rassie

I am starting a 1976 frame off rebuild and have been doing some research on how to get the cars body off the frame. Not a difficult job from what I can see in all my books and manuals. Every book that I have seen starts by taking the engine and gearbox out. My questions is can't I take the body off with the engine and gearbox still on the frame. It would be much easier to strip everything else left on the frame that way.

427basketcase

I seems possible, mine did not have a nose on it so it wasn't an issue. A lot of folks here on the forum have posted pics of their progress and there are a lot of engines still sitting in the frames. :yesnod:

LemansBlue68

I've seen many body off restos done this way. You just need to make sure that you can lift the body high enough to clear the engine which shouldn't really be a problem, either. This will make life much simpler for you.

I took my motor and trans out first but wasn't originally planning to do a total frame off. Then I decided what the heck?!

I installed the entire drive train, shifter, exhaust etc. on the completed chassis before I reinstalled the body. It made things much easier.

rassie

Thanks for the advice. Anything you can remember or think of that I have to watch out for when taking the body off the frame? :steering:

Stewart's74

As was stated before, youre going to have to lift the body pretty high to clear the fuel tank .

NHvette

I lifted mine in a 7 ft garage ... just cleared the ignition shielding.

The hardest parts are:
1 - getting the darn bumpers off.
2 - getting the darn rusted body bolts out
3 - Remember to undo the steel cable that conects the seatbelt anchors to the frame.

ps - that cable is strong enough to lift the chassis off the ground. :rolleyes:

GDaina

All you need is 6-8 guys...3-4 on each side and lift...only thing I took out were the seats...steering column, doors remained, drive trail, gas tank remained...oh yea one extra person to push the rolling chassis away once the body clears everything then roll the body dolly under the body.

rassie

Everyone,

Thanks for all the help and advice it is really appreciated . :thumbs: Does anyone have any recommendation/specifications/measurements/plans for building the body dolly?

Lohkay

hey. started my body-off resto 3 years ago. But it was pretty straight forward. You can leave the engine, tranny on the frame. I removed both bumper covers (hardest part), headlights (was told they put too much weight on the front end and it might break... don't think so now), seats (to get seatbelt bolts off), steering column and cables. For the cables, unhook everything from engine, vaccum hoses on the front bumper (reservoir) and don't forget the ground strap near the 1st body mount. As for the body mounts, they were a pain to unbolt and had to cut them. Everything else can stay. As for a body doly, I haven't done one but its shouldn't be hard... the center point on the body is a bit in fron of the door handle so something square that's as large as the door would do fine. The back doesn't need support and the front could use something but its pretty light.

JLMvette73

Check your email. I sent you the body dolly plan I'm using. Hope it helps!

jerry

rick1025

Best thing to do.. get the nolan Adams video/manual. Can be purchased from Ecklers,etc. For the first timer, the video is priceless. The manual has a checklist of the steps to go throughj and the sequence,etc It at least ,gives a preview of what you should expect.

redwingvette

I don't know why you would want to pull the motor before the body :confused: Check my web for body-off project info and pics.

jpatrick636

NHvete, cool trick with the pictures!! :thumbs:

Big Fish

Two things I would like to thow out here as they have not been covered:

Be Careful using the lift kits that grab the rocker channels. If your rocker channels are rusted out you will have some real serious problems. If you are not sure, use some slings that will wrap all the way under the body. Don't forget ALL the ground straps.

Leave the radiator support in the car, but remove the radiator. The radiator support adds a great deal of strength and ridgidity to the front end, and makes a great place to add some front end support once the body is off. :seeya

cmashark

the only thing i forgot to unhook was the ebrake cable, but it sure made me feel retarded! :banghead:

chris

redwingvette

"Be Careful using the lift kits that grab the rocker channels. If your rocker channels are rusted out you will have some real serious problems. If you are not sure, use some slings that will wrap all the way under the body. "

:iagree: If I had know how bad mine were I would never have lifted it the way I did.

"Leave the radiator support in the car, but remove the radiator. The radiator support adds a great deal of strength and ridgidity to the front end, and makes a great place to add some front end support once the body is off. "

Thats what I did as well. I also had a strap on the beam to lift the nose as I lifted the body.
There is a check list on my web page.

rassie

I would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to respond so-far. All this information will definitely make my life easier when I start the projects in 2 weeks time. :thumbs:

I have one more question though. I have to move the car from storage to my home garage. When I moved it before I put the whole car on a trailer. This time around I have though of using a tow-dolley and hooking up the rear of the car and then towing it backwards that way. Anybody out there done that yet and are there any risks doing it this way rather than using a full size auto trailer?

GDaina

don't mess around, use the trailer

stpman

:iagree:

Nixxa

rusted body mount bolts are a real PITA!!!! I snapped 3 out of the 8 bolts right in half, it's a good thing I've got another frame waiting for all this, the ones in th rear 1/4 wheel wells are the biggest pain in the butt you have no room to move the ratchet is why I ended up snapping both bolts, I couldn't force them enough so I started using my feet and that ended that real quick, certainly glad I didn't have to wait for them to fully unscrew! :smash: