65 Riv on rotisserie Q's

This seemed to have me super nervous. I bought a cool bedliner/undercoating spray (Raptor by U-Pol) that reviews claim to be a breeze to work with with phenomenal end results. I ordered the kit that includes a Schultz spray gun. Well reviews claimed the gun has a breather hole in the top that allows product to run out if not careful. So I thought it would be a good idea to borrowed my friends rotisserie. My car body still has all the glass, all the seats, carpet, doors, dash, console & A/C unit in it. I thought this rotisserie would allow me to simply tip the body enough to clean & shot the undercoating better & avoid spilling product. After mounting it to the body mount locations & started to tip it about 10 degrees I heard a loud snap. Still don't know where that came from. Maybe the rusty rotisserie maybe my car? If it wasn't for my friend pointing out that the front body mount brackets under the firewall are not welded on but only press fitted I would've probably continued to tip the car more.

Hokey right? I know…

Has anyone tried this before?

Will/can those press fitment body mount brackets rip right off if I tip the car around 65 degrees??

All pics I've seen of cars on a rotisserie are only shells.

Am I insane to consider doing this with all that stuff still on/in the car??

My conclusion, if I don't get better advice, is to simply use the rotisserie as a hoist for more height, block it & get more head room to work from underneath.

Any & all comments welcome

Regards,

David

With all that hardware still in the body it is too heavy to flip IMO. The body mounts aren't designed to hold that weight not to mention the risk of over flexing the body, misalignment of body panel gaps, cracking the glass, etc. You have it up plenty high enough to get under and work so if it were me I'd leave it that way and not try to rotate it.

Comment one, never use concrete blocks. They are made of porous material and can crack, split, and drop the whole car. I always use high quality jack stands. Mine are 6,000# Heim Warner:

I never got under the car supported like that. We always use a secondary support, like the floor jack.

Or a jack and a stable pile of mounted wheels and tires like this:

The center of gravity is way off for rotating the loaded body. If you try you should look for non-elastic socks that stay up with garters. You'll be tucking your balls into your socks when you get done and the elastic will cut off circulation.

I think if I was at your stage I would stand her up on the cowl, being real careful to leave the lifting device attached and two safety stays in place. Again, I would rest it on inflated wheels and tires at the front mounts and with loose tires for the upper cowl to rest on. I have pics of everything:

When I lifted my car I put a 4X4 support under the garage cross tie and lifted with a slow moving chain fall.

When I remounted the body I cut 6 inch 2X4's and nailed 3 in a stack. I put four of these wooden spacers at the mount locations, front and rear axle arch, so I had good working room until the final 6" drop.

There is a lot of potential danger in what you are doing. Don't let you guard down for a moment.

Bernie

A since departed friend of mine did a couple of Rivieras on a rotisserie with some luck but the bodies were stripped, the doors were removed and he had specially built braces that he would bolt into the door frames, and the arms on his rotisserie went the full length of the body with certain places built up to match the contours of the frame. His rotisserie bolted to the body at every point the frame bolted to the body. He custom built it just for 1st generation Rivieras. I'm guessing the snap you heard may have been the seal on the rear window or the windshield giving way to the stresses you put on the body.

Ed

PS - After his death, I asked his son about it and he thinks it was part of a bunch of scrap metal that he sold after his dad died; he had no interest in cars or his dad's hobby.

All valid points. Thank you all for the advise especially Bernie lol. That was one hell of a picture you painted. It's gonna be a while before I can get that image out of my head. I had pretty much called it quits on the rotisserie once I heard the snap. Still don't know what that was. The sound came from the front & my bud swears it was the rusty ole rotisserie. I don't know…it's still sitting there just as u saw it in the pics…busy with other projects but the "can of worms" effect has me debating on stripping the body down to the shell since my bud is in no hurry to get his rotisserie. The closer I look the more items I can see that need addressing. So I will eventually have to do it…right?

