Re: Project Poppy - 1987 MkII GT

[The Autoad]

Here is the best picture i could find to illustrate for you Paul. Its a mk1 but the same is true of a mk2.

The fixing points for the two bolts that you have to drill (or use the 'diver method above) are at the top arrow, this is where the support bracket from the bulkhead attaches to the steering column.

The lower arrow denotes the fixing for the 13mm nut.



Hope this helps boss.

[Cpt Custom]

It's the ones on the steering column Paul … I personally cut a slot in them with my dremel and screwdrivered them out.

Here is the best picture i could find to illustrate for you Paul. Its a mk1 but the same is true of a mk2.

Much appreciated both of you. I now know exactly what I need to do and I’ve even got a Dremel, which up to now has only been used for removing old grout from between the bathroom tiles! Not a job I’d recommend by the way …

[Tim_R]

Having just read your entire thread, that's some pretty serious commitment on the repairing! I'd have had second thoughts when pulling my car apart to find that much rust. At least yours was straight when you started though! That said, I know what these things are like.

[Cpt Custom]

I had a reasonably productive couple of hours at the workshop today. Borrowed an old T-bar and a piece of pipe from Poppy’s landlord to form a make-shift breaker bar so as to get the leverage I needed to finally get the driveshaft nuts loosened off.

It was either that or £27.99 from Halfords!

At first they still put up a fight, but that was more because with no brakes and only a couple of small chocks the shell was rocking a tad back and forth. However, I then put a piece of breeze block behind the wheels and managed to get them off …



I also took the old exhaust off this afternoon …



Like so much on this car it’ll be getting replaced so I just hacksawed through it as close to the rear beam as I could get so it could be jiggled free.

Hope to get back up tomorrow so I can have a go at dropping the steering column.

[Cpt Custom]

Had hopes that I’d get the steering column dropped today so I could get that pesky bracket out the engine bay, but things didn’t go very well.

Despite trying several places I wasn’t able to get a cutting disc for my Dremel or a screw extractor, which I thought I needed to remove the shear-head bolts from the steering column. Then someone suggested I try using a hammer and a punch or something similar to tap the thread around to get it to a point where I could get at it with a pair of grips.

However, that didn’t work either!

Then I sat in contemplation. The view from above …



The view from below …



And the more I contemplated the more confused I got … not helped by never having come across this type of bolt before.

If I cut a notch in it with the Dremel, do I do that on the underside because I don’t think I can get in to cut it on the topside?

Alternatively, if I try to drill it out using a screw extractor do I do that from the top or the bottom?

And which direction am I trying to turn it?

[Funky Diver]

That's the one you want to slot matey... the inner bit is the bolt part :)

You could of course also have at it with the stud extractor too, the outcome should be the same, and if you have stud extractors, that'll probably be a better bet (and simpler in all honesty :))

[Cpt Custom]

The saga of the pesky bracket continues ...

Got a stud extractor set, but still not managed to get the nut on the steering column off. Because of how thick the extractor is it fouls the steering column, which is just enough to knock it off line and so prevent the mechanism from catching!

So, I've now ordered up a screw extractor set and a tap wrench. Stay tuned for further developments!

[DT1]

If there's room to get a file in there, couldn't you file couple of flats on the head and use a small open spanner?

[Cpt Custom]

If there's room to get a file in there, couldn't you file couple of flats on the head and use a small open spanner?

Yet another good idea Colin ... me thinks their days are numbered!

[Cpt Custom]

Well the screw extractor set and the tap wrench arrived!

So on Saturday, armed with those tools plus my electric drill and a centre punch I set off to try (yet again) to get those bolts out so I could drop the steering column. I started by using the centre punch to create a small hole in the end of the bolt so as to give the drill a start …



With the hole drilled, I selected the second smallest extractor from the set and slowly and carefully using the tap wrench began to screw it into the inside of the bolt. Seems these things are meant to screw in anti-clockwise and when they tighten fully the idea is you continue to try and turn it at which point the bolt itself should then be forced to turn.

Everything went fine until it was fully tightened and I tried to turn it further at which point it snapped thus leaving a piece of hardened steel stuck in the centre of the bolt head!

Can’t say this surprised me though as I’d read they have a habit of doing this.

Hacked off, I decided to come back to that one and turned my attention to the one on the passenger side of the column. This time I thought I’d try using the smallest extractor to see if I could get a better result, but that snapped too, but at least the end piece dropped out.

So next I went for a larger extractor and would you believe it worked a treat … coming out just as it’s meant too!

Right I thought; let’s try using the larger extractor on the first bolt. However, with the broken piece from the first extractor still inside it I just couldn’t get a new hole drilled anywhere near the centre.

I was really worried that if I continued in that vein I’d end up damaging the thread on the column bracket itself, but then I had an idea … what about filing the bolt head down?

After a few minutes filing I got to the point where the bolt head was flush with the washer at which point it fell away leaving enough bolt protruding for me to grab hold of it with the mole grips …



You can see how little of the bolt was left and just how close I must have come to damaging the column threads …



Finally, after I hate to think how long I was able to drop the column …



The damned pesky bracket was finally removed …



And the engine bay is almost clear enough for the blasting to be done …



This has probably been one the most tedious, drawn out and frustrating tasks I’ve undertaken so far on Poppy. However, on the plus side I have gained some useful knowledge and even some new tools along the way so a result in more ways than one!

[Tim_R]

It's really frustrating when something as simple as undoing 2 bolts holds you up for so long isn't it! I have to admit to being relieved that someone else had already done that job on my car before I got it.

Good work though and looking forward to seeing the next steps.

[The Autoad]

Well done that man

[Old Mac Rocco]

As above ^^^^^^^^.
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team.

[Cpt Custom]

Just got back from my workshop having taken a call earlier this morning to say there'd been a break in at the yard where it's located.

Absolutely gutted as the thieving b******s have taken nearly everything of any significant value including the engine and gearbox too!

Now I’m guessing they just took that for scrap whereas some of the other stuff they might flog through eBay or autojumble. However, to me it’s the sentimental value they’ve stolen as I wanted to keep that part of her original … it feels like they’ve just ripped the heart out of her!

A quick calculation based on receipts kept shows the cost of what’s been nicked at just under £2,000 and to be honest I don’t know what I’m going to do now.

Sure, most of what they’ve taken can be replaced, but whether I can afford to buy it all again is another question entirely. And even if I can it’s going to mean the restoration will take a lot, lot longer than anticipated as the parts were bought with money I had available at that time. It could be months before I can make that up.

I’ve posted up a fairly detailed list with some photos here so people can keep their ears open and their eyes peeled.

Gutted don’t come close!

[Bill]

This is bad news, sorry to see this fella,