yesterday i bought a rusty s2.it has had a bit of a bump and needs a wing,door and an x member.
how do you do the xmember?can it be done with the engine in?its got a bit of a kink in it so ill need to straighten it out then remove it for replacement.do you basically leave the rear arb bracket bolts in and remove the frontxmember 2 and when you fit the new 1 you put the bolts in and that lines it up?
drivers side rear floorpan,not the whole thing,just about 1/4 of it as where it attachec to the sill its gone.
rear drivers side arch.do you cut the old 1 off or fit the new 1 over the top and weld it every 2".also the edge of the inner arch doesnt look too hot,can you buy these from motor factors?ta,lee

 

Lee im a pro at welding escorts! ive done it all apart from the crossmember my pickup had more holes than a chinese brothel!

 

want to come and do it for me?you got a welder?ill pay you in bacon rolls!

 

The way youve listed is how i did my cross member although i didnt have my engine in when i did mine

 

i have access to welders and i dont like bacon it has to be black pudding n egg!! but im not in a position to do it just now as il be fitting that hog engine as soon as i get home and that will take a few days no doubt lol

 

few days,bit optimistic,black pud with a runny egg,mmmmmagic!but thats how youre so fat.you have black puds to thank for not being squished yesterday!

 

i would not do it the way you suggested as when the front roll bar mounts are off the wheels can move bacwards in the arch and take the roll bar with it knocking the alignment out i would support the car on stands on the chassis legs and make plenty of markings on the front panel and inner wings and take lots of measurments before cutting it out then just take your time fitting it and make sure its welded in properly as it makes up 80% of the cars front end strength believe it or not

 

ok,got the car at home,away to straighten out the kink later today,the xmember may possibly be ok.need to get the bumper off to see!all excited!

 

would be a lot easier with engine out, as welding the corners, and also removing all the old material will b impossible with an engine in there

if you cant get a genuine replacement panel, make sure the bolt holes on the pattern part are perfect, as i had to swap my x-member again due to me not checkin properly

i found the best way is to drop all the brackets, cut out the old x-member, offer the new 1 up, bolt the ARB brackets and the gearbox cradle to it, then weld it up. the ARB mounting points on the inner wing will have held the wheels in position, then the triangulation of the corner brackets and their 3 bolt design will make sure its all aligned

 

I learned from RSandy's mistake and bolted it all up on the roll bar and gearbox cradle and trial fitted the rad just to make sure it still went in alright which it did so i welded it all in and trial fitted the rad again just to make sure the welding hadnt distorted it.

mark.

 

the key is to do all the bolts up ALL the way, and not just line the brackets up with the holes from the bottom, as mine wud fit through the bottom fine, but would not enter the captive nuts on the top surface

silly mistake to make, and costly, so u have been warned lol