Factor

Hi guys,

anyone ever remove the body to do frame off restore?

do you need a special lift?

OR old fashioned, elbow grease?

Planning to do a mild restoration b/c my car is pretty clean, and am kicking around this.

Thanks,
Ron

shopman1

I built a jig inside the car and took it off with my lift. More important to use it to put it back on because you can line up the bolts with your line bobs. The picture is me putting the body back on the frame.
Many muscle it, many use a one tone chain hoist.

'75

Check the online vendors for a body lifting strap, most of them have it, then many use an engine hoist.

Mick71

I used the straps from a vendor and a chain block.

jnb5101

by far the most difficult part of lifting a body is the removal of the #2 and #3 body bolts.

spdrcr29

Worked for me...didn't have any helpers either! Not hard to do. Just pay special attention to the number of body mount shims that are removed from each body mount location. Some may fall out of place when pulling the body while others might stick to the bottom of the body. Good luck if you decide to pull your body too!

redwingvette

I used the body lift straps ans a come-a-long to lift my73 body. But I have a 10ft ceiling.
body-off project

68/70Vette

For my 68, I didn't lift the body off the frame. I lowered the frame from the body. I jacked the car up and put supports under the passenger and driver's floor pans, supports for the tail of the car ..the fuel tank had been removed, supports for the nose. Without going into more detail. it was only necessary for me to separate the frame and the body by about 6 inches to clean up the frame, etc and replace the fuel lines. I did have alignment pins made. The factory uses the pins to align the body to the frame, so when I eventually mated the frame and body, the alignment pins made everything go back into place.

I don't think you have to...for every restoration.. lift the body many feet off the frame. For my restoration, I only needed a few inches.

Alan 71

Hi Ron,
If you don't have a great lift like s1, or the height in your garage to use a strap system, the body can be lifted off with about 6 friends if the seats are out of the car and maybe the doors and bumpers/brackets are off to make it a little lighter.
LOT'S of people do it that way with success.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

Factor

Great info guys! THANKS!

I only have a 9 ft ceiling height. A friend in the adjacent subdivision has 10 ft AND mounted bolt tabs that are sunk to beams for this sort of thing. I could always use his to lift off, and kind of store, then bring the frame back to mount. OR lastly, I could get a bunch of buddies and do it hte old fashioned way!

I have a convertible. if the doors are closed, do I have to prevent any flex to the body?

Thanks,
Ron

rogman16

If I were to do it again, there are a couple of things I would do differently...

1) Build a brace between the upper A pillar door hinge mount and the mount for the door pin receiver for additional stability during rebuild... (If you don't have this brace, please leave your doors on during the lift)

2) I would've built my body dolly similar to Alan's design, and I would've ensured my engine hoist rolled underneath the dolly... The wheels I used for my dolly were an inch too short to allow this to happen which was a PITA...

3) Would've looked into getting a dolly that allows you to tilt the body like Evan Q (and others) have used...



Here I am in July 2011 right after I pulled the body... Used an engine hoist and several straps... "Still" the nose was very heavy and required the wife the pickup the nose as I "pushed" the chassis out from under it and slide the dolly under the body... Remember, my dolly just didn't "roll" over the engine hoist, so that was a very stressful 30 minutes or so... BTW, our ceiling is less than 9 feet in our garage... That's why I looked so relieved in this picture as we had success...



Thought my restore would take about a year... Here I am at year "2" with at least a year to go... That means I will need at least two more years :-)

BTW, if I could go back and start over, I would also consider an aftermarket frame with C5 suspension components and an LS3 with an modern auto trans with overdrive... Maybe for my next project!!!

Good luck, have fun, take plenty of pictures, ziploc (and label) everything... Don't think, "I'll remember where that goes" as you won't...

Rogman

Alan 71

Hi Ron,
It's true you do need to be more careful about support with a convertible, but with the doors on and closed you can safely lift the body.
It's with the body off the frame AND the doors off that the convertible body MAY be a little flexible.
Regards,
Alan

GDaina

That's how I lifted the body off mine...three on a side, doors on to eliminate body flex, seats out...less than 30 seconds the body was off...

Maymyvetteliveforevr

I'm curious as to the weight of the body with the seats out and the bumpers off. Would about 900 lbs sound about right since if you lift it with a chain pull from the rafters of the garage, I wonder how much weight it needs to hold?

Alan 71

Hi mmvlfe,
I'd say the body minus as much as you can remove prior to the lift is around 750 pounds.
Just what size you roof framing material is, plus the clear span of that framing material, plus just where on that span your lifting load will be located will determine just what size lumber you need to be safe.
What is your situation?
Regards,
Alan

jnb5101

another point to remember is that if you use an engine hoist, as the body lifts high enough to clear the frame/motor/gas tank, the arm on the hoist will almost contact the top of the door. so, if you leave enough slack in the lifting straps to avoid door contact, the ceiling height becomes a problem. and as the nose straps become more horizontal(by reducing the height of the hoist attachment point) the tension on the straps rises dramatically. i found the best way to lift a body was to build a ladder frame with the rails resting a few inches above the fender crests. the straps can be attached to the wheel wells, seat belt bolts and the radiator support. the center of gravity will be just behind the upper windshield bar and a little towards the driver's side. by using a ladder type frame, you can put tension on the hoist and see if it's going to lift evenly-if not, just lower it and slide the ladder into a better position. i've done three using this method, and it's a stress free job. and (MOST IMPORTANTLY) it makes lowering the body easy. that's when the pucker factor is high!

Maymyvetteliveforevr

Thanks for the reply Alan and I appologize for highjacking this thread.

When I'm ready I'll explain my situation in a new thread but in the mean time, your estimate (750 lbs) seems about right to me, but I don't plan on removing the doors.

mac79vette

I used the straps from a vendor and a engine hoist. Lifted the body in the garage with no problem and just rolled the hoist back away from the car. I was shocked at how easy it was. I would suggest a helper to make sure when you lower the body down on a stand it lines up correctly. Here is a link that shows the car attached to the hoist. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...ld-thread.html
If you line up the hoist hook just above the shifter the car is perfectly balanced.

Factor

AWESOME! thanks guys!

did any of you pull the front nose/clip off before pulling the body?
(need to replace core support)

I see the strap that go from the windshield to the core support...is this because it is all loosely attached OR just added support?

Does anyone remember the brand of straps?

Thanks,
R

GDaina

Why would you remove the front clip? There is no need unless you will replace the clip. Core support is a bolt on item.