Any tips for removing a body from the frame?

[Guest imported_PWN]

Wood body skinned with steal.

The body is solid, but I do not want to cause any stress, etc.

At my disposal I have a engine hoist and jack, and the potential to use my barn rafters.

The body was attached by four bolts on each side.

It is a four door phaeton. Any idea on the weight?

Any info is appreciated.

I threw in a pic just in case any one wants to guess the weight. I am thinking 400-600 pounds.

[Guest imported_virgilmule]

I really am serious about this reply...

Take off as many easily-removeable parts as you can (seats, doors, winshield, etc.) Remove (and label!) the bolts. Get a case of beer, a couple of pizzas, and 6-8 friends. Lift the body off of the frame and place it on blocks.

I followed this procedure with the body of my '30 Marmon (5-passenger sedan - NOT a small car!), and replaced it the same way when the work was done.

It worked out just fine.

I was warned that by using a hoist, I would risk twisting the body and throwing door alignment out of whack. I am a rookie, and listened to the advice of those that have been through these things before. I don't regret it.

[keiser31]

PWN......make absolutely certain that you tie (stabilize) the panels together both laterally and longitudily before removing doors or body from frame. Tack weld or figure out a way to brace/bolt the parts so they will not twist. Once you get it to where you know it will not distort, THEN and only then, remove the body. Sometimes the steering column removal is overlooked. You may want to study that situation before continuing.

[keiser31]

A friend of mine removed the body from his 1928 Franklin without stabilizing the doors and panels. It took him forever to align the doors and he never finished before passing. Now the new owner has to figure out the alignment and make corrections before re-assembly.

[Guest palosfv3]

Whether you use hydraulic lifts or the buddy removal system, the most important step not to overlook is to make sure of the integrity of the body before attempting to lift it. Once the body bolts , steering column and other necessary parts are removed you should test by lifting slightly and noting if anything shifts or hangs up.

I would recommend leaving the doors and latches in place as they will add to the rigidity of the body during removal. If you have known areas of weakness you should take some effort to reinforce and stabilize the affected areas before attempting to lift or remove the body. The danger of hydraulic or mechanical lifts is, if a bolt or other attachment is missed you could easily crack a wood support or member . If you take your time and look carefully there should be no additional risk using this method. Mechanical lifts also give the option of slowly lifting and checking to ensure if everything is proceeding correctly. If you use the beer and pizza method just remember to lock the fridge and hide the pizza until the body is successfully removed from the chassis.

How are you going to store or move the body once it is off the chassis ? I would suggest some sort of support framework with some casters for ease of moving.

[Guest imported_PWN]

Thanks all.

I have already removed the front floor boards, steering column and other assorted parts as well. I am satisfied all bolts and ties are removed as well.

The engine and tranny are out as well, giving pretty good access to underneath the car.

The backseat bottom is wood and lifts up like a trap door giving me access from above.

I have two 2x6s (already cut and placed) underneath the body, running from side sill to sill (the sills are reinforced wood. I have located the 2x6s underneath the front seat back and rear seat back as they seem to be areas of body frame reinforcement. The seat pans are metal edged.

Sounds like I am on the right track. Slow and careful, plodding to say the least.

Thanks again.

Peter

[Friartuck]

The method I've used for two 1930 Lincolns is similar to house moving. After all bolts are removed and the body is free, pry up one area a little to get in a 1/8 luan plywood shim and do that for each point. Follow that by a 1/4 inch and so on. When you've got enough clearance for a 4X4, then use blocking outside the chassis and roll it out from under the body. Its especially important about the dolly the chassis will rest on. Be prepared to chock up the body in certain places on the dolley to simulate the chassis. You don't want the body wood to form/shape to improper alignment. This is especially important on this open touring body where there is no upper support like a sedan. My web page shows a couple of photos:

http://www.monmouth.com/user_pages/friar...estoration.html

This webpage has an article on using Kwik Poly for repairing the sill supports in case yours are rotted. The article was written with this repair in mind and is best performed while on the dolley:

http://www.monmouth.com/user_pages/friartuck/lincoln/restoration_tips/restoration_tips.html

Chris

[Guest imported_PWN]

Wow, thanks Chris. I am sure many besides myself will benefit from your post and your methods.

