rear x-member removal/replacement

on a 1989 classic.
has anyone done this job before, if so any suggestions how i go about removing what remains of my rear x-member, and which parts of the goalposts do i leave in place

Cant help you there sorry, thankfully my classic when I had it had a brilliant chassis, just the body that was rotten

yes Ive just done one on the 72 . see my albums.

you need lower tailgate bumper, lol and both rear wings off. towbar out the way too if you have one and fuel tank out to be safe for the weding.

centre boot floor will have to come out out , or at least up at the back. easy with ally but bollix with steel.

drill out the spot welds on the bottom of each side of the rear hoop and then take off the rear body mount/bolts. then wiggle it out and the new one in

refitting is a reversal of removal lol

you will need to plug weld in the spot welds you drilled out

I cant emphasise enough how much rust proofing you must do , the wold area is a complete water trap and you dont want to have to do this again too soon

Thanks for that, it made interesting viewing,
I will defo take your advice regards waterproofing.

and the rest I hope

All as fett says quite an interesting job one thing not mentioned but may be in fett's album is to tack the cross member on first fit the bottom tailgate on and check that it still closes and locks properly if it does then finish the welding as when it is all welded up there is very little adjustment on the tailgate hinges and lock striker plates.
Hope this helps and good luck

I saw a thread somewhere that suggested tacking a couple of bars diagonally across the tailgate opening before removing the x-member, to keep it all square.

good pint treeman. if you look in the pics you can see the wooden wedges I used to adjust the hoop up and down to get that right and hold it in place whilst I welded it .

jonbill said:

I saw a thread somewhere that suggested tacking a couple of bars diagonally across the tailgate opening before removing the x-member, to keep it all square.

Click to expand...

its surprising how much it didnt move , especially as the drivers side boot floor was completly missing on mine at the time lol

fett said:

and the rest I hope

Click to expand...

sorry, yes it was all taken on board, and greatly received, as was all other advice.
I will keep you informed as to how it goes

it went v quick mate , i think you could do it in a day easy second time round, maybe a lil longer the first time.

good luck, I hope it goes well

OK so I have removed both wings, drilled out all the spotwelds, cut the chassis mounting bolts, seperated the floor, and disconnected all wiring.
How do I now remove the old x-member? do I need to raise the inner floor sections to take the weight off the x-member, or have I missed something????

yeah you will need to get it up a bit and or cut the brackets off to let you wobble it out , It doesnt look like it will come out or the new one will go in but it does just be brutal with it.

looking good mate well done for getting stuck in!!

okey dokey, thanks for that, time to get BRUTAL :5bsmash:

yup, I folded my old one up a bit it was that bad lol

How the feck do I get the bloody thing out, its not welded anwhere, nor riveted, but is still a tight fit into the space where it goes, how on earth do i get it out, and then get the new one back in???????

well my boot center section was out completly , I am guessing yours need to be out more at least.

failing that tie it to a tree and drive off

I can't see that helping much, as when I jack up the rear corners under the inner wing area the whole car goes up not just the body and the floor is only connected via rivets anyway.
The x-member seems to be stuck below the goalposts, and above the centre section of the chassis with no way of getting it out over the sloping part of the chassis.

it will help, but I remember thinkin the exact same thing but some abuse pulling pushing rolling and twistingand it came out. it really does

Well I guess I will have another go tomorrow and hopefully get it out