POST 8 - JULY 2011 - FRONT BODY SECTION REMOVED

The front part of the body looks quite a bit heavier than the rear and the enormous wings must stay in place with very little to support them.  It clearly needs some sort of base to sit on and this idea eventually evolves into replicating the front two thirds of the chassis.  The top surface of which, when viewed from the side, is completely flat, which coincides nicely with my two dimensional woodworking skills.
The steering column is extracted and all body to chassis fasteners are removed along with all pipes and wiring connecting the two parts.  Because of the weight, I decide to build a frame with four lifting points and use my engine hoist for the lift.  It comes off easily and the car is rolled back, the new wood chassis is positioned and the body lowered into place.  I had previously marked out a set of datum points on the car and replicated these on the wood chassis so that the fixing points would be precisely located relative to each other.

Chassis replicated in wood reinforced with inch ply for rigidity 

To ensure that the front bulkhead will go back in exactly the same place
with respect to the chassis I have added these steel bars.  They will
also support the body when the sills are removed.
Note the carefully executed product placement for plusgas



Lifted just high enough to roll the remains of the car back

Now sitting comfortably on the wood frame

Example of datum points previously marked up to ensure
nothing gets out of alignment - still needs a "tweek"

Steel support bars back in place on the wood chassis.
Bogey wheels also added.

Next job is to strip every single bit off the front body section, but not before many more photos are taken and sketches made showing the precise location of every cable route, clip, and many other miscellaneous items.  It will probably be a more than a year before these parts are put back, and as I can't usually remember what I had for dinner yesterday, this seems to be a sensible precaution.