I am in the process of building a rotisserie like the ones outlined here on T.C. for my '64. My question is how to center to body relative to the pivot points of the rotisserie so that the body doesn't have a "pendulum" affect. I followed one of the links while searching on the subject to Accessible Systems. I gave them a call and they said they include a "Balancing Tool" with their rotisseries but won't sell it separately. Figures.
Thanks in advance. graemlins/beers.gif

Make it adjustable so that the part that rotates can be adjusted to the center line of the body.

I am going to make it adjustable but just eybaling the centerline of the body might not work because the visual centerline probably isn't the same as the center of gravity. Right?

Correct!! I made mine and found that my preliminay jujjment was off by a couple of inches. I redrilled and found that I was pretty close. I suspect that you could "judge" fairly closely. If your adjustment was a clamp instead of a drilled hole, adjustment would be easy. http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Cam_Sweet/DCP_1785.JPG http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/Cam_Sweet/DCP_1787.JPG

Thanks for the pic's camsweet! So you basically lined it up off the visual centerline of the body?
You said you were off by a couple of inches, so which way did you have to move the holes? A little above the visual body centerline or a little below?

I built my own rotisseri much like the Accessible systems one. Make sure you have sliding clamps like shown on Cam Sweets photos so you can move the brakets that bolt to the body any way you want on the main beam that carries the weight. Also, I suggest you make both main upright pedestals adjustable so you can raise one side to ensure the body is level before you try to rotate. In my first design I made both front and back pedestals the same height, but when I hooked up the body I found the front mounts were higher than the rear(or vice versa) so the body did not sit level and it was hard to rotate. If you can raise or lower the front or rear, then you can level the body before you spin it on its side. As far as balance, my eyeball centre hookups worked fine. Remember that once you get the body on its side you will be tightening the bolt on the pedestal which holds that position even if the body is not perfectly balanced.

You know, I noodled this for a long time before deciding the way I would do it. The visual centerline of the body is not at all close to the center of gravity. In my El Camino with just a partial body (as opposed to a coupe), the center of gravity drops. Lets say the actual height of the cab, from rockers to roof is 4 feet, if I had put the pivot point 2 feet above the rockers, the whole body would have been hell for bottom heavy. Most of hte weight of the body is at or below the bed floor. I set the body on a pallet so the rockers were level and from the floor found that the body mounts were at different heights. The front mounts were actually 5 inches lower than the rears. I made my uprights to the pivots equal heights and take up the diffenrece in body mount height in the four legs.