stealthbob Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Well the"Might as wells" have me all the way now to lifting the body....The thing is how do I mount onto the back when it looks like the pics attachedWould it be ok to extend the mount arms to reach up and in to the next frame mounting point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cobia191 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I have a 55 Super mounted in a home made "gantry" stlye rotisserie. i mounted the car throught the double Hat frames where the frame mounts to the rear of the car. if the 54 and 55 are the same, that looks likes it has been removed. You may want to consider sandwitching inside and out of the mounting area, full width. if there is enough strength in the sheet metal left.I bolted the front to the two forward mounting points under the firewall.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cobia191 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Pardon me. I just realized I was looking at the car from inside the trunk. There should be a double"hat" type spacer under the car where the body bolts through to the frame. If that is intact, put some large flat washers on the inside and bolt up through your fixture through those two holes.I had similar rust on mine and part of the hat frames were rusted on the ends. I cut them off and had new fabs. made but have not replaced htem. I have a great body for a '55 but not sure yet if I want to break it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthbob Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 I'm reluctant to use the original two most rear spots for two reasons...First is obvious, strength but the second is that I want full access to make the repairs to this area.I guess I have to use the next mount location in further...?Also how many inches would the center of gravity be from the floor up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cobia191 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I Kind of guessed where it was (cog). I used a water level to find the centers of both bearings.What I did was leave the fron of the car in the mount and ran a beam under the car where the axle runs when working on the rear area. I put the beam on some high rise jack stands I made from Ibeam jacks cut down to around 4'. welded some legs to the tubes for support. This gave me around 4" of adjustment. I spaced the 3"steel tubing I used for the cross brace with 2X's under the car to clear the fender wells. You can use the forward mounts, I am sure, if the mounts off of the rotis. are strong enough to take the twist. The body really does not weigh that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 BobYou need to repair that before removing the body. Cut out the bad metal, fit the replacement, bolt to the frame using the old body mount, then weld into place...now you have a good attachment point. Otherwise it will never fit the frame. Do the same with any other questionable areas. Also large body panel patches/replacement should at least be roughed in with the body on the frame, preferably with the doors attached. You won't believe how much things move and shrink. A rotisserie does not mean that you get to avoid all of the crawling and dirt in your face.:eek:Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Most of the rotisseries I've seen used were for unit-body cars rather than body-on-frame cars. UniBody can be much easier, but you still need to secure the door openings with braces.Old-Tanks' points about things fitting BACK onto the frame are very valid! In that respect, it might be best to leave the frame attached and then fit the ends of the frame to the rotisserie apparatus. Remember that the body takes a LOT of its stiffness from the frame on a body-on-frame car, which also means the basic body itself might be best removed and worked on with an overhead hoist and rocker panel lifting points, not unlike what was used at the vehicle assembly plants . . . but that might not be in the budgets of many of us.Just some thoughts,NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthbob Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 This is why I ask first.....Great info.This is my only structural area that I need to worry about, there is some bottom rear quarter stuff to do and some other minor holes in the sheet metal.Time to start cutting in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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