I have a 60 Comet that im building and I need to move my jack stands but not sure where I can put them because of frame twist, if any will occur, as I cut metal out like the trans tunnel. I have attached pics of where they are now and was wondering if it would be safe to move them to the front cross support in the front section of the frame. Please let me know if it can be done without cracking the windshield from twist or anything else. Thanks ahead of time.
maybe get a few more stands under it? I suggest at the front and rear of the rockers, and possibly at the front of the frame (as you are asking about), and maybe the rear of the car. And keep them under the rear of the front frame rails if you can. Shim them all, so the car is level, and the doors fit like they should. Do this before you start welding up the floor, etc.
The rear end is still in it for now till I find one, so I think that will work for now but correct me if im wrong. The problem is I dont have another set of stands but I do have some 4x4 wood blocks, would I be able to use them along with stands, maybe put the blocks under the rockers and the stands in the front?
Wood blocks will work as long as you don't stack the straight up on top of each other. I've seen them tip over when done that way. I use wood blocks all the time to get stuff level but make sure it isn't going to move if I get under it and start fussing with it. If you have enough blocks stack them in pairs with two going one way and the next two going the other way to crib it up to where you need to be. Same as you see a house mover crib a building up with short wood beams. Main thing is to make damned sure that it won't tip over on you when you are under it. once you have it blocked up butt bump it on the corners to make sure it won't move or shake.
Yes, cribbing with wood blocks is how we always blocked up the heavy equipment when working on it. We actually preferred wood cribbage to steel stands, as there was less likely hood of slipping. In our case, we had to use hard wood, as soft wood like pine would split. I'm not sure if that is as much a concern with a 2 ton car though. The important thing is to not stack it as shown in the picture above, that could topple pretty easy.
This car probably only weighs about 1500 lbs max in the stripped condition it's in...but that's enough to kill you if you're not careful. It's hard to build a car if you don't have the necessary equipment.
Are you installing frame connectors and stuff like for drag race? You'll want to keep the core area supported with bracing at front and rearmost ends of the cabin, if you support only at very front and very rear of the car it'll 'droop' on you. Its a unitbody and when you cut floor pan it'll weaken the structure considerable, I'd add at the least some door braces so the door gap won't close up. Even if it droops 30thousandths you'll be in trouble. The driveshaft tunnel, trans tunnels and floor pan are structurelly significant in them.
This is what I ended up with, does it look right? There is not much weight on the blocks because I can still move one of them on each side, this is all I have to work with but I think the majority is on the stand in the front, the blocks are a little tight like I said but not to much. The frikin floor in here has cracks and is crooked some so its hard to get an even weight distributed. Also, its not the most level but close.
you want the boards laying flat, not on edge. And spaced further apart. Find a few more bucks, before you get too far along..
X2---don't take any shortcuts! Too many get hurt /squashed under cars. Spend the $$ on proper support.
x2 what Squirrel and OJ and the others have said! I know a guy who died when his insufficiently supported car fell on him. Left a widow and two kids.
Ideal thing is to set it on stands and have the doors open and close smoothly. If they still operate after cutting stuff out.... Yer good. Sent from my Moto G Play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks guys. Im off to the store for more wood. Also in the pic, would this be a good place to brace the two side together with tubing welded to, just below the door pillar on the inside of the rocker?
I would be tempted to put a piece of pressure treated 6 x 6 across what's left of those frame rails and put the stands below them. Unless it would be in your way. I always have massive steel around my shop in some form.
Put some bracing in the car before you cut it apart unless it's twisted already and you're trying to straighten it out. Turn buckles work well because you can adjust them as needed to straighten and square stuff up. Stand placement and level floors mean a lot. But if the stands aren't leveled or matched sets its not going to mean much
So this is where I ended up for today. I welded a brace on top of the front frame right near the firewall, and just stuck a 4x4 block on end under the subframe, thats pretty tight. I can still shut both doors with one finger and they both line up perfect. Thats it for today. I will try to get more wood under the rocker area as well this weekend. I cant really put anything under the subframe where the floor boards are because that is where im going to be working. Here are some pics for now.
I don't see any bracing across the door openings. Might be a good idea to rehang door and check alignment, weld in some angle or tube to keep it squared up. For a stripped car, doing floors, I use concrete blocks with osb stacked in between. Buy the heavy blocks with an actual rating, not the landscaping type. Stack them like they are used in a building, 2 high. 4x4's across the blocks. Go cross car with the 4x4's. Keeps the stands out of the way for floor work.
Buy another pair of jack stands. They're cheap ($22 pr., plus there's a 25% off coupon tomorrow. http://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-heavy-duty-jack-stands-38846.html). Don't cheap out, you'll always find a use for them. Skip the fast food counter or 7-11 impulse buys twice and they're yours at no cost. Neighbor guy across the street was killed recently when a golf cart he was working on fell on him. Vicky and other's are right about the cross bracing. Scrounge some angle or tubing and criss cross at the A and B pillars, etc. You may be able to crib the rockers with a pair or two of old rims laid flat with a couple of 4x4 posts laid on top of them running laterally from rocker to rocker.
The doors opening and closing easy can mislead you, they can be out of alignment and when you close they are massive enough to shift whats left of the 'A' pillar support and easily close - tail wagging the dog kind of thing. I'm not saying that that is going on just more of a headsup. When bracing things try to get a diagonal in there, preferable 2 of them from rear to forward; higher to lower. Take some measurements of a few key points, write them with sharpie beside the spot and check them from time to time. From what I see that is a couple year project you have committed to, no point in rushing and doing things 'good enough for now', resign yourself to be in it for the long haul and start documenting everything.
Once you've cut a floor out of relatively solid vehicle or put a floor into squishy vehicle- only then do you realize how much the floor adds to the integrity and the real importance of braces becomes apparent. Getting enough braces in, without obstructing the work area access is as much an art as anything else. Working off of wood is doable but it's tricky. If the rear end is in the way, remove it. Working around it will be harder in the long run. I'm sure if you can't afford Jack stands then purchasing the optimal bracing would be out of the question. That means you'll need to be very resourceful with what you can find. 2x4 X 1/8 tube for a 4 point bottom cradle and 1x1x 16 ga tube for braces is relatively cheap and reusable. The car will stay square and level. 3/4"conduit is one of my favorite materials for braces and also reusable for braces down the line.
Lost a good friend recently. Was crushed by a car he was not even under. Car rocked over sideways and crushed him between the car and the building it was next to. You can't be to careful when it comes to lifting a car for work on it.
The Jalopy Journal
