Rover Sports Register Forum

Hi. I am looking for information about the rover (or any vehicle) which you could lift off the body to reveal the chassis for easy servicing. I am starting a project involving electrically powered cars and need to get some photos
and service manual type drawings to put on the website to show what a great concept this was by rover. Why is this not done so much now? jill argill@live.co.uk" target="_blank 07983 222 304

Hi Jill,
first welcome to the forum, I was waiting to see if anyone had the answer to your question.

My knowledge is that I am unaware of a Rover that had an easily removable body in the way you suggest, however Rover cars were built on the separate chassis and body style for many years, finally stopping with the P5 in the late 1960s.

Up to just after the war Rover saloons had a body that did not have an integral floor pan. By this I mean they had floor panels or floorboards, mainly in wood that could be removed very quickly to reveal most of the chassis beneath. In fact with these floorboards taken away it is possible to stand on the ground within the car. Certainly by doing this all the major chassis components are easy to get at.

Having totally removed a body of such a car it is not a straight forward operation, there are many wires and cables from within, such as from the dashboard and speedometer that have to be removed before all the body mountings can be released and the body lifted.

I have a 1929 Rover car which also has the separate floorboards and also in this case a separate dashboard panel, some pictures of this you can see in the vintage section of the forum, it certainly gives good access but can not be called a removable body.

The answer to your question as to why it is not done now, I believe is two fold.
First with the modern design of cars eliminating the chassis a car relies on the body of the car for its strength and also the body supports all the bits such as engine and transmission as well as being the container for all the cables, pipes and wires.
Secondly is the safety aspect, modern cars have to undergo all sorts of tests including crash tests and a body that has the option to become removed or disconnected would probably fail such a test.

I hope these thoughts help.

Didn't some cars come with an integral jacking system? Perhaps that's what Jill is thinking of.

Of course, there are "flip fronts" - like the 1960s Triumphs (Spitfire, Herald, GT6, Vitesse) which give access to most of the mechanical bits and bobs.

I remember that some pre and post war Austins had a Jackall system, hydraulic jacks on both axles. There was a pump on the bulkhead with a valve and selector for front, back or all so you could in theory raise the axle by closing the valve and pumping - moving the handle fro left to right. A small box spanner fitted the spigot and small boys could have endless fun helping Dad change a wheel on a 1947 Austin 16. Releasing the valve often meant that the jacks only partially retracted, application of a hammer from below being the usual method of rectification.

The system was never fitted to Rovers.

Mike Maher
2000 Land Rover Discovery
1946 Kitcher special
1947 16 Sports Saloon

And another flip front was the Jowett Jupiter, easy engine access the whole front of the car lifted up
http://i.pbase.com/g6/27/593927/2/85827569.pf2Z603j.jpg

I would have thought that removing the whole body for servicing is probably MORE difficult than a flip front/rear - even lightweight materials would produce a fairly weighty shell and unless it was unusually rigid, it would be awkward to manage single handedly.

Agreed,
I cant see it as a practical idea even in the 50/60s. I did once as a student remove the engine from a mini by loosening the subframe and then walking the body away on the rear wheels but that was because I didn't have an engine hoist.

Anyone got any more examples of flip front/rear cars?

paul williams wrote: Anyone got any more examples of flip front/rear cars?

Ford GT40, I think.

Austin Healey Frogeye sprite (and many Midgets have been retro fitted with flip fronts).

Some of the prewar Rover had a built Jackall system - even the ordinary ones had floor trap doors to insert a simple screw jap so as not to grovel in the dirt

The P5 was a monocoque albeit with a huge box section front subframe that went right up the front seats to carry the front suspension/engine/gearbox. Still rusted though although not as fast the sheetmetal Mini rear subframe did.

If the body was not too corroded the chassised cars bodies had only 5 or so fixings on each side sio they could be lofted off with the right tackle but hardly for routine servicing

At the risk of sounding pedantic, there were no pre-war Rovers with a Jackall system (Eric Dymock got this one wrong as have other writers!) - it was an Austin Patent involving hydraulic jacks attached to Front and Rear axles and Herbert was unlikely to supply it to a rival firm. The Chassis jacking system on P2's is ingenious as you observe, and some P2/3 models had an hydraulically actuated pillar jack that went through the flap in the floor, when a horizontal arm engaged in a boss on the chassis cross-member.

The 12/14/16 type of jack (turn a cranked handle on the right angle drive to raise the jack) are more common. With the advent of low voltage tools to loosen wheel nuts, the 10 hp type with a hexagonal drive on top is really useful. You can raise 1 side of the car with ease.

The Jackall system raised the front or rear or both axles at once with a considerable amount of pumping.

hope this clears up the mystery

Mike Maher