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 ]
