[72SSWagon]

Looks like I'll need to lift the body off the chassis to get to rusted panel and in particular the front body mounts located at the base of the firewall. This brings up a few questions:

1. Where to support the body?

2. Does anyone have a roller out there they may want to sell that isn't rusted out?

3. I've seen a few post on where to buy the body mount bushing kits. Has anyone purchased one lately? I was going to check with Hinshaw's.

 

[chevygod]

Man, too bad you are on the other side of the country. I am going to be doing this to my 70 Concours in the coming weeks. We could help each other! Dang!!!

For lifting, I plan on lots of floor jacks and an engine hoist. Jacks at the rear sides and hoist at the firewall. I have some Harbor Freight 6ton stands and some 4x4's, so once lifted get it high up on the stands and the wood. Put the assembled chassis onto rims (no tires) and roll it out from under the body.

I have a 5'x6' 6 wheel cart that was trash bound, I have built a crib that mates the cart to the body, kind of matching the frame. Lower body onto crib/cart and wheel it wherever.

My biggest concern is supporting the rear of the body. I have done the above lift and store on 4x4's and stands with my 70 Elco with no ill results. Tail of the car was unsupported for 4-5 weeks with the jacks and beams at the firewall and in front of the rear tires. But I am worried about something happening with the tail hanging somewhat free off the end of the cribbing. I will be trying to support the body back to the rear axle area, maybe farther, and could put a jack stand under the tail for longer term sitting, but also wonder what others have done. I was actually coming on here to post such a question. Bob and Pete have done body-offs I think, maybe they will chime in.

I am going to use Energy urethane bushings from Summit, I am buying the kit for a 70-72 Monte Carlo as that kit has the bolted bushings under the door and 4 bolted bushings at the firewall. I plan to add the MC firewall frame mounts, which use 4 bushings like a Vert, but don't know if I will get to it for this portion of the project... We will see. I have the Energy kit on my 70 Elco and have no complaints at all, so will get another for the Concours.

I'll try to get pics of the cart/crib this weekend.

Best regards,
Tom

 

[72SSWagon]

Tom:
Thanks so much. This is great insight. You've got a lot of previous experience that should help you pull this off (no pun intended)successfully. If I was in Riverside I'd gladly jump in!

I've been searching out homemade rotisserie options and found quite a bit out there. This page is pretty interesting as it has everything from engine stands to wooden frame options. Might give you some ideas.

http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/body/bodywork/stand/stands.htm

Appreciate the insight on the mounting kits. I'll check that one out.

Good luck with the project. Thanks again.

BG

 

[Robinls5]

Just my thoughts, When I did my 70 El Camino. I got 8 METAL old style milk crates & 4X4s & 4- do-nut spare tires from a junk yard.
NOTE: If you remove the 2 way gate, NO LESS than 3 guys, This thing is heavy & awkward like a bank vault door...............CAUTION:::::: If the tailgate has any of the lock-outs removed or disconnected, And you lift any rear latch, The whole dam gate may fall to the ground !
The torsion bars are a PITA.
With the 4 doors & 2 way gate off the body, It is not to bad.
Bob

 

[72SSWagon]

Great advice. The car is actually down to the shell.

 

[chevygod]

OK, after a few days of the you're-not-supposed-to-do-anything after some minor surgery, I finally got some pics taken and uploaded to show the cart and crib (not totally complete, but you'll get the point) that I will be using.

the cart is a heavy sucker:

kinda covered with junk from me trying to get the project going. Elco frame is in the back ground:

The crib locks around the cart and the long beams mimic the side frame rails. I am thinking of adding a structure to go up into the kickup in the body for the rear axle and the load floor.

I'll post nicer pics when i actually finish it and put it under the body.

Tom

 

[72SSWagon]

Tom:
Thanks man! Would like to see it up under the car. I like the idea. Looks sturdy.

I may be changing plans. I found a nice rust free roller out in Tucson. I'm thinking of picking that one up and using the body and chassis. Bit of a drive from FL to AZ - but what they heck. I love road trips.

 

[sglide]

My brother-in-law just did his El Camino. Check out the pics of the red El Camino at http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3168731. He used the tailgate bolt holes and designed a spreader bar for the rear.

 

[72SSWagon]

That worked out well. I need to fix the front body mounts and the toe boards. Wonder if I could lift off those fender mounts at the top of the firewall? I was trying to figure out if I could lift from the front seat belt mounts. Thanks for sharing! Have you pulled yours off yet?

BG

 

[sglide]

No, I'm still some time away from doing that because of family issues...still have 1 daughter in college and another daughter going through a divorce from an abusive husband! For now, I just work on the peripherals, such as the interior layout (stratobench fin the front and trying to put in a stratobench as my rear seat), tilt column, 4 speed (installed an NP440), eng (454), disk brakes, suspension, JGC steering box, and I patched the floor for now with Evercoat/Fiber-Tech and fiberglass cloth. I'm going to coat over that with POR15, and that should hold up well until I replace the floor.