65 Riviera Door Removal

[RockinRiviDad]

Excuse my progress and (at times) my untimely response gentlemen but I am not retired and I still have little ones running around the house. Although slowly, but surely, I have been making more and more work for myself. Never did I expect to take my project down this far

My engine is done and sitting back there waiting patiently for me to drop her in. I thought I would be driving her by now. Instead I am working backwards and have taken all my body to frame mounts out after deciding to take the body off (still gotta disconnect the ebrake). I have recruited friends to help me lift it off but I plan on shedding some pounds off of it first (seats, rear bumper, trunk lid & doors).

Tried the search feature, no luck.

My question: what is the best method to take the doors off? What is the easiest method? How do I disconnect the wire harness which still runs thru the kick panel to the window switch? Should I somehow get power to the window switch and roll the windows down (if so, how) into door before removing the doors? Or should I leave the windows up? Or do I remove the door skins & take the glass out before the doors comes off?

Where do you guys like to buy the body bushings kit. I think I found a couple places like Kanter & CARS. Are there others you might recommend?

While the body is off I planned on using the NAPA rubberized undercoating on the underside. This has been a California car so NO serious rust issues. Do u guys think I would be ok with just sanding the metal and spraying the undercoating? Or are there other steps like prime, paint & then coat? What type of gigs/platforms/stands have you guys rigged up to set the body on and still have access to spray the underside at home?

Sorry for all the questions but I've never done this and I see plenty of you have. Any help will be appreciated. Thx in advance.

David

'65 Riviera, Deluxe, A/C

Edited March 1, 2013 by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)

[tenugent]

if your going that far with the car your ploblobly going to clean your window tracks for easy movement so your door skins will have to come off-you might want to do this while the doors are hanging.i took the window plug and wiring off my parts car(three wires)it fits my windows and vents-hooked it up to my battery charger -worked great.if you are going to remove any channels mark the location of all nuts and screws.replacing and allignment of windows is a real pain.good luck.t.nugent roa 12969...

[60FlatTop]

I have had the body off my car twice. I would not recommend stripping it to the shell to make it lighter. That makes more work, longer reassembly, and more little $100 jobs you didn't think of. It looks like you already have 200 of them. It is easy to add another 100.

I snaked the frame out from under the car alone. First I bolted a chain to my body mounts at the base of the cowl. Then centered a come-a-long on the garage cross tie above the car. I put a vertical 4x4 support from the cross tie to the floor beside the car. Raising the rear and setting it on a stack of tires got me up in back.

I raised the front to clear. With the rear wheels off I could support the third member with my floor jack and side the frame right out.

I was able to reuse the oval rear mounts. The others I just went to the Chevy dealership and asked for 1976 Impala mounts. They worked fine, as almost any GM mounts would.

Bernie

[RivNut]

If there's no reason to take the doors off, do as Bernie suggests. If you need to clean the tracks for the windows, do as Bernie says, then set the body back on the frame and remove the door skins and clean the tracks. The doors, when closed and latched, provide support for the rest of the body when it's not sitting on the frame. Power to the windows can be made by attaching a 12V lead to the big wire at the circuit breaker - behind the driver's side kick panel. You'll also need to ground your 12V power supply - battery charger, what have you. I've used the batteries from 12V cordless tools to do this stuff too.

Ed

[bb1970]

You can power the windows with a drill battery. I carry one charged with two leads on it in my junk yard tool bag.

[RockinRiviDad]

if your going that far with the car your ploblobly going to clean your window tracks for easy movement so your door skins will have to come off-you might want to do this while the doors are hanging.i took the window plug and wiring off my parts car(three wires)it fits my windows and vents-hooked it up to my battery charger -worked great.if you are going to remove any channels mark the location of all nuts and screws.replacing and allignment of windows is a real pain.good luck.t.nugent roa 12969...

