hi i need to remove the body of my 51 chevy from the frame to get he body media blasted. what ways are you guys taking them off. ill have to do in my garage or drive way. pics would help too. thanks j
Use an engine hoist to lift the front and use nylon straps through the windows. Build a stand that stradles the chassis and place the front on the stand. Then lift the rear of the body and set it on another stand. Now roll the chassis out from underneath. You're done!
I'm a loner, used two 8 foot long 4x4's a floor jack and a lot of blocks to remove my '50 Fleetline body. Building a dolly with proper size wheels to put the body on is a good idea.
i use my car lift, lifting under the rockers or boards slid under the floor. the last one i did i used the buddy method. i built a rottisery mounted on a trailer which allows me to move it to the blasters and around the shop.
Camper Jacks. A frame of wood or metal under the rockers or or through the car with ends sticking out the sides makes it reasonably easy.
I pulled the body off my 50 Sedan myself. I put a 4x4 crossways in the triangular opening right behind the front door. I then used my engine hoist with a piece of chain wrapped around the 4x4. The doors were off the car and it was suprisingly well balanced. Todd
take a look an my album on how I "lowered" my 59. basically i just kept raising the body until I could roll the frame out using a some bracing to support the car. i pulled the body of the Belair frame using the hoist method Eventho mentioned
when i did my o/t 71 chevelle i also used long 4x4's floor jack and jack stands. kept lifting untill i could roll the frame out. although i didn't have to move the body afterwards.
We are fortunate to have access to a small forklift, I maintain it and it stays at my yard but is owned by the glass shop across the street. We have built an 8 foot rack that slips over the forks with U-bolts welded to it. We then use 2" wide ratchet straps to run thru the window and attach to those U bolts. The nylon straps do not leave any marks on the body.
My avatar. Did it the hard way using a jack and cinder blocks. Didn't know any better. Lucky it didn't fall on me.
In the nineties I took a 51 Fleetline body to old seats lying beside the car. I lifted with floorjack with wooden blocks and jackstands and manpower I moved the empty shell sideways to seats. At some point it more like fell down but it didn't make any harm. Before that had 48 Aerosedan which body I and one of my buddies lifted the body back to frame. It was quite tough but we made it. We were younger and stronger then. Today it feels the same with lighter Model A bodies.
the redneck way I did it was a bottle jack, r.r. ties for blocks and two poles front and rear running under the body.. worked fine untill the wind blew it off the back blocks..
On my 49 Buick sedanette I took the doors off and used 4-55 gallon metal drums and 2X6's. Myself and 3 friends used the door hinges and a 4X4 in the wheel wells to lift the body and walked it forward and set it on the 2X6's which were on the 55 gallon drums. Two drums on each side with the 2X6's going across under the body. Hope my explanation makes sense as I don't have any pictures.
Quick one man way of doing it. may need bracking for the added weight of a sedan though.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302730
If your going to be putting the body on and off alot here's a neat trick that a customer came up with to remove the body on his Jag. He attached two Barn door rails to the ceiling of his garage and used two door hangers in each rail. Then he got 4, 1/2 ton chain falls to hook into the door hangers. The we made a front and rear support to go across the body. Hooked it all up and click click the body was off in about 6 minutes. Worked great as I had to lift the body about 6 - 8 times over the time of the build. The Old Tinbasher
Here's what I did on my Roadster, I lifted it on my own using 2x hoists and simply rolling the chassis out from underneath. The door gaps didn't change during lifting (that frame allowed me to try the doors on whilst the body was off the chassis) but they sure did when I bolted the body back on!
Chopt49 How long did it take to find the balance point for your hoist? What did you use, trial and error?
If you look close in this pic you cansee where the 4x4 was placed. With the doors off and the trunklid off it balanced fine.Todd
Believe it or not - first time was darn near perfect... the leveler was there "incase" I needed it. .
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