Has anyone ever attempted lifting the body up off the frame (minus interior, doors, deck lid, I'm talking shell here.) with a heavy duty engine hoist?

No but i have lifted a truck bed and it sucked.bad idea,lifts great,hard to steer.I lifted my body with jacks,jackstands and saw horses,Theres pictures here http://members.spree.com/entertainment/ochrisl/

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70 chevelle,400cid turbo400.blue with silver stripes.http://members.spree.com/entertainment/ochrisl/

Lou, here is a copy of a reply I made to the same question about 2 months ago:

I just put my 66 body back on the frame. Getting it off the frame was not that hard. I did the job by myself, although having someone there would have made it easier.
In short here are the steps I went through:

1. I removed all of the body bolts, steering, brakes, clutch linkage etc.

2. I used a floor jack and jack stands to slowly lift the body from the frame, I did the front a few inches and then the back a few inches. I did this until I had enough clearance to slide 4 x6 timbers. If you look at the picture on my signature you can see where I placed the timbers.

3. I then let the body back down onto the frame with the timbers in between.

4. I then raised the frame (with wheels on) timbers and body. Again just a few inches at a time at the front and then at the back. Doing this real slow is important because you have to keep the car balanced at four corners and you have to make sure the car does not shift. So if the rear end gets higher than the front the whole car could slide forward.

5. Once I got the timbers high enough to slide the saw horses under each corner, I lowered the frame to the ground. To slide the frame out I needed to remove the tires and wheels. The bach half of the frame would not clear the timbers with the wheels on. I think I could have slid the frame out backwards but I backed in to the garage and there was not enough room.

Good luck.



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Larry
TC # 1000
66 Malibu - under transformation
Off the Frame (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/lmacdonald1.jpg)
Back on the Frame (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/macdonald2.jpg)

Lifted mine with a chain hoist tied to the barn rafters. Ran a tow strap through the top in several places and protected it and the car with rags on the corners then hoisted it off. Set it on 2 saw horses. Was fairly easy. Have it back on the frame now with the bottom all finished. Sprayed it with black bedliner, looks good!


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64 malibu ss 283 & glide
70 C10
87 Firebird Formula
70 GMC stepside
previous chevys
68 SS396 chevelle
72 malibu w/cowl induction,sunroof, and a/c
68 chev impala

While we are on the subject,

I have heard trying to put the body back on the frame is difficult. It is supposidly difficult because you have to get it bang on and alot of aligning and eyeballing is needed.

Any opinions?

Well, what I was thinking was to slide the hoist (crane) beneath the car, secure the straps, lift the shell, back straight up, lower shell onto saw horses, restore frame and components and underside of shell, put shell back on frame, then bodywork and paint, then interior.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MonteMan454:
While we are on the subject,

I have heard trying to put the body back on the frame is difficult. It is supposidly difficult because you have to get it bang on and alot of aligning and eyeballing is needed.

Any opinions?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Probably the most important thing is to keep things level. Attach the four corners first, one at a time then everything else should line up. I would assume that using some threaded rod as pilots would simplify the process.

A friend of mine had a great idea, use all-thread in the body at four locations to act as guide pins. Make a slot in the end of the all-thread to remove the guide pins and replace them with body bolts.
I'm going to give that a try.

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Doug, Chevl71
Team Chevelle member #625
Gateway Area Chevelle Club member CM028

chevl71 homepage (http://www.chevl71.homestead.com/chevl71homepage.html)

I just put my body back on the frame. It was actually easy to do.

I bolted all body bushing onto the body, but left the washer off. This way it would fit into the body mount holes in the frame.

I reversed the proceedure to raise the body. I positioned jack stands under the floor boards so the body was a few inches higher than the frame.

I raised the frame to meet the body and lined up two front body bushings in the frame. Unscrewed the body bolt. I put the bolt back in with the washer this time. I then did the back mounts the same way and the rest fell into place with only a little coaxing.

The whole job took two of us about three hours. The most time consuming part was lowering the body back down.

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Larry
TC # 1000
66 Malibu - under transformation
Off the Frame (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/lmacdonald1.jpg)
Back on the Frame (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/macdonald2.jpg)

All I have ever used is two engine hoists to take the bodies off Chevelles. I do this as shells only and with doors, trunks, windows and interiors, no difference. All of this and me alone. It is not as hard as some people think. Take your time, make sure the body is ballanced so it doesn't "roll". I start by jacking the body off the frame with a floor jack, putting a 4x4 across the frame underneath the firewall and just in front of the rear wheel wells, attach a nylon strap or chain from the front two body mounts and through the rear two drain pans in the rear trunk. Use a 2x4 under the trunk pan to keep the two chains from pulling towards each other in the rear. I can typically DRIVE a car in the shop and have it completely gutted and mounted on a rotisseri in about 15 hours. Good luck, take your time and be cautious.

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"Details Make the Difference"

Second response removed

[This message has been edited by LMacdonald (edited 03-01-2001).]

One trick I use to help align the bolt holes, is sprinkle a small amount of glass beads on the floor under each tire. This lets you move the chassis side to side. You just have to be careful, and clean them up right away, or you might step on them, and hit the floor with a thud!

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ACES Member#603
Team Chevelle Gold Member #285
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