What to do, your advice please.

I have 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline Aerosedan 2dr, complete with original engine, trans, rearend, just like it was built in '48. I am going to swap out the 216, the 3spd, and suspension, and do the common upgrades to improve drive-ability.

I also recently acquired a rolling chassis, (stock) from a 1947 Chevrolet Fleetline Aerosedan. The body has been removed and is being used in another HAMBers project.

I got the roller chassis for the the '54 235 6cyl engine that someone had put in the '47 and I want to use that for my power plant. I am bolting in the MII IFS from Chassis Engineering Inc. and will most likely use their rear spring kit as well.

I'm doing this in my garage, (no lift) and my question is: If you had both of these ...Would you build the chassis that the body is on and not remove the body?
or
Would you build the frame with out the body and then move the body over to it?

I'm asking for advice on would the advantage of working on the suspension, brake lines, ect, on a chassis with out the body being in the way be worth the trouble of moving the body over to it later, or would it be best to stick with the original body/frame and work on it so the body wouldn't have to be moved?

My brother did a weld on MII IFS on a '49 Chevy Deluxe Wagon about 10 years ago, without removing the body, minus front end, (grill, fenders, hood, ect.) so I know what to expect if I use the original frame/body, but just would like to hear opinions from those whom have traveled down the road of removing the body before, and what to expect, advantages, hangups, and advice.

Thanks for your insight.
- BuyTheFlag

 

There are pros and cons to both.You will have more room to work on the suspension on the bare frame, the you have to transfer the body by hand or build some sort of jig. Look at both options and go from there.

 

It depends how bad the old chassis is and how much work you want to do. Working on a bare chassis is definitely easier plus you can clean and paint it real nice.

Transferring the body without a hoist is not a big deal. You need to remove the front clip, remove the body bolts etc., jack up the body and support it on a couple of 4X4's on jack stands blocks or barrels. Roll out the old chassis and roll in the new.

You have to use your own judgement. I would say for the amount of work you want to do, and having a spare chassis, it would be a good idea to use it even though it will be more work, you will end up with a better result.

 

Pros and cons..But if I did it, I would build a chassis without the body if it was an option.. cleaner and easier although it may take an extra weekend to mount the body....my 2 cents

 

The question is how many friends do you have? getting the body apart is easy the lift is gonna be the hard part. If it was me. I'd body off the original chassi because i can be anal at times but as your doing the mkII front clip I don't think it really matters. If you start modding the doner chassi you can do it with ease and if something interrupts your build you have a good moddified chassi and an original car to sell.



And please, start a build thread, I've fallen behind on mine and hope to drop back onto it shortly.

 

You can lift with a couple of cherry pickers.

 

how nice do you want it to be when your done? take the body off and open up that can of worms all at once.

 

I also have a 48 Aero but I kind of went nutz on the mods, I put mine on an 80 Olds 88 frame, got it free.
It is easier working on the underneath stuff without the body on it but it can be done if you don't mind hours on your back but I wanted to smooth , paint and re-do the entire frame
I moved my cab, (for lack of a better term) with an engine hoist, the rest just unbolt and get some buddys for the heavy stuff.

 

I think doing a body-off is more mental than physical, gotta put on your game face, round up all the tools and invite all your buddies over. Be ready for the long list of "while-you're-at-its" that go with the task.

Bob

 

Where are vins? That maybe the biggest hurdle.. Jack

 

You can lift a body off the frame with a floor jack, some blocks, and a couple of long 4X4s. I won't insult your intelligence by explaining how.

 

Thanks to everyone that responded. I do like the idea of being able to keep the car complete and movable while working on the other frame. I have the intention of only building it once and painting the frame would be easy... Thanks to everyone again for your perspective. Going to take a few measurements and make sure it's apples to apples and if it is, start building the bare frame. Thanks HAMBers!

 

frame swap---it will be easy...

 

Here is a pic I took a few weeks ago when I brought the chassis engine home, if anyone was curious as to what I was looking at.