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| 8 & 10 cyl Bristol cars Type 407 onwards - restoration, repair, maintenance etc |
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13-02-23, 09:25 PM
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Progress. After many days of soaking the offending bolts with PB Blaster (penetrant), the 18 bolts holding the crossmember to the front of the frame rails have all been loosened ready for removal. The steering U-Joint has been disconnected from the steering box and the tubular frame ahead of the crossmember is all loosened up too.
One challenge remains before I try to actually remove the crossmember: there are bolts holding the inner fender wall to the top of the crossmember and, so far, I haven't got any of them out. There are 4 each side on the 408 (I think later cars only had 3) and they are partially hidden by a large ridge on the top of the crossbeam. It makes getting a socket on there impossible. So I will have to put a wrench there and use the socket inside except the clearances by the manifolds don't leave room for a socket there either on the rear two bolts each side! I attempted to cut the head off one bolt but I was trying to be sure I didn't cut the metal the bolt passes through and didn't cut far enough in so I cut the head, not the threaded neck!!!! I think I'll be able to do it with help and a neighbour has offered to assist later this week. David 
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14-02-23, 06:05 AM
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Hi David,
I used an angle grinder with a thin disc to grind off the heads. Don’t worry about the sheet metal of the inner fenders a lot, when you have the front crossmember out you will anyway clean and repaint them ..  Regards Thomas
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14-02-23, 04:16 PM
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Quote:
David
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19-02-23, 10:04 PM
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In the end, I did grind off those bolts holding the fender wall to the crossbeam.
The front crossbeam is now completely detached from the chassis and body of the car but is still not removed. The pic below shows the problem: I can't get the u-joint off the splined end of the steering column. It has to come out as the u-joint is inside the crossbeam and the hole the steering column passes through is too small for the U-joint to go through to take it out of there. I have removed the clamping bolts on both ends of the u-joint and the steering box end slides freely. The steering column end will not shift. Applying leverage just pulls the whole steering column down towards the steering box by about 1/2". I have applied PB Blaster penetrant, I have applied heat (albeit with only a small propane torch) and I have hammered a chisel in there (many, many times) but it won't separate from the column splines. Any suggestions, please? I am considering just cutting the column to get it out but will have to check what would be entailed in repairing it and what parts may be needed and available. David
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20-02-23, 07:23 PM
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Success!!!!!
I applied the propane torch for 30 minutes today. Then after some levering with a pickle fork, the spines came clear of the u-joint. Thanks for all the advice that got me to this point. Here's the suspension subframe/crossbeam out of the car!!!!! Once I have dismantled the steering and upper wishbones, it will go to the welder for repair of the rusted out areas. David Last edited by dwomby; 21-02-23 at 11:50 AM.
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21-02-23, 04:35 AM
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Well done David!
That was quite a job! Must be very satisfying to get the subframe off. In some ways it's fortunate that you are restoring everything because it means get the angle grinder out if need be. Looking forward to seeing how you tackle the Wishbone Challenge :-) When you get the wishbones off, in the past I wrote a post about getting to bushes out. Probably don't need to tell you this, but make sure you clearly mark the wishbones arms so they can be re-assembled exactly where they were orignally. Kevin Last edited by Kevin H; 21-02-23 at 02:11 PM.
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