Hi

I'm attempting to get my 1994 mk2f back on the road and I need to do lots of welding so I've got myself a rotisserie. I've seen a fella called Dan Chambers on YouTube fixing his MK2 using the same jig but I think the mounting points are different on the mk2's . The bolts for the plastic bumpers on my car are way too small to support the weight of the car. Behind the front bumper is the lower front cross member which is bolted on with some bigger bolts which I think will be big enough to support the weight but I'm not sure?! On the rear again the bolts are probably only about M5 and not big enough. I was thinking I might have to cut the body away from the end of the chassis rail and weld some bar/box into the rail and attach the rotisserie bracket to that? The YouTube video had the rotisserie brackets bolted onto the bumper mounts front and back but I don't think it's possible with the mk2f. Anyone had any experience with Polo's on a rotisserie? Or ideas of the strongest place to attach some bar or box section to chassis rails. Or if there's somewhere I could just bolts it on which would be by far the simplest way? Any help/ideas would great

Cheers

I watched the Dan chambers series and he seemed to get away with it, but it's worth bearing in mind that polos are rather flexible. I'd be rather cautious about supportingan old polo by the bumper iron brackets, especially if you've got to work on the sills.  2f's don't have much in the way of a front panel at all. If you do want it on its side, you're probably better with a roller that bolts on the hubs, or people have been known to roll a bare shell over onto a mattress.

Cheers for the reply 👍 I've already got the rollover jig so I'm gonna have to make that work I think. There's not enough room to roll it onto a mattress anyway and my wife would kill me if I got another jig?! I've spoken to the fella who makes the jigs and he seems to think the bolts through the front cross member just above the chassis rail would hold the front. And with two M8s bolted through the rear probably into some added flat bar to reinforce the back. But I'm not entirely sure. I've also seen people weld in some box sections into the chassis rails and then attach those to the jig. I'd have to remove the cross member at the front to do this so I guess if I braced inside the engine bay it would (hopefully) not twist itself into scrap. It's a steep learning curve at the moment......

Engine out tomorrow so I'll get cleaning in the engine bay and see what's solid

Cheers

I don't know if it helps at all with a clue to bracing it up, but the towbars for these mount on the bumper iron bolts, then there's a couple of decent bits of flat steel go from behind them sort of along the boot floor, I can't remember whee the other end bolts to though. I think it's the rear beam mounts, but it's a long time since I looked at one. 

 

If you take the front bumper iron off, the front end of the car becomes very flexible, to definitely got a good anchor on the holes with them in the right place before you lift it.

 

If you have a look at the ARB mounts, it's possible to mount a brace between them (what used to be known as a "Ged Bar"). 

 

But none of that stops it sagging end to end. I've seen a fair few people take the doors  off and temporarily weld a big chunk of oblong section steel across the door frame to brace it. 

 

Depending how much welding you've got to do though, you might be making yourself more work to get it on the spit than you're actually aiming to be doing to get the car sorted. 

 

The bare shells are very light. Mine's currently just sat on a stage of my scaffolding tower. Four of us lifted it up there without a lot of bother at all. 

Edited 5 November, 20232 yr by Yeti

I used to have a Hillman imp which was far far far too rusty for my skills but I had that on three builders trestles and some wooden lintels I'd liberated from some demolished garages?! I've got to replace/repair both outer sills and whatever I find behind that and the jacking points and some of the floor edges too. Also the lower rear drivers side behind the bumper is looking very shonky around what I think is a towing eye/loop. And I figure there's gonna be a lot more when I start. It was my daily for almost 10 years before we were flooded up to the front number plate (it still ran though 👍) but silt and water have rusted out so much around the drain holes that I know it'll be bad underneath what I can see. I've been a landscaper and tree climber for about 25 years so my back is knackered and I just want to get it up in the air so I don't break myself anymore! I had to unbolt the ARB from the car to get the drive shafts out so I'll look into bracing there. Sounds like I'll be doing some welding lying on the floor though. Cheers for all your suggestions 👍 My engine is out and safely above any more flooding 

You might want to speak to Steve Lea.  He is welding Haysey's red G40 at the moment and has it in some kind of jig.  Have a look at 

His username is Sleag40. 

Bumper iron bolts front and rear are fine if the shell is properly stripped.

Two bolts in the top bumper iron threads at the front, and two of the little bumper attachment threads for each side at the rear. (the ones just under the boot seal) Replaced outer sills, parts of inner sills, jacking point and many other repairs with it mounted like this. If you're worried about it distorting when structure is cut away, bracing or strategically placed axle stands (or both) can be used.

Edited 6 November, 20232 yr by sleag40

Hi all. That's awesome Steve! I assume when you say to strip the car properly you mean take out everything and unbolt everything (doors/boot lid/suspension) the engine/gearbox and interior is out already. Should the glass come out too? I think there's a bit of rust below the windscreen but dunno if it helps to stiffen the frame slightly? The fella from the jig company said to use M8 bolts on the rear. Looks like you've reinforced around the rear bumper mounts, don't suppose you've got any pictures that show what you've done. So good to know that getting it on a jig is doable. I know I've still got a lot of work (and learning) to do but thanks for showing me that it can be done. Cheers to Yeti Schneil and Steve (sleag40) for all your help and advice 🙂👍

 

How do!

Yes, all the glass needs to come out, Everything apart from the headlining needs to come out to shed as much weight as possible. I'll get you a pic of the rear end attachment brackets I knocked up next time I'm at my unit.👍

Cheers for that 👍 I'm planning on taking the headlining out too. I got it resprayed while I was briefly working mixing paint about 8 years ago and had the sunroof sealed up cos it leaked and I'm not a fan of the noise a sunroof makes when it's open anyway. I swapped the sunroof headlining for a non sunroof one. Badly, cos it's really hard?! It's the main thing that bugs my wife when we go anywhere in the car so I figure I'll sort that while I've got the car in pieces. And I think the sag is contributing to my bald spot when it rubs on my head.....

Nice one 👍

If you zoom in on the brackets at the rear, you can see the two bumper mounting holes on each side are linked. Some 2mm sheet with a hole to take a bumper bolt on each side welded to a piece of box section. The box section then has two L shaped pieces of 2mm sheet welded to it to connect it to the rollover jig. 

My jig is away having a bearing fitted to each pivot point as the simplistic design wears out the pivot point holes in the uprights when the jig has had a bit of use. When I get it back I can get you some better close up pics.👍