What is everyone using to lift the body off the frame? I thought about getting an electric hoist that I can bolt to the ceiling but what about setting up a couple of pulleys and doing it manually? Not sure how many times I would need to raise and lower the body
I use my buddys . And ive used tie down straps from the beams in my shop one or two inchs at a time on each strap .Check out the pic in my profile
an engine lift and some chains. do one end at a time and set it on long 4 x 4 beam supported by strong saw horses on each side what kind of car body? Mode A's , 32-34 four strong guys can lift as already suggested . on my `36 there was 6 of us. on the `49 woodie i'm working on i used an air lift jack in the back and an engine hoist up front a hoist from the ceiling sounds great , but make sure your ceiling can take the load
Depends on the size of the car and how many people you can round up. To remove a body myself on both my 34 and 47 Ford as I raised the car with the body on the frame, blocked the body with jack stands and 2X8's, lowered the chassis, I then removed the rear end and slid the frame forward and out from under the car, the reinstalled the rear.
>>"an engine lift and some chains. do one end at a time and set it on long 4 x 4 beam supported by strong saw horses on each side"<< I did this too: 4x4 beams on 35-gal drums. 1959 Buick coupe shell- no problems.
I agree, get a bunch of strong back buddies & show em' the ice chest full of ice cold suds----------Don
Bring the car to a local shop with a lift, and bring some railroad ties with casters on the bottom. Unbolt the body from the chassis, roll it onto the lift, and lift the body off. Run the chassis home on the trailer, and come back for the body - lower the lift it's on and put the body on the ties, then roll it onto the trailer and take it home, too! ~Jason
Used the engine hoist method. two of them pass side and drivers side used strong tie down straps wrapped around / underneath body and raised symmetrically / frame rolled forward and wallah.
I use a case of beer. Just call up some friends, do NOT tell them they will be lifting, just tell them you have some beer you need help polishing off and give them a time. EVERYONE will show up that you invite, then when they are all there, spring it on them. Best part is, it will work over and over, every time.
I would be lifting a 31 sedan, not sure what it weighs, there are no doors/fenders on it right now. Anyone know what the weight might be?
I do not know the weight, but I used the 4 guys method to load my '29 Sedan body on a trailer when we bought it. We needed all 4 of us to do the job. Then I owed them beer.
I took the body off of a 65 Impala.(Can you say friggin' HUGE!) The ony tools I used were a bunch of thirsty buddys, a fridge full of cold Carling Black Label and a my wife grilling a bunch of chicken and steak. That big nut bustin' body practically flew off that frame! Oh ya....everyone got 2 Tylenol after dinner too....
37 Plymouth SEDAN, full interior, all glass etc. used 3 2x4's (I will use 2x6's next time) and five of my biggest employees. Eveybody survived with exception of the Corona
I use a cherry picker on the rear and a chain hoist hanging from the main frame rafter of my shop on the front.
I took it off the frame by myself, by hand. That was fun. To put it back on, I had a party and after everyone was well lubricated I gave it the 'ol "Hey, since we're all here, can you give me a hand with my car for a sec?"
I have done several by myself with a cherry picker and a floor jack, 55 gal' drums and a couple of long piece of steel (3x2,2x2 whatever)to go between the drums when you get high enough to roll chassis out. Removing rear wheels and rolling rear on jack may help. Always make sure everything is stable, a careless person could get themselves in trouble.
cherry picker, floor jack, lots of blocks of wood and some 2x6's. now I do it with my lift.... much easier and faster.
Am I safe in putting straps on the cross members on the body to lift or is there a better way to avoid any damage
if you strap like pictured above, just stay above the center of gravity with your center lifting point so you don't end up flipping the damn thing on it's lid. also a real good idea to tie a loop in the strap at the lift point so the strap can't slide in the hook. Would suck really bad if the car shown above got a little heavy on one side & started slipping left or right, could find itself laying on one of it's doors in a hurry... that big "bang" noise followed by a moment of silence & disbelief.... regret etc... the sort of thing that would happen to me. don't leave those kind of doors open for murfy's law, cause he'll get ya.
I used 4 x 4 posts and beams at each end with heavy tie down straps. Works great going up, kinda tricky going down because the tie downs want to release all at once.
my 40 for i used an engine hoist and 4x4 on jack stands....blocked the body up and rolled the chassis out...long process by yourself
it took 3 of us we dragged the sedan out ofthe back of my pickup and put it on a rolling table started doing the metal patch work after that. wasnt that heavy at all
I am going to be doing it by myself and am trying to find a way to not break my back. Thinking that a hoist mouted to the ceiling with some reinforcement is the way to go. Just wonder how heavy the body is so I know how much I need to add in the ceiling rafters to reinforce
I'm just an average sized guy and I have put on and taken off my 30 tudor several times by myself. I just do one end a little, then the other end a little, ect. It only takes about 5-10 minutes. When things are painted I will get a little help, just so I don't tear up the fresh paint. I've used my cherry picker, but it didn't really make the job any easier. The boom was always in the way. The body dolly I use is about 6" shorter than my rolling chassis. Just park them next to each other and ease it over. It's not a big deal.
I just lifted the body off my frame Cherry picker and 4 straps to center the load. Solo lift easy....
That makes it look to easy!! I was thinking I would have to be above the roof line and wasn't thinking of in the window. A picture is worth a thousand words Thanks
I used ratchet straps so I could level the load as I lifted it. makes it easy to adjust the length to the need. Tim
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