TheTallOne
Daily Driver
Since I do spin the car around quite a bit I'm gonna get my new floor frame/bracing in before I plasma cut the old floor out
I thought you might be tempted to drill out all the spot welds that held the floor in place and build up from thereSince I do spin the car around quite a bit I'm gonna get my new floor frame/bracing in before I plasma cut the old floor out
There is a reason why the coolant pipe cover was SO difficult to remove, it is structural to the chassis of the exxe, or why there are SO many spot welds holding the cover in place.Coolant pipes are a massive pain to remove. I drilled or die ground out 73ish spot welds on the main cover. Finding the spots through the undercoating was near impossible, and the cover would need pretty extensive repair to the flange to weld back on were I planning to go that route.
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I would not attempt to remove/replace the coolant pipes without a lift or better yet a rotisserie. If I had to attempt such a thing I would instead carefully cut the bottom of the cover with an angle grinder and metal/diamond wheel, using a guide to set the depth of cut to not knick the tubes (but you're replacing/repairing them anyways, do you care?)
Just thinking about cutting all those spot welds hurts, lolI thought you might be tempted to drill out all the spot welds that held the floor in place and build up from there
The tunnel will be extended down with plates/braces to meet my new cross rails in at least 3 places. I have yet to decide if part of the floor and new coolant cover will be bolt on for ease of access/maintenance when I get to working the steering box, brakes, etcThere is a reason why the coolant pipe cover was SO difficult to remove, it is structural to the chassis of the exxe, or why there are SO many spot welds holding the cover in place.
Keep this in mind for whatever alterations planned, do not simply ignore-discard what the folks at Bertone/Fiat designed into the exxe chassis.
Bernice
That three piece section of stamped sheet metal is stronger or as strong as a single rectangular steel tube at lower weight. Keep in mind strength/rigidity comes from a combination of structural shape, materials and how the shape will be loaded.Greg you have drawn what I was trying to describe, but the green is 2 pieces of metal welded somewhere (can't remember where).
I've been thinking and the best way I can think of is pretty much what you have in mind I think.
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You definitely want to pop off the out sill if just to check the condition of the yellow inner sill. The reason know about this section of the car if I had to repair mine. out sill corrosion repair which on digging showed I had inner sill corrosion as well. I had to remove out sill, I then cut out the bad of the inner sill, cut down a repair panel for the inner sill, welded it in and welded on a new outer sill.
If you do one side at a time it "should" be strong enough to peel back the outer sill. It was on mine when I did the repair, but I did mine with the car on its wheels.
As you cut in, repair all corrosion you find to help keep the strength of the chassis, and then you know you are building onto something solid.
I think the outer is the easy part, its the rest of the floor I think might be where you have to get creative
While the car was upside down I thought I would measure how much I will actually be affecting my ground clearance. With the 3 inch high tube welded underneath the frame I will be effective lowering the car's clearance by 1.25 inches. I don't know how far people have commonly lowered their cars, but 1.25 inches without changing suspension angles at ride height seems reasonable
That is now going to be my entertainment for the next couple evenings, thank youIf you haven't seen this two-part series, here's a take on how to fit a tall person into an X1/9:
But also keep in mind the X's suspension sits incredibly high, leaving huge open gaps at the tops of the fender arches (even worse at the front than the rear). Typically I lower mine a few inches just to get a decent overall appearance for my taste. That leaves little ground clearance already. Reduce it another 1.5" by lowering the floor and it will pretty much be resting on the ground at full ride height.That is now going to be my entertainment for the next couple evenings, thank you
As to the lowering discussion, I'm dropping the overall ground clearance by 1.25", not (yet) altering suspension geometry. Having parked my stick suspension Lemons X next to a number of factory delivered cars from and Alfa Romeo Guilias and mustangs to Honda Civics I am confident that ground clearance will not be an issue. The X sits quite a bit higher than any of those cars
This car has very little hope of being stock appearing by the end of this. I'm anticipating at least 5 inches wider overall in my eventual attempt to engine/trans swap and use factory available axles and bolt in hub bearings. At some point this becomes a test bed for the Lemons car too. So flares will definitely be reworked for better looksBut also keep in mind the X's suspension sits incredibly high, leaving huge open gaps at the tops of the fender arches (even worse at the front than the rear). Typically I lower mine a few inches just to get a decent overall appearance for my taste. That leaves little ground clearance already. Reduce it another 1.5" by lowering the floor and it will pretty much be resting on the ground at full ride height.