Body off before Christmas!

[Brian]

Good idea Tom!

I'm finishing pulling out the heater core, wiper assembly, and other firewall items.

After that, it's just the body to frame bolts.

Question: can I just leave the vent tubes in place and take them out after the body is off?

This week I'm going to build the door jigs to keep the back half connected to the front half. Then I have to decide how many other stiffeners I need to hold everything together. I saw a 55 once were connecting braces were bolted from the rear trunk area all the way up to the top of the trans casing.

[nomadbird]

Brian,
Caution! Please get a couple professional opinions before removing the body from the frame. This was not a problem with my body off restorations, but it sounds like you have some major league rust problems that need to be addressed before the body separates from the frame. I strongly suspect the Ohio pros (Bill Brown and Marvin Hill) will recommend replacing at least the inner and outer rocker panels (if they're weakened from rust) before removing the body from the frame.

Your scheme for placing a support bar between the upper hinge mount and the striker plate mount is the accepted "standard". Yes, you may leave the front fender air ducts in place when removing the body. They actually add a little extra support to the front fenders.

Keep at it! Tom

Suggest you don't make the most common mistake in Thunderbirding, which is waiting till the car is finished before joining a local CTCI chapter. A local chapter is probably populated with a whole host of folks who have "been there,done that" and are eager to help.

[Brian]

Well, only a month late, but the body came off Saturday, with out a hitch.

Took a month longer than I planned, thanks to you Tom, but it was a month worth taking. I did a lot of extra research, and I think I've got the bases covered.

Now to tally up the body pieces I need!

The frame looks good. No real bad spots, but the rear cross piece (under the back trunk bolts) still has the broken studs in it.

Have to do some research on the frame now - I'll post a new topic for any help.

[nomadbird]

Brian,

Could you briefly summarize what precautions you took before removing the body? This info might prevent some one else from creating a disaster. I'm glad you did your homework.

Tom

[Brian]

Sure thing:

1 Understand your "under pan" rust issues - especially the stiffeners (mine were all but gone.)

2 Understand the condition of the front door post reinforcements (left and right side). Mine are fairly good – the right side at the bottom not great. This is typical of very rusted birds

The two above issues help you determine how concerned you have to be with some metal tearing or "giving way" using the jig below.

3 Build a triangular fixture from door strike to both hinges; I did mine so that it could be bolted in. Allow for the fact that you will want to unbolt and remove this a few times, depending on how often you remove the body. This fixture helps hold the back end of the car to the front end. (The professionals just weld a brace in, as it's cheaper, but I wanted to be able to r & r)

4 Brace the top of your triangular fixture (the brace that goes from the strike to the top hinge) from door to door with an X brace. Where my braces crossed (directly over the center of the cockpit) I joined them with an eye hook/bolt, which I later used to lift off the body. The body balances nicely when lifting by this hook.
Note again that I made my braces removable.

5 Leave in your factory under dash braces.

6 I did another X brace from the two studs behind the seat (which I think were part of the convertible top mounting brackets – my top is long gone, and I assume that is what they are for) to the firewall. There are enough holes already in the firewall to make a bolting fixture. Use big washers so you don't pull a hole thru the firewall. Your X will cross just a few inches above the trans hump.
Again, my X brackets are removable, and cross almost directly under the above X cross mentioned in 4 above.

These two X's and the door bracing really made an extremely rigid "box" in the cockpit that kept my body from twisting and racking.

The remove-ability of the braces will allow me to not only install them easily in and out, but as I cut panels in and out, reconnecting these brackets will hopefully help the body "remember" where it needs to be. (I'm replacing two rear quarters, all floor panels, and rockers.)

7 After pulling body, take immediate action to insure that all the body spacers are left where they are. Then remove each carefully and put them somewhere "arranged" so that you know exactly where they go back. ( Mine all differ slightly in thickness.) Some where stuck to the body, and some got knocked on the floor, but I dealt with them right away.

I lifted the body off with the eye hook in the center, but first I was able to hand lift the back end and the front end (just a little) to be sure there were no obstructions. I had a forklift, so I spun it around and put it on a work table, and blocked it up at the serviceable mount areas.

That's the quick detail!!

[ 01-28-2002: Message edited by: Brian ]