pallet which I could wheel around as I wanted.

[kev80]

Thanks guys, getting it away from the ppf is the bit that will be a challenge. I have a hoist. Will lift and let you know how I get on!

[jwagner]

May 20, 2019 9:23:42 GMT kev80 said:

2) What diameter copper lines are people using for the brakes? I'm keeping the ABS, but I'm not sure what size the copper equivalent of my steel line is. 

Strongly suggest that you NOT use copper for your brake lines.   Cunifer or Copper/Nickel is the right stuff for car brakes.  Google is your friend here.

Line size should be 3/16" (IIRC), but the flare nuts are metric 10x1.  3/8" flare nut will fit , but sloppily.  Edit:  Not suggesting using the wrong nut even though they sort of fit.

[hammy3601]

Go full braided mate from Freakyparts

[1055]

the PPF is lighter than you think. You should be able to lift the back wheels over the legs of the engine hoist with little issue. you can also remove the side wheel that is closest and use a rolling floor jack to lift the outrigger over.

[hammy3601]

May 21, 2019 16:20:02 GMT 1055 said:

the PPF is lighter than you think. You should be able to lift the back wheels over the legs of the engine hoist with little issue. you can also remove the side wheel that is closest and use a rolling floor jack to lift the outrigger over.

Thats exactly what i did

[kev80]

Thanks all, prepping for the big lift this evening.

[kev80]

May 21, 2019 15:50:48 GMT hammy3601 said:

Go full braided mate from Freakyparts

Where did you purchase these? I can't find any reference to them on freaky parts...