What are some good ways to lift a 32 Ford 5 window coupe to place it on the frame (aside from 8 muscle men)?
I have a 3x4 beam mounted on the top beam of my cherry picker/engine crane. With the doors off the body and the beam in the top rear corner of the door opening I can lift the body off my body dolly, move it around in my shed and lower it (carefully) onto the chassis. I do have to put timber blocks under the front wheels so that the feet of the crane will go in under the chassis. I also have to put a couple of tool boxes full of tools in the cowl to get the balance right. The beam is also set up so that the body can pivot slightly to compensate for the height difference between body dolly and chassis. It's crude but has worked OK for 2 builds with 32-5 windows.
i have a normal roof, 2' truss centers. i welded some heavy wall tube to the side of a chunk of 2" angle iron. thread the tube on each end. screw it on to a truss where you want a lifting eye. on the top, take about 4' of 3/4" electrical conduit, flatten both ends. drill 1/2"hole on one end, two 5/16" holes on the other. make two of these, bolt the one hole to the tube, the other end goes up to the two trusses on each side of the one with the bracket, so, a V shape and you are then lifting from 3 trusses, not one. then screw a big lifting eye in the hole in the ceiling and your done. i have three of these in the garage, quite strong, hasnt even cracked the sheet rock joints, no wiggle or bounce. now then i lifted my 34 coupe thru the roof opening to 4 eye bolts into existing holes in the floor. leave the doors on because the back is heavier. chain hoist inside the body so the roof can go all the way up to the ceiling. you will be all the way back in the roof opening, and it is still a bit tail heavy, my 34 3w anyway, i would guess 32 is similar
Have used a cherry picker numerous times without any problem. Also, set it up on 2x6's and rolled chassis in and out from under it.
cherry pickers are a handy device for sure. i do not own or use one because they are in the way when working around them. i use the above described for lifting inside, and my bobcat for lifting outside. works for me!
A simple way to get a ceiling lifting point is to simply add scab boards to existing rafters or trusses to make them stronger. Use a 2x6 on each side of 5 (or more) trusses. Put some glue on the truss and place the 2x6s on each side so they span the width of the shop wall to wall. If the walls are too far apart for one board, use two. Say the walls are 24' apart. Use a 16' and an 8' on each side of the truss. On one side put the 8' near the left wall and on the other side put the 8' near the right wall. That way the end butt is different on each side. Put the glue on and then put some long deck screws through them. Suggest using the ones with Torx heads for ease of installation. Slot head and phillips head screws strip out too easily for me. You might want to put a small vertical notch on one of the 2x6s on truss 3 of the 5 truss group. This is for a T shaped plate you weld up. The top of the T sits on the top of 2 4x4s runing crossways to the truss bracing. The vertical sticks down below the truss and has a hole in it for a hoist. Take a look at your existing truss/rafter and make sure its in decent condition before you do this. By spreading the load over 5 (or more) trusses, you should be able to lift a lot of things safely. When there is a foot of snow on your roof, you may want to wait till it melts. You can also make a couple of upright posts to wedge under a truss for additional support when needed.
thats a nice heavy duty design. i use my ceiling eyes for many things, hang parts to paint, lift stuff out of the pickup, install motors,etc. i cant imagine a shop without some. quite often when building a new car you may want the body off and on several times when checking clearances and locations. my old shop had high ceilings, and i had an air powered hoist, so the body hung above the chassis for months. need to check something? just push a button and the body is down. just think of all the beer i saved not needing help