Thx for the advice tenugent. It's unanimous, I will not be taking the doors off. But cleaning the window tracks is a great idea which it sounds like I can do thru the door skins later

David

'65 Riviera, Deluxe, A/C

[RockinRiviDad]

more work, longer reassembly, and more little $100 jobs you didn't think of. It looks like you already have 200 of them. It is easy to add another 100.

I snaked the frame out from under the car alone.

I was able to reuse the oval rear mounts. The others I just went to the Chevy dealership and asked for 1976 Impala mounts. They worked fine, as almost any GM mounts would.

Bernie

Bernie,

I am glad to hear that stripping it down is not a good idea, relief! Thank you. I do have 200 $100 jobs. Funny…I just mentioned to the wife that every little thing is $100 here a $100 there.…soooo true.

Good job on the solo frame-off ingenuity. You've got quite the set up there with your tandem car garage/shop. The body to the rear and the frame in the front.…that's awesome. I wish I had that set up. I plan on separating the frame from the body & sending two 8' 4x4's perpendicular to the frame between them. One below the firewall & the other just in front of the rear wheel wells. I think they will stick out enough to lift from four points. I will have a couple friends lifting at the trunk too. If that's not enough, I thought about sending a 4x4 thru the open windows and have friends lift from the roof at shoulder level with the 4x4. Hope this works…

Why 76 Impala mounts?

Thanks for the help

P.s. I have the same original champagne color on my cowl too. The previous owner sprayed a **** poor black paint job on it

David

'65 Riviera, Deluxe, A/C

Edited December 6, 2013 by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

Who wants a brown car? I bet you have a 1/4" strip of brown metal running along your quarter windows, too. I forgot to paint mine.

I wouldn't put lifting pressure on anything but the body mount locations even if you have to jack slowly from side to side. If you have friends over give one a can of beer and a hammer. Tell him if he sees you roll the windows down and start to slide a 2X4 through, he should hit you with the hammer until you stop.

If you can, get the rear wheels off and balance the third member on a floor jack so you have the lowest clearance.

I did mine around 1994 and 20 year old stuff was still in stock. A ;76 Impala is pretty generic as a GM body/frame car. It turned out they were nearly the same.

When I put the body back on the frame I nailed together 3 2X4's about 4" long an put them in place of the body mounts. That gave me extra finger room while I did final checks and got things where I want them.

In 1988 when I had that garage built I was planning a 24'X24" to add onto later. My wife said for the age I was I'd better get what I wanted (40). It's 26 X 40. Imagine what she'd let me have for the age I am now! Might even be able to get a mistress, too!

Bernie

[60FlatTop]

Here is a shot showing the Chevy body mounts in place:

And here is one with a garage full of icons:

Edited March 7, 2013 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[RockinRiviDad]

Who wants a brown car? I bet you have a 1/4" strip of brown metal running along your quarter windows, too. I forgot to paint mine.

If you have friends over give one a can of beer and a hammer. Tell him if he sees you roll the windows down and start to slide a 2X4 through, he should hit you with the hammer until you stop.

I did mine around 1994 and 20 year old stuff was still in stock. A ;76 Impala is pretty generic as a GM body/frame car. It turned out they were nearly the same.

In 1988 when I had that garage built I was planning a 24'X24" to add onto later. My wife said for the age I was I'd better get what I wanted (40). It's 26 X 40. Imagine what she'd let me have for the age I am now! Might even be able to get a mistress, too!

Bernie

Sorry so late…I never saw this.

I do have a 1/4" strip next to the quarter window lol the PO didn't paint it either.

That hammer joke had me ROFL LMAO!

I ended up placing an order for the body mount bushing kit that classicbuicks.com offers out of "shear laziness"…I just didn't feel like trying the dealership. Rob J vouched for the quality of this kit…that's good enough for me. Thx for the heads up tho Bernie…

Oh and keep us posted on the mistress thing lol we'd like to see pics of her too lol

Regards,

David