24-07-2019, 07:46 PM
Here's a silly problem that only reared its head this afternoon.
For the first time since I have had my RP saloon, I carried two substantial adults and a large dog in the car. Going down the admittedly rough track of about half a mile leading from my house to the main road, a heavy suspension related knocking noise started to emanate from the rear of the car. My rear passenger reported that it seemed to be coming from the footwell behind the drivers seat. The noise ceased immediately we started driving on the (smoother) public highway.
Having drooped my passengers and their dog off at their home, I drove back. No sign of the noise! However, when I got home, I did some investigation and discovered that the driver's side rear footwell is closer to the rear cross member that the passenger's side, which has something like a eighth of an inch clearance. The driver's side appears to taper from the outside to the transmission tunnel; from slightly less than 1/8th in. to virtually nothing.
I am aware that some curiously defective repairs have been carried out to the floor panels under the rear seat, but these are aft of the rear body mountings. I am also aware that the front driver's side floor has been repaired by the simple expedient of bolting a flat piece of sheet steel in place over the missing section. I also notice that the rear body mountings are bolted directly to the chassis extensions. The rear floor and footwells appear to be original and sound. The battery box has been replaced at some point with a fabricated galvanised steel box which is slightly larger than standard, as the rail that holds the hinges for the driver's seat is about an inch further forward than that on the passenger's side.
I suppose that, in an ideal world, the short answer would be to replace the whole of the floor pan, but I can see no way of doing this without demounting the body and I don't see the point of getting into what will probably turn out to be a full-scale rebuild, given that the body generally is qute sound and the doors open and shut satisfactorily.
Am I missing any packing between the chassis and the rear body mountings?
Has anyone else had a similar problem and, if so, how did they sort it out?
Photos of: 1 and 2 The rear floor repairs under the rear seat
3 and 4 The underside of the car where the cross member runs under the footwells. Photo 3 of the nearside. Photo 4 of the offside.
For the first time since I have had my RP saloon, I carried two substantial adults and a large dog in the car. Going down the admittedly rough track of about half a mile leading from my house to the main road, a heavy suspension related knocking noise started to emanate from the rear of the car. My rear passenger reported that it seemed to be coming from the footwell behind the drivers seat. The noise ceased immediately we started driving on the (smoother) public highway.
Having drooped my passengers and their dog off at their home, I drove back. No sign of the noise! However, when I got home, I did some investigation and discovered that the driver's side rear footwell is closer to the rear cross member that the passenger's side, which has something like a eighth of an inch clearance. The driver's side appears to taper from the outside to the transmission tunnel; from slightly less than 1/8th in. to virtually nothing.
I am aware that some curiously defective repairs have been carried out to the floor panels under the rear seat, but these are aft of the rear body mountings. I am also aware that the front driver's side floor has been repaired by the simple expedient of bolting a flat piece of sheet steel in place over the missing section. I also notice that the rear body mountings are bolted directly to the chassis extensions. The rear floor and footwells appear to be original and sound. The battery box has been replaced at some point with a fabricated galvanised steel box which is slightly larger than standard, as the rail that holds the hinges for the driver's seat is about an inch further forward than that on the passenger's side.
I suppose that, in an ideal world, the short answer would be to replace the whole of the floor pan, but I can see no way of doing this without demounting the body and I don't see the point of getting into what will probably turn out to be a full-scale rebuild, given that the body generally is qute sound and the doors open and shut satisfactorily.
Am I missing any packing between the chassis and the rear body mountings?
Has anyone else had a similar problem and, if so, how did they sort it out?
Photos of: 1 and 2 The rear floor repairs under the rear seat
3 and 4 The underside of the car where the cross member runs under the footwells. Photo 3 of the nearside. Photo 4 of the offside.