I recently bought a 32 sedan shell that is pretty rough. I have all the patch panels for it. It needs cowl bottom, B pillar bottom and back lower on the body, as well as roof repairs. Typical rust areas. The body is on a 2x4 skid at the moment sitting atop one of my welding tables. Are all of these area repairable with the body on the frame? Is it best/easiest to do them on the frame or off? I can level up myframe on jack stands to make sure the tires and springs don't throw anything off. Do I meed to?
I like to do any body repairs (metal replacement) on the frame and level) as it will keep from having any problems down the road.
It's best to have the body mounted to a frame and held in position while making repairs. It only takes a 1/4" or so of twist and you will have trouble getting the doors and cowl to square up and have good gaps. At least clamp the body to something solid and leave it clamped until the welds are finished, it would not be unheard of to weld some braces in the body such as when you chop off the top. Most important is to take your time.
level the frame side to side and front to rear . Mount car and then get the doors to fit, meaning fit with with good gaps all around, before replacing any patches
There will be places that you can't reach, but save those til everything else is solid. Then you can pull the solid body off and weld those couple small spots.
you should weld in some braces before you change the body and clamp the doors shut for strength be very careful when picking it up use lots of help one person on each corner and one on each side two on sides if you have that many friends. all pickup together and carefully. then when its on the frame you tweak the doors and then do your panel work.
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