Mid year Body Removel

[Bill Bonnichsen]

Greetings from Korea. Before being sent here on a short notice trip for my company I was about ready to lift the body from my 65 coupe. I have built a dolly that picks up the mount points just behind the doors and at the fire wall in the engine compartment. As I was contacting friends to help with the lift, someone told me that I would have problems with the body drop when I was ready for re-installation because the front end would sag while it was on the dolly. In all the articles I have read I have never heard of this problem. Can anybody shed light on this for me? The person who told me this also said leaving the doors on will help, but unless I support the front where the radiator support is located I will have problems. Any advice and will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Bill

[mike g]

Re: Mid year Body Removel

Bill: Recently pulled the body off my '65 roadster, using an A-frame made of 2" pipe and a lever chain hoist. Used nylon straps (racheting) with S-hooks. Really worked well. Also used an engine leveller to get things balanced just right. My son and I did the removal by ourselves. Very precise operation. OK: your question. I believe it's mandatory that you support the front of the body at the core support. My dolly is essentially a large rectangle made of 2x10's. The forward end is directly under the core support. It seems to be working very well. The dolly design came from an article in the restorer. This dolly design is completely open underneath, giving the best access to the underbody for cleaning & repairs.

[Gene M.]

Re: Mid year Body Front Support

Bill, I have had good results with the front end unsupported, but I remove the core support prior to lifting the body off the frame. The core support is a lot of cantilevered weight hanging out there. Coupe rear sections are OK but soft tops need rear end support.

[Duke W.]

Re: Mid year Body Removel

Also make sure that the inner front fender panel bonds are sound. These panels substantially increase front end (body) torsional stiffness and cantilever strength, but you might want to put some insurance support under the parking light housings just in case someone tries to sit on it. You just never know! And don't forget to carefully document the number of shims at each body mount location including the radiator support to frame location.


Duke

[Duke W.]

One other thought

I stripped everything off my '63 until it was down to the body shell and frame, then did all the body work (door fitting, panel gap, etc,) When this was done I raised it up with two HD bumper jacks on the birdcage sill member. Then I removed the radiator support and dropped the frame down with a couple of floor jacks.

[Bob Dransman]

Re: Mid year Body Removel

Bill, The body of my '64 sat on the stand for 4 years without nose support. I put it back on the chassis last month with no adverse effects.


Before you lift the body, make two spanners out of 1" angle iron that go between the hinge and one of the holes for the striker plate. This will allow you to remove the doors but keep the rigidity. Box off one of the ends (cut a notch and bend the tab) so you can attach it to the striker's hole. Drill a hole for a bolt at the striker, bolt it in, and drill a second hole adjacent to one of the existing holes in the hinge. I actually picked the body up by these straps using 2 come-alongs! I kept the hooks on the come-alongs in place by using 2 small c-clamps on either side of the hook.


BTW, I've seen some MASSIVE body stands. I made a "box" out of 2x4's that's 8' long with width to put the 2x4's under the bird cage on each side. I reinforced each corner with a 3/8" plywood "strap". the legs were 2-foot 2x4's, bolted into the corners of the "box" and drilled for bed rollers at the bottom! I triangulated every 90 degree corner with 1x2's and supported the rear mounts with 2x4's clamped to the 2x4 "box". The whole thing only weighs about 20 lbs. and I built it in about 2 hours.


Good Luck!