One problem I face, is the back fenders appear to require body removal in order for them to be removed, thus interfering with 4x4 placement towards the back of the car.

To the best of my knowledge the body sits on the frame perfectly flat, thus a flat supporting surface is what I will need to rest the body on.

Thanks again. I am still studying your web links. I am sure more questions will follow.

[Friartuck]

Normally the fenders and running boards are removed first. The fenders should be fastened along the inside edge into the body. Blind nuts are most often used into the wood frame. Notice on my Lincoln the rear fenders were removed, but the running boards and running board splash aprons were left on. The aprons were easier to remove with the body removed.

[1929Chrysler]

this ia a great question PWN as I am eventually going to do the same to my car. A lot of my questions have already been answered by reading what I see here but if I could add a few more questions about the process I sure would apreciate the help!

Some parts of the wood are rotted and deteriated. As mentioned in the responses, I will try to stabilize the body as much as possible before removing from the frame. However, I'm sure that there is rotted wood that is not accesable due to the steel skin in the way. I would like to remove the steel skin so that I could either replace rotted wood or repair with qwik-poly. I have a parts car that I am experimenting on before I attempt the real deal and getting the skin off of one of the pillars seems to be quite a project!! Any comments or concerns about removing the skin?

The other question I have is that the door alignement concerns me a bit here. On the one side of the car the two doors are aligned perfectly (4 door sedan) On the driver side,

the doors seem to be farther apart and the panel on the back door sticks out a little at the bottom. Should I correct this alignement before I remove the body and if so how?!

Thanks for your help

Dan

[keiser31]

I would try to align and brace all of the doors and panels prior to wood removal. Once the wood is removed you cannot go backwards. Even if you have to tack weld to a few spots on the panels, you can probably repair those spots fairly easy.

[Guest palosfv3]

There will be some debate to the proper sequence of replacing body wood.

If your body has rotted wood it maybe best to not remove the body until wood repairs/replacement have been completed. Look carefully at the body skin. Can the outer skins in the bad areas be removed from the frame without to much difficulty?

In my efforts over the years I found this to be a better method for replacing one or two small pieces. If your body is really bad , it may not make much difference.

Is the door alignment issue on the side with the wood/rust damage ?

I'm assuming it is but just want to confirm. If so lining up the doors before the repair/replacement of the lower sills may be wasted effort. Your door alignment issue could also be in the door , hinges or hinge pillars. . A good thorough assessment of the body should be done before starting any major dissassembly.

As I'm typing a couple of things come to mind. Does your Chrysler have a full wooden substructure? or is it a partial wood frame like a Model A ?

[1929Chrysler]

Thanks guys.. I'm not familiar with the model A partial frame but mine is a full wood skeletal body. After taking a closer look at the door alignement problem, I see that the screws are coming out of the hinges that are connected to the rear door. What maybe appears to be a bigger problem however is the front hinge pillar is loose from the main side sill. It looks like it could be a mortise and tenon joint. Hard to tell if it's rotted or not. I don't have all the interior removed yet so I can't inspect it as thoroughly as I would like. If it is rotted, how do I repair this joint and make it stable enough for me to be able to remove the body?

Thanks again

Dan

[ex98thdrill]

We have a car lift, we remove all the body bolts, roll the car onto the lift and instead of putting the supports under the frame to raise the car up, we put the supports on the body to raise the body. It's level, it's slow and it's smooth. Once the body is clear of the frame we roll the chassis out from under the body and then we roll a cart in and set the body on a cart.

Once the restoration is near completion we put the body back on the frame the same way. You can get 6 to 8 guys to give you a hand, but if one of them trips, that body stands a chance of crashing down. We've done 5 cars this way and that's the only way we do it. One of the ones we did this with was a fire truck where we took the cab, the box and the water tank one piece at a time. We had our frame on 'skates' when we went to mount everything back on the frame so we could shift the frame in any direction one piece at a time. When the body got within an inch of the frame we'd put a screwdriver or punch (whatever we had close to us at the time) through all the bolt holes to use as a guide to get the frame in the exact spot as the body was going down.

We do this with just my dad and I, we do it slow, we take our time and nothing gets damaged and no one gets hurt.