johnopaulo

Hi, I am new and would like to say hello to all members.
I have a question regarding a towbar being fitted to an old 'D' reg escort xr3 cabriolet. I cannot find any pre drilled holes in this chassis so am i correct in assuming I have to drill these holes? Or are they so abscure i am missing them?
If so could someone please outline where exactly on the chassis i should drill these and any other relevant help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks a lot
Johno

tabetha

I would imagine that the chassis will have "knock outs", a hole almost, just not fully made it is in the form of a disc of metal, that is only held on by a few little tags of metal where it hasn't been cut all the way around.
You should get fitting diagrams with the bar you buy though, you always do with witter as I use them.
Only advice I can give is put it all on, then take off and zinc prime everything where metal is exposed, then add sealant then bolt back up into place, electrics are easy on your age car, std socket is a 12N, supplmentary socket for fridge/power etc for caravans is 12S, if you need a wiring diagram pm me your email.
tabetha

cabriolet

right again tab the knock outs are in the chassis take the boot carpet out u will see the recess [ie pressing inwards] if u look at them u will see the knock outs tab is on about put a punch in the middle of them and give em some welly then u will see a 50pence sized hole at the bottom of this is a centrepunched divot u need to drill this 10mm as i remember ensure u put tubes in the chassis and u should have two metal plates the size of two fag packets to spread the load in the boot i also think there is a hidden bolt where the towing eye is [not sure tho]

johnopaulo

I see two small pressed dimples in each side of the chassis. I assume this is what you are talking about. My issue is that the towbar that was supplied to be fitted up to these dimples does not match. It has predrilled holes in the towbar which are approx 3-4inches apart but the dimples in the chassis are about 5-6 inches apart so they do not meet up. So would it be safe to assume that this is the wrong towbar for this particular car? Secondly, I have the hood retraction motor situated in the boot directly on top of where one side of the towbar bolts would come through, I assume thios would need to be repmoved and reseated on top of the towbar bolts?

Thanks for everyone who has helped me with this problem so far.

Johno

cabriolet

the bolt heads are low enough not to cause problems fella which dimples underneath or in the boot the ones in the boot are big to fit the tunnels the ones in the chassis mean u have the wrong towbar