All valid points. Thank you all for the advise especially Bernie lol. That was one hell of a picture you painted. It's gonna be a while before I can get that image out of my head. I had pretty much called it quits on the rotisserie once I heard the snap. Still don't know what that was. The sound came from the front & my bud swears it was the rusty ole rotisserie. I don't know…it's still sitting there just as u saw it in the pics…busy with other projects but the "can of worms" effect has me debating on stripping the body down to the shell since my bud is in no hurry to get his rotisserie. The closer I look the more items I can see that need addressing. So I will eventually have to do it…right?

That's exactly what happened to me, hence the full blown strip every nut and bolt off of it approach. Go for it, if you've got the guts.

That's exactly what happened to me, hence the full blown strip every nut and bolt off of it approach. Go for it, if you've got the guts.

I did the same as u did to the frame. But I was trying not to go there on the body. Dumb idea I know right. I have the time & the guts. Best of all I think I have OCD…that & this car equals "mucho dinero"

You got that right. It'll cost you some coin to do it right, and that's with free labor you provide. I wish I had more time to work on mine. Going slower than I would like.

I refurbished my complete chassis and did not disassemble the body. I ended up with a very reliable car that drove comfortably with original style biased tires and nothing rubbing on the frame.

All the bushings and springs are new. The main components have been epoxy primed with ValSpar satin black finish coats. All has held up well and made the car great to drive.

The last time cosmetics were addressed was in 1980 when it got 8 coats of Claret Mist Metallic.

This year and 2014 everything gets taken care of.

Lessons learned depend a lot on the owner. If you pour all of your money and talent into mechanical reliability first you will not have a salable car if the need to sell arises. The biggest piece of junk with fresh paint will always sell before a mechanically restored car needing cosmetics. Uniformed or inexperienced buyers generally assume shiny cars steer, start, stop, cool, and must drive "like new".

It is better to restore individual components and divide your initial investment between mechanical and cosmetic equally. That way there is always something shiny for the buyer to touch and see if you need to sell or assess a value.

I can list about three hundred $100 jobs that you are looking at right now. You can avoid half the cost by providing your own time as labor. It is about a 50/50 split on parts and labor. In fact, restoring the chassis is a great place to start. All of those things really need to be done.

Once the chassis is complete set the assembled body on the chassis with the spacers I described. Then you will have very good access to the under body areas. Then lower the body into place and make a running car.

Two years ago we refurbished my '86 Park Ave. It was interesting to do the unibody with a subframe. It was certainly not as intensive as a body/frame car and we ended up with the complete car I now have. I am into that one for about $11,000 paying for labor. The final details will be in the $2,000 to $3,000 range with mostly my labor to get it right where I want it.

Mucho Dinero is the key, but always keep it pretty in case you have to divest.

Bernie

Well said Bernie. I've been told Rob J & I are neck & neck on restoring our frames & engines as you did to yours. Actually I think he's past me & he's started on the body already. I was planning on undercoating the body, then mounting it back on the frame as is. My hope is to enjoy driving it again while I work on the body, rubber, interior & A/C.

I don't plan on selling my car but I truly believe everything is for sale. So maybe a buyer will come later rather than sooner giving me more time to enjoy my brand new engine & suspension. I envy you & those enjoying their Riv's.

Great advise tho…will apply it to my next build…after the tough experiences of building a Riv I'm sure most other builds will seem like a breeze…right?

Regards,

David

That's exactly what happened to me, hence the full blown strip every nut and bolt off of it approach. Go for it, if you've got the guts.

Most expensive phrase in the history of mankind... "while you`re at it,.." Especially while working on a wooden B.O.A.T.T. (Bust Out Another Ten Thousand). Argghhh....

Tom Mooney

Most expensive phrase in the history of mankind... "while you`re at it,.." Especially while working on a wooden B.O.A.T.T. (Bust Out Another Ten Thousand). Argghhh....

Tom Mooney

Ain't that the truth Tom. Glad I no longer own a boat. Regarding the Riv. I'm sure I'll have more money into the car than it's worth, but I really don't care. I'm going to have a car exactly how I want it, and I do not plan on selling it. I make pretty good money, and enjoy the hobby. That for me is worth the price of admission.

Besides, I did just recently sell my 65 GS. I figured one project is enough, and I'd rather concentrate my efforts on this car. The money I sold my GS for goes towards the paint and body work on this car.