83 SC - removing front belly pan - to access FP

[83_Silberpfeil]

Question: when removing front belly pan, do I need to support the front sway bar, or the cross-member?

I raised my 83 SC and got under it to remove the front belly pan; wanted to inspect the fuel pump.

I saw there were 2 x 17 mm nuts and 2 x 8 mm allen bolts (I think 8 mm). I was able to lossen both on the driver side, but did not remove. I saw that the cross member and front sway bar might need to be supported, so wanted to check here first.

Borrowed this foto by "Joe Engineer" from his blogpost over at FCP Euro Blog. The bolts and nuts circled/dotted in red. Do I need to support the cross member or the sway bar?
(https://blog.*******.com/how-to-change-the-fuel-pump-on-an-air-cooled-porsche-911)

[john walker's workshop]

No need for supporting anything. Just make sure on reassembly that the allen bolts don't get cross-threaded.

[83_Silberpfeil]

Thanks for confirming John, much appreciated. I will be on alert and use caution when reassembling.

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

No need for supporting anything. Just make sure on reassembly that the allen bolts don't get cross-threaded.

[Mike Andrew]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

No need for supporting anything. Just make sure on reassembly that the allen bolts don't get cross-threaded.

^^^^^^^^^^

Discovered upon disassembly the first time this had been done during previous ownership. Next time it is off, I will address the issue. Grrrrr

[mike sampsel]

No need to support when removing. I needed to use my floor jack on the sway bar when installing so to not cross thread those allen bolts (the sway bar mount needed some encouragement).

But I'm doing it on my back so things are not easy to move around.

[83_Silberpfeil]

Thanks both of you, Mike A and Mike S. Much appreciate your added wisdom here. I have the front of car on jack stands now. The pump jack is free/available. So I will try to maneuver that in and support the sway bar once I get to re-assembling everything back.

[7783911]

you did have to loosen the sway bar mounts?

[David Inc.]

I'd say it's also a good idea to put the belly pan nuts bolts back in after removing the pan to keep the rear ends of the sway bar mounts in position while you're working. If you knock them out of position it can be a serious pain in the rear to get them back to where they need to be.

[83_Silberpfeil]

I haven't removed the belly pan yet. But, I did get under car and ID'd the nuts & bolts required to remove the pan.

Belly pan secured by 2 X 17 mm nuts, and 2 X 8mm (?) hex allen bolt. I got under the car on the driver side, and was able to just initially loosen (1/2 turn) both the 17mm nut and the 8 mm allen bolt. It was here that I noticed that the allen bolt supports the bracket that supports the front sway bar. I'm assuming there are two bolts on each side of car that supports the sway bar. So, loosening/removing only one on each side will be required.

Originally Posted by 7783911

you did have to loosen the sway bar mounts?

[83_Silberpfeil]

David --- good call! I will make sure to do that once I get to it.

Originally Posted by David Inc.

I'd say it's also a good idea to put the belly pan nuts bolts back in after removing the pan to keep the rear ends of the sway bar mounts in position while you're working. If you knock them out of position it can be a serious pain in the rear to get them back to where they need to be.

[David Inc.]

Originally Posted by 83_Silberpfeil

I haven't removed the belly pan yet. But, I did get under car and ID'd the nuts & bolts required to remove the pan.

Belly pan secured by 2 X 17 mm nuts, and 2 X 8mm (?) hex allen bolt. I got under the car on the driver side, and was able to just initially loosen (1/2 turn) both the 17mm nut and the 8 mm allen bolt. It was here that I noticed that the allen bolt supports the bracket that supports the front sway bar. I'm assuming there are two bolts on each side of car that supports the sway bar. So, loosening/removing only one on each side will be required.

There is an additional M8 bolt that clamps the sway bar rubber bushing to the mounting bar on each side. It's in the middle of the bar that goes from the subframe to the body. You do not want to touch that bolt while taking off the belly pan.

You're overthinking this though, just get under there and figure it out. You're not going to accidentally drop the subframe unless you remove the huge, obvious subframe bolts (M12s).