Re: Removing frame from car...

[srubano@xxxx]

I have also done a frame off restoration. If you are swapping out a 
complete rolling chassis (all suspension parts are on the "new 
chassis") and you are just going to install your engine along with 
the fuel system, it will probably be a good weekend project. If you 
are going to just swap a bare frame and have to transfer everything 
from the old to new....that will take time. I figure a better part of 
maybe 4 days or so for a DIY. It is not all that difficult to remove 
the frame with the engine/tranny/fuel system intact. There are 12 
bolts (if memory serves me correct) that hold the body to the 
chassis. 2 are in the luggage compartment, 6 are in the car itself (2 
are the actual bolts that mount the seat belt clip to the frame) 
under the carpet just below the center console on either side and two 
are in the engine compartment. You will them have to disconnect and 
pull the battery cables from the body of the car along with 
disconnecting the parking brake cables, Steering link, heater hoses 
(the two that go to the heater core inside the passenger side), 
Vacuum hose going to the Brake master cylinder booster, the two brake 
lines going into the master cylinder, the one line going into the 
master clutch cylinder, disconnect the front wire harness going to 
the frame, disconnect all wires in the engine compartment going to 
the engine, all ground wires in the engine compartment going from the 
frame to the body and also in the front of the car, disconnect the 
A/C line going to the accum (BE VERY CARFULL DOING THAT! Make sure 
you have the system vacuumed out of all R-12 safely and that you take 
great care removing the hose from the accum) and remove the shifter 
boot along with the seal below it from inside the car. Once you have 
done all that you can then lift the body off the frame as Nick did (I 
did it differently when I removed it, but did it his way when I put 
the frame back). As you lift the Body off the frame keep an eye out 
for any stray wires or lines that you may have missed when 
disconnecting everything. Once the body is in the air and the frame 
will clear it, roll it on out. One bit of advice, I removed the front 
wheels and laid the front end on a dolly. This brought the front of 
the chassis down a little bit ( so you don't have to raise the body 
to far for it to clear) and it also allowed better control (steering) 
as you roll the chassis out. It made it allot easier to move the 
front end around instead of kicking the front tires around to steer 
it.
You can do all this by yourself but suggest that you have a friend or 
two to help you out to have an extra set of eyes and for safety 
reasons.

Steve Rubano

--- In dmcnews@xxxx, shirazcupala@xxxx wrote:
> In a recent post, Nick reference his site where there are pitures 
of 
> his car with the frame separated from the body. See the link below 
> for the pictures. He says it took about 5 hours to do the 
> separation. It looks like both pieces are in tact except being 
> separated. I know this can't be entirely true because of certain 
> hoses and lines. However, these pictures make me wonder if it is 
> relatively easy to swap frames in case of frame damage. I 
originally 
> thought that you'd have to take the whole car apart.
> 
> Does anyone have any knowledge of how much time/effort would be 
> involved in just swapping the DeLorean frame?
> 
> thanks,
> shiraz
> 
> --- In dmcnews@xxxx, njp548@xxxx wrote:
> Nick 1852 Http://members.aol.com/njp548