well it is five days into my restoration and my body is all ready to be takien off the frame so they may go their seperate ways and get cleaned up. so my question is: what do i need to do to take the body off the frame? i have four jack stands and a floor jack, what else is needed? is there anything underneath the body besides the bolts that needs to be disconnected before i lift it?


thank you
joshua

Motor out, disconnect steering column at rag joint, remove emergency brake cable. If gas tank is not out be careful of the filler neck. Should be good to go.

got the fuel lines and wiring to gas tank?

does the motor need to be out? cause i wanted to pull it after the body is up.

Your going to need something taller than jack stands to rest the body on. I used 4 saw horses and to 2 4x4's. This gives you clearance to roll the chssis out from under the body. I don't see why you couldn't leave the drive train installed. Just make sure all lines, wires lever's brake lines in the rear..etc are disconnected at the body.Just take it slow and don't riase one end up too much at once. The body could slip. When I did mine it was just myself and a buddy, two jacks, and the mnetioned saw horses and 4x4's. I have a couple of pic's in my profile.

Jblack, just finished looking at your pic's, very nice! Question, I have a 68 I did a few years ago (body, paint ,interior, ect.) but I didn't take it off the frame. I was thinking of doing it this winter but didn't want to take off the doors, interior, or glass. What do you think, good or bad idea?

I have been pondering this job for a while and it seems to me that once the front clip is off, the chassis (with motor) could be rolled *forward* to get it out from under the body. That would allow the body to be raised a lot less. Any reasons that would not work?

I used an engine hoist and straps and 4 55 gal drums.

I used 3 engine hoists I borrowed from friends, then set the body on the dolly you can see in my sig. body picture below...

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/71SSBB/Pict0014.jpg
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/71SSBB/Pict0024.jpg

1 hoist, 1 lifting strap, 4 tall stands, 4 2x4's
lift front then lift back.
http://users.ev1.net/~jaaustin/chevelle/body%20off%201.jpg

i just took my body off this spring. its going to be alot easyer if you remove moter and trans first. i put a chain on front from the fender mounts and used my engine hoist for the front. used a front loader for the back, lifting a little at a time. then slid a 4x4 across the frame iwould take out the gas tank,if you dont it could be dangerious. make sure everything is disconected lines e brakc also it goes thru the frame and up thru the floor. its not easy to remove if you have an assembly manuel it would help. i used cinder blocks in front of rear wheels and back of front wheels,kept lifting until the body was high enouff to roll out from under it was very high. i the lowered to a body cart i made from wood with casters so i can move the body around the garage. take your time and go slow. i was able to do this totaly my self with no help but taactor helped alot. good luck. bill.

is the glass out??? front and rear glass should be removed or you risk breaking it if the body twist,the windshield could crack. this was my understanding. mabe someone else could add. bill.

all glass is out, all thats there is just a shell
i think ill go rent a engine puller on my next day off and pull the engine and use it to hoist the body up. the 4x4 with casters is a good idea, i think ill do that. thanks bill i think the route you went is the way im gonna go (and can afford)


what about the tranny do i pull that after the engine or before?

i left my tranny on pulled motor and trans together, then disconected them on floor. by the way the body cart i built was made out of 4x4s but my casters are a little to small 3 inch if i did it again i would put 6 inch casters on it would roll much easyer. harbor frieght puts them on sale sometimes,if you have a store near.


bill

71CCBB
That's exactly what I was thinking of trying, thanks for posting the pictures. Looks like I'm going to be buisy this winter.

Just a suggestion, if you have the room on the side it's easier to slide the frame out the side of the car rather than roll it out the front as you don't have to lift the body so high to clear the wheel wheels. If you don't have the room, then you can let some air out of the tires and roll it out the front, but you are going to have to be high with the body as the tires will hit the body in front of the rear wheel wells.

If you have a set of those cheap wheel dollies it's real easy to roll it out the side.

Good luck.

Here is the ticket! Took me less than an hour to disconnect things, remove body mount bolts, and get the body off the frame.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/lee69z28/Apart.jpg

Good luck!

well the body is off and ready and waiting for my engine dolly to come in so i can pull the engine

Floor jack , Jack stands, 5/8 socket and breaker bar, a good friend,and a sawzall incase you need to cut out stubburn bushings. It takes minor minouvering but it is not too hard of a job. Then a twelver.

The last one I did, I took off the front end, jacked up the body, and rolled frame, engine and drivetrain out the front. I put space-saver spare tires on the rear once the body was lifted and it helped alot. It took longer to undo the bolts and various other things than it did to get the frame out.

We couldn't round up enough hoists, so 6 guys lifted the body while 2 gals situated 55-gallon drums and 6x6 posts. Of course, once that was done, we just sat around the rest of the day...

If you drop the rear springs out it gives you quite a bit more clearance to roll your frame out

http://community.webshots.com/s/image17/8/31/91/190583191eYyile_ph.jpg


http://community.webshots.com/s/image17/8/35/62/190583562Wetozu_ph.jpg

Just got done pulling the body off my 68 today. Pulled the front clip last weekend. Disconnected everything and plan on rolling chassis out tomorrow to start scrubbing everything down for media blasters. I left engine/trans/exhaust all hooked up. I did not run into one body mount bolt to give me any problems. All broke loose with a breaker bar (sprayed all with pb blaster first). I highly recommend taking pictures of everything so you have a sense of how everything goes back together plus the fact you'll have a nice little photo album when your done. Took all day with an engine hoist, 4 jack stands, floorjack, and alot of sweat. Did it by myself. Very heart pounding experience when your lifting body off, go slow. Now its time for a shower and some beer...

Good thing is that when I start the wifes 68 wagon resto it'll be easier...(hopefully)