Kit Disassembly

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Major System Category: Misc
Task: Dismantle the kit
Parts: Everything attached to the chassis as delivered.
Prerequisite Tasks: Physical Inventory
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: Depends, but budget 3 to 6 hours
Date Started: June 29, 2012
Date Completed: June 30, 2012

If you go to the manual, it talks about taking the body off as the first task. Except there are a number of things you need to do before you get there. The GTM is shipped with the doors, hatch, hood, front and rear glass attached to the chassis. I think a fair estimate is this weighs around 600 lbs. (My drive has an incline, so it felt like 600 lbs when we rolled it up from the truck.)

Consideration: The front and rear glass is not packed away in a padded box. You need to think about how you are going to safely store these pieces until you need them.

The body is off the car and sitting on my Swisstrax floor. This polymer/plastic surface  is a perfect resting place for the body.

The reason the car looks like it is put together on delivery is because the doors, hatch, hood and glass are duct taped together. I started with the doors, moved to the rear glass, then the hatch. Inside the hatch, I discovered the diffuser taped to the chassis. Inside the car, the roof scoop and splitter can be found resting in the cockpit. The hood weights between 50 and 60 pounds, and it is a little ungainly so you might want an extra set of hands.

This parts bin costs about $8 at Harbort Freight. The last time I was in Myrtle Beach , I picked up three of these. I have one dedicated to the GTM build. It has come in very handy as I removed the panels from the chassis.

Consideration: The front glass is going to slide down once the duct tape is removed. This weighs between 30 and 40 pounds. The last thing you want to do is break the windshield on day one.

The main body shell is secured to the chassis by eight screws. The screws are a mix of 6mm and 8mm. Technically the front screws are attached to a sheet metal piece, but you want to detach this anyway. The other screws are located in each door sill and the rear license cavity. This is where the manual starts! Once the body shell is off the car, it is possible for one person to move the body shell as long as you stand in the hatch and lift. The tail end is heavier so your balance point is further back than you would expect.

Front view of the chassis resting on the lift. At the bottom of the chassis you can see the inline jack. This has three physical locking points, so you are relying on the hydraulics. The chassis is five feet wide and easily straddles the lift.

Get your smartphone or camera ready - it's picture time. You need to remove all the aluminum panels. There are more than it seems and a gazillion screws (maybe 150) to unscrew. This is going to take a while. I took pictures, marked each panel and separated them into two piles: powder coating and left alone. Powder coating is entirely optional.

Consideration: Due to space considerations, I had a need to move the chassis. Home Depot makes these $20 furniture dollies rated to 1000 lbs. I had one and purchased a second. If you decide yo drop her on the furniture dollies, then remove the front aluminum panels; otherwise they will interfere with the floor jack.

This is the Home Depot furniture dolly. This really bailed me out today.

Once on dollies, I could move the car around the garage. Those dollies kept the chassis at the same level as my lift, and after I shed all the excess weight (I am guessing the bare chassis is 200 lbs), I was able to get the chassis on the lift by myself. It was a lot easier than expected. The inline jack and reinforced tray helped a lot too.

Side view of the chassis. The front is on the left. It is easier to see the inline jack circular pad holding the corner of the frame. The red jack stands show where I am supporting the rear of the car.

One thing that didn't go according to plan was my storage solution for the body. The pulley system I devised just wasn't working. The 90 degree heat and getting tired probably contributed to my decision to rethink body storage. Those dollies came in handy. I placed them right at the forward edge of the wheel wells, and pushed the body sideways under the lift against the wall. It isn't an optimum solution, but I can park the Boxster, the Camry and the GTM in the garage. That was the goal.