Which of the two plates has to be removed to get to the M14 screws? The one on the side or the one from the underbody?
Has anyone done this before?
I've got no idea Clemens, but looking at this photo it looks to me like the black bit on the side is actually part of the larger black bit that wraps around the front of the car and looks a bit structural, so I wouldn't touch it without having a good deal more information.
The silver coloured bit underneath however, looks to me like it's just a tray mainly intended to smooth out airflow under the car, and if it's removed it looks like you'd be able to see the fixing bolts for the rack which appear to be at the rear of the unit
So if it was me I'd lie down underneath the car and have a good long look at everything to make sure I was happy, then I'd remove the silver tray. Whenever I'm doing anything like this I don't try and remove all the fasteners at once, I undo each one and then replace it first, that way if there's any fastener that gives a problem I've got everything else done up to support everything. With the bottom tray off you could probably see up around the steering rack enough to identify how it was mounted.
But for goodness sake please don't assume I know what I'm talking about! I admit to having a pretty gung-ho approach to stuff like this, I figure it was built by blokes in Malvern using mainly hand tools so it can be taken apart by a bloke in Gloucestershire using hand tools. A wiser person by contrast would probably take a much more circumspect view and maybe decide to leave t to experts.
