Body Lift Travel Distance
Sometime this summer I will be lifting the body off my 63 coupe. The planned method is to use a gantry crane with a chain fall and body straps. My garage is 8' to the bottom of the roof trusses but I can get the gantry crane up between them to about 10' as the garage is double width. I could do the actual lift outdoors but I would prefer to do it indoors if I have room so I am not dealing with watching the weather. Can anyone tell me roughly how far up the body has to travel in order to roll the chassis out from underneath?
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Golf is for those who can't play hockey. -
Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
The body lift height depends on whether the motor and gas tank are in or out. With motor and/or gas tank in, the body lift height needs to be high enough to clear one or both. If the motor and/or gas tank are not in, the lift will be less. When removing the body, you need to keep an eye on the brake lines at the master cylinder level and the shift linkage. There are videos on youtube that you can check out. -
Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
I lifted my car at home with a ceiling mounted lift that was also about 10 ft high and I lifted the car roof to maybe 8 ft or so and it worked fine. It should be possible to lift it in the garage but it may be tight to roll the chassis out. Obviously, your upper limit of lift will be contacting the roof trusses with the car roof, but if your positioning of the gantry will allow you to get the car up that high I think it will work. There's an outside shot if it doesnt clear you may have to remove the wheels and put the chassis on a couple of shop jacks to lower it another 6-8 inches. At that point it should definitely clear.
MikeComment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Norm,
My shop has a ceiling height of 10'4". The A frame I beam was 104" to the top and 92" to the bottom.
The pictures will show how I did it. Any questions just askComment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Norm,
I found some more pictures. Unfortunatly I didn't record the height of the body.Comment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Peter, your pictures really help me visualise how high I need to go. It appears that it will be close but as long as I can get the roof of the car close to the bottom of the garage trusses I should be able to do it inside the garage. Thanks everyone for your comments and photos.Golf is for those who can't play hockey.Comment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Hi Peter - I am planning to use four similar chain ratchet hoists that you used. Do they work OK to set the body back down on the chassis ? I am wondering how straight forward that will be.
Thanks,
MarkComment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Mark,
They worked great. We were an hour from when my son in law and his neighbor came over till the body was on the frame and we celebrated with a cold one.
I had everything ready, one person on a step ladder on each side, all ratchet hoists could be operated at the same time. The chain length on a couple of the hoists was not long enough to let the body all the way down on the frame, so I just jacked the frame up with hydraulic floor jacks to make up the difference.
I borrowed the hoists from friends and if I had it to do over I would have rented four identical ones. Two were 1/4 ton units and two were 1/2 ton units, I would not use the small ones again.
Any other questions, just ask.
Kind regardsComment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Thanks Peter. This makes me more confident now. I bought 4 that are 3/4 ton each so I should be good.After you set it down and adjusted the shims then were you able to still write the shim count on the frame near the body mounts ? Seems kind of tight. Was the radiator support, radiator and shroud on and were the fan/clutch/alternator off when you did the drop ?Comment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Mark,
The shims were still in perfect condition when I removed the body so I just replaced them when I put the body back on the frame. I did add a shim to each side under the rad support.
The rad support was on and the water pump and power steering pump. The rad and shroud had to go in after body drop. I had installed the A/C compressor, smog pump, alternator and all the belts then removed them. I wanted to make sure everything fit without having to work over the fenders.
You can't really see them but I took 7/16" by 6" bolts and cut the head off then tapered the ends to make alignment dowels. I screwed them into the two rear and two front mounts, then removed them after the body was on the frame.Comment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
If the shift lever is still attached be careful lifting the body past it when removing or installing. Use a bungee cord or equivalent to force it to the left and watch that the reverse lockout "T" clears the floorpan hole.
DukeComment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Thanks Peter - The alignment dowels make a lot of sense. I have seen them used for dash cluster removal and wiper motor installation.
Thanks Duke - the shifter tip is appreciated.Comment
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Re: Body Lift Travel Distance
Mark,
You have probably done this, but if not, run a tap through the body mount trapped nuts.
Kind regardsComment
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