I'm removing the body from a stock '28 Tudor sedan that still has the drivetrain in it. The body is solid, not flimsy. I've removed the wooden front floorboards and all the mounting bolts. Now it's just resting on the frame. The problem: there doesn't seem to be a simple way to remove that long shift lever. What's the simplest way to proceed? 1. Is there a way to remove the shifter that's not obvious? 2. Should I leave the shifter in place, invite a few more friends, and "clean-&-jerk" the body chest-high (high enough to clear it)? 3. Should I remove the firewall/cowl/gas tank, then just lift the remaining body just a few inches, then carry it back and away from the chassis? Thanks much.
i'd either have plenty of friends and do the clean and jerk or figure out how to get the shifter off.I definately wouldn't take the firewall out.....
Shifter: The steel cup that retains the thing at its pivot unscrews--if you look closely you will see the lower flange of said cup has flats you can grip eith a big adjustable wrench. The spring within on an A is POWERFUL--so be low and beside the thing as you unscrew. You can also remove a few bolts and lift entire shift top off of trans.
When I got my '29 body off the frame back in 1966, it only took a six-pack doled out teo-at-a-time to three friends. Lift-and jerk, enjoy a couple of cans later. Without friends or beers, I imagine you're looking at some kind of hoist. To paraphrase Dione Warwick" "That's What Friends Are For".
Look here:http://idisk.mac.com/forever4/Public/pages/shiftlevertool.htm Tht's much scarier than the rather soft V8 spring...better just take off the top!
make sure you got a good five or six guys. It took my brother and I a while just to get the back half- no doors or cowl- off the frame and that was a major pain in the back, literally
Definitely not one to want to contradict Bruce but this is an area that we have PLENTY of 'sperience at. IMO, you need to remove the the transmission tower bolts that attaches it to the trans case and remove it "straight up and off" of the case. The steering wheel & column can stay intact however that is a bunch to lift it over. If you remove just the two sector housing to frame bolts but leave the pitman arm connected it will drop down and make life easy. We find it just as easy to remove the clutch pedal assy by removing the pin on the shaft and the collar. Remove the clutch adjusting shaft pin and slide the clutch pedal off. This will gain you some clearance beside the subrail extensions. I would leave the tank in the car since removing the cowl is a tad more involved on the frame.
I've done it by myself, both on my 39 and 31 ford coupes. I blocked and jacked and used 4x6's from one side to the other getting the car high enough to roll - drag or whatever the chassis out from under the body.
when I lifted the cab off of my truck, I mounted four hooks in my rafters in my shop, then i went out and got some five hundred pound ratchet tidown straps and hung them from my hooks, then at the other ends i hooked onto the four corners of the cab and lifted it straight up. i rolled my chassis out from under it and set the cab on saw horses. Now hear is the tricky part, you can't really let it down slowly , what i did was when i was ready to lower it back onto the chassis, i removed the saw horses and rolled my chassis back under, then i lifted the chassis with floor jacks until i 1/2 inch under, then i let the ratchets loose. it sounds like it is alot of work, but when you cant get some friends to help, it works out great for a 1 man job. I just got sick of haveing to wait for thier schedules to match up when they had free time to help.
You can lift it with 4 guys, it's really not that bad when you share the load. As Brent suggested, we removed the bolts on the steering box which let the column and wheel drop down a bit making it a little easier.
4 wratcheting straps in the overhead to the windows. go to each corner one at a time...listening for wood cracking becuase of the weight. Keep going until it clears...then slowly lower it down. I used (2) chain falls and (2) straps when I did it by myself. Or Build a jig to fit your engine hoist to pick it up. I have see it done that way as well....(from the side)
all good advice so far..all i can add is to remove all the extra weight you can before you lift the body. take the doors off , drain the fuel from the gas tank or remove the tank ,take out the remaining glass , seats , window risers ,floorboards etc
Wow! My question focused on how to maneuver around specific components more than how to overcome gravity, but you've all provided food for thought. Thanks everyone. Now log off that computer and get yourselves back into the garage.