Replacing rear crossmember.

Hi everyone, new on here looks like a top site, i am going to be replacing the rear crossmember on my 2a next week, whats the best way of cutting the old 1 off, can anyone recommend ewt. i was thinking either an angle grinder or 1 of them reciprocating saws, just wondering if any of you guys know a better way, looks a bit awkward getting a grinder in and trying to do a neat job. thanks in advance, neil.

9" angle grinder will get you most of the way through, then finish it off with a reciprocating saw. unless you're removing the tub and can get at it from top and bottom. if you cut it a bit short, you can tidy it up afterwards with a grinder.
don't forget the wiring loom which runs through the chassis!

Thanks, i did wonder if there would be any wiring going thro it, thats just confimed it, don't really fancy cutting thro that

I recently replaced my Series III rear cross member but I did it with the tub off that way it was easy to get off and easy the weld the new one back on. Taking the back tub off might seem like unnecessary time and effort but IMHO it will make the whole job easier.

I saw a bloke use a plasma cutter to do this, they ent cheep but if you can borrow one they look real good, think he paid 700 quid for it so it will need to be a good mate to lend it to you. I used it to cut up an old sack truck and it was great

you could use oxy acetylene if you were really carefull.

last one i did i used a normal sized grinder with an ultra thin cutting disc - cuts less than 2mm

Makita Metal Cutting Discs 115 x 22.2 x 1mm - Screwfix.com, Where the Trade Buys

With the Tub off I cut the old Xmember off with a 4" angle grinder and only went thru a couple of cutting discs which cost 50p each.

hi, done this job several times and used small angle grinder and a reciprocating saw from screwfix. the rear loom.. either attach a piece of wire to it, mark the wire so you know how far to push in to clear the cut site. cut boldly. then attach another piece of wire as you will have cut through the first piece. thread this back through the new chassis, position chassis and give the wire a push to make sure you push the loom back beyond the weld site. then weld boldly! welding finished you pull on your wire and if all goes well the loom obligingly comes through.
now this is easy. the next bit is my clever bit; before you start, prepare the new chassis for welding as usual but cut the top of the new box section back at an angle so the longer side is inboard. this will enable a weld to be easily done from outside without removing the tub to weld the top. there should just be enough room to get the weld nozzle in without any difficulty.
have fun!

Just an up-date, done the cross member today, went really well, didn't manage to cut thro any wiring or set ewt on fire took me about 4 hours all in, didn't think that was too bad really, i went for the 4" grinder with the thin slitting wheels in and finished it off with a reciprocating saw, thanks to all who replied, advice was greatfully appreciated, regards neil