I am ready to lift the body off the frame of my car. I've already removed the interior, front clip and gas tank for what it's worth.

I plan on supporting the body with two 4" x 4"s sitting on 4 stacks of cinder blocks.

I was planning on using 2 or 3 floor jacks to do this. I was thinking I should lift the forward part of the body under the forward most floorpan brace but am not sure where to lift the rear of the body. I am also not sure where to position the 4" x 4"s under the body once I set it back down.

And, will 4" x 4"s do the job or should I go up to a 4" x 6"?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Chris,
I used the floor jacks to lift my body up off the frame only. I used a engine host in the back and used the rear bumper bolt area to attach a cable to the rear to pick it up. In front I used a comealong up to my rafter to lift the front of the car. I had support 4x4's under the rafters down to the floor to keep the weight off the rafter. The body is not all that heavy and a few good friends over can help out a lot. I did mine by myself the first time. I stored my body on 4x4's with not problem. If you check my signature you can see a few pictures of the second lift putting the body back on using comealongs on the front and the rear (under restoration in progress). Also a search under body removal and you will find a lot of info and idea's. Good luck on your project.
Ray

Chris,

To start with, everybody who has done this may have various ways to remove and support body. The following info is how I have done it without help.

If your planning on using 4x4s, that's more than enough. I personally use 4 floor jacks with rubber mounts on top. They extend up to 34" high. I use one or two floor jacks but depends. I have 3 extensions (12", 18" & 24") that I insert on floor jack where rotating plate goes. I then place rotating plate on top of entension. I used to use short peices of 4x4 but you have to be careful your floor jack doesn't roll. With the attached extension, you have more control

With the motor out, I place a 12" piece across floor jack with extension and lift front of body thru transmission tunnel. I raise it about 10" and then place floor jack stands at cowl ends where lower front fenders are attached. If your motor and tansmission are still mounted, you would use two floor jacks raising front of body at cowl ends. +

If you have a cherry picker, it would make things easier. Bolt a chain across the front where front fenders attach on the top side. Raise body and place floor jack stands.

I then place a 30" piece of 4x4 on top of floor jack with an 18" extension and raise rear body at tail end of trunk pan right where it clears rear support on frame. I raise it about 16" and place floor jack stands on the outer part of the frame as far back as possible. You'll need to raise body to clear tire height if your planning on rolling the frame towards the front.

You will need to raise body at different points and move front jack stands as needed to roll frame out. Once your rear floor jack stands are in place outside the frame, the rest is easy.

I place my 4 jack stands where the two front and rear body mounts are located. I have never had a problem. After body is painted, support it the same way until I am ready to mount it on frame.

Hope this helps and as I mentioned in the beginning, other members will share their how to.

Ray

Thanks for your ideas guys. I will be doing this by myself with only floorjacks. Now I have two more questions.

1. Should the winshield and rear window be removed first (I don't know if jacking the body up might cause it to flex and crack the glass.)

2. The doors will be off so is there any need for a temporary support across the door jambs.

Thanks as always.

Chris ,

If your body is solid, I see no need in removing glass at this time unless you are planning to remove it anyway. I have removed body with and without glass with out any problems

No need in temporary supporting door jambs unless it's a convertible.

You have not mentioned!! Are you doing any major body work? If you are changing quarter panels, do not remove doors or body off the frame!!!!


Ray

The windshield and rear window will be fine and you should not need the extra support across the doors. One thing I did one one of my body removables was use a 4x4 across the front of the car just back of the fire wall and in front of the rear tire well that I jacked up under to lift the car, it extended out far enough to clear the tires. That way my jacks were not in the way of the frame being rolled out from under the car. Again good luck, it's not that hard to get the body off. I'm assuming that you have tried to remove all the body bolt bushings? That could be a challenge.
Ray

Thanks Ray, I don't plan on replacing the 1/4's, just maybe some patch panels. Will that type of work be ok off the frame? I haven't removed the doors yet. Should I wait until the 1/4's get squared away?

As far as the body bolts go, I have been really lucky. All of the drivers side bolts are out as well as the passenger side firewall mount so I don't expect any trouble with the rest of them (I hope I didn't just jinx myself).

Thanks for everyones help.

Chris,

Depends on size of patch panels you are going to do. Wilthout seeing your car, I would take care of patch panels first. At least cut and weld panels and then remove body off frame. Do not remove doors if your patches line up with doors, will save you headaches when assembling.

Your doing great! Just keep posting your progress and you know there's an abundance of help on the site.


Ray

Ok, all of the body bolts are out and I have an engine hoist on the way.

Ray, can you please clarify where you support the body in the rear. The 1/4's hang down below the floor of the trunk so I can't run the 4 x 4 across the car there. I think you said to support the body where the two rear body mounts are but they are also higher than the 1/4's.

Thanks, Chris.

Chris, PM sent, I send you some pics and ph#

Used an engine hoist and no helpers. Raised front, placed beam on steel horses then raised rear. I wasn't taking any chances on the beam support--used 4inx6inx10ft. Roll chassis out from under. No cracked windows.;)

Chris,
What I did was put a wood spacer between the 4x4 and the floor pan so I could keep the weight on the floor pans or trunk pan. I have put a car down with the 4x4 behind the rear wheels on the quarter panels without doing any damage that way you can work on the bottom of the car without anything touching the floor pan or trunk pan. The other option is use a rolling cart. I made one out of a 2 x 6 frame. My car in storage is on one and I can roll it around when I want to work on it.

Thanks for all of the input guys. I think I will be attempting this in the next couple of days. I'll let you know how it goes.

Used an engine hoist and no helpers. Raised front, placed beam on steel horses then raised rear. I wasn't taking any chances on the beam support--used 4inx6inx10ft. Roll chassis out from under. No cracked windows.;)

Where did you get your HD sawhorses and how much $
Also, what is the weight capacty?
Thanks

Where did you get your HD sawhorses and how much $
Also, what is the weight capacty?
Thanks
Home Depot or Lowes has them!