Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

[Roger D.]

Folks, I've watched the Nolan Adams DVD and followed the checklist (well mine is a '72 coupe and not a '63 so there were some differences). Actual body lift will occur likely in the next couple of days.

This post is definitely not intended to embarrass anyone but to get some possible thoughts to "remind" me of anything I may have missed or forgotten prior to my lift that will cost me $ to fix unnecessarily. Specifically, for those who have performed this task, did anyone forget to disconnect or remove something prior to their body lift? If so, what was it? You may remind me of something which will save me some pain and agony on the day of my lift.

Thank you folks in advance.

Regards,
Roger

[Pete B.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

The car came off the body fine... one tip is to put the car on wheel skates, that way if your hoist/straps are not exactly centered, you can easily push the car around so it lifts straight up. Also, I made my dolly exactly like Nolands but the dimensions he had are for a C2 body. So in a panic I had to add a piece to it to support the nose of the car (actually the radiator support) Have fun... the adrenalin rush is huge when you see the body hanging 3+ feet off the floor!! (and you need to scramble to make an extension!!!)

[Steve L.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

I followed each Noland item to remove. The Noland list forgot to mention the radio antenna wire. I ripped it out during the lift on a C3

[Paul J.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Roger, I do frame off restorations now only as a hobby, and this gives me the chance to take my time. Sometimes I might think about things a little too long, but I'm less likely to miss something if I'm going slowly. It also reduces frustration and makes the whole process fun.

One thing that I like to do is to first lift the body an inch or less, and carefully check all around to see if anything is still attached.

Paul

[Scott M.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

I did it like Paul said. Slowly. Very Slowly. Skates are a good idea if you don't have a gantry crane. You'll more than likely find that you will need to shift the chassis a little to get the body to clear. I've had to do mine twice. Nerve racking both times but I never had an incident.

[Roger D.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Great suggestions folks. Thanks.

Body bolt issues now...
I was dreaming when I said the lift would occur today or tomorrow. Body bolts at mount locations #1 and #2 came out fine on both sides. However, #3 bolt (in front of left rear wheel) now spins but is not all the way out. I guess the captured nut on the frame is no longer "captured" thus I believe I will have to grind the bolt head off somehow. Has this happened to anyone else?

Also, I can't seem to budge #4 mounting bolt on the passenger side. I have accessed the end of that bolt on both sides at the rear of the storage compartment and was able to put some penetrating lubricant on them. I'm letting those soak for a while to see if that will help.

Regards,
Roger

[Scott M.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Great suggestions folks. Thanks.

Body bolt issues now...
I was dreaming when I said the lift would occur today or tomorrow. Body bolts at mount locations #1 and #2 came out fine on both sides. However, #3 bolt (in front of left rear wheel) now spins but is not all the way out. I guess the captured nut on the frame is no longer "captured" thus I believe I will have to grind the bolt head off somehow. Has this happened to anyone else?

Also, I can't seem to budge #4 mounting bolt on the passenger side. I have accessed the end of that bolt on both sides at the rear of the storage compartment and was able to put some penetrating lubricant on them. I'm letting those soak for a while to see if that will help.

Regards,
Roger

I'm not sure about grinding that bolt head off in that tiny area. You might consider, after hooking up the lifting harness and taking most of the body weight off the frame, cutting out the small end panel of the frame rail. You should be able to at least access the nut from there. Your going to have to access that area anyway to put a new captured nut there. Also write down how many body shims are at each location. They have a tendency to stick to the underside of the body and fall off when you're not looking.
Best of luck.
Scott

[Steven B.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Roger, Paul and Scott had good suggestions. I was 10 minutes getting to a body lift on a mid-year and saw a bent brake line from the master cylinder to frame. Days before a couple of body mount bolts were frozen (rusted) and would not turn so penetrant soaked for about a week with no luck. A torch popped them off.

Good Luck!

Steve

[Roger D.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

I'm not sure about grinding that bolt head off in that tiny area. You might consider, after hooking up the lifting harness and taking most of the body weight off the frame, cutting out the small end panel of the frame rail. You should be able to at least access the nut from there. Your going to have to access that area anyway to put a new captured nut there. Also write down how many body shims are at each location. They have a tendency to stick to the underside of the body and fall off when you're not looking.
Best of luck.
Scott

Scott, I have a new bare frame. The captured nut is in a small steel housing welded on to the top of the frame. Looks like if you removed the end cap on the frame the only thing you might see is the end of the body bolt that protrudes down into the frame from above. Am I missing something?

Regards,
Roger

[Scott M.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Scott, I have a new bare frame. The captured nut is in a small steel housing welded on to the top of the frame. Looks like if you removed the end cap on the frame the only thing you might see is the end of the body bolt that protrudes down into the frame from above. Am I missing something?

Regards,
Roger

My bad Roger. You are correct about the nut. I've slept a few times since I done mine. Are you scrapping your old frame? And have a new one to put underneath?
Scott

[Douglas P.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Body bolt issues now...
I was dreaming when I said the lift would occur today or tomorrow. Body bolts at mount locations #1 and #2 came out fine on both sides. However, #3 bolt (in front of left rear wheel) now spins but is not all the way out. I guess the captured nut on the frame is no longer "captured" thus I believe I will have to grind the bolt head off somehow. Has this happened to anyone else?

Roger,

I had the same issue with a #3 bolt and my solution was to cut the bolt using a Dremel tool with right angle adapter and diamond wheel--it took a while, but worked very well in the tight confines of the #3 bolt pocket. In all I needed to cut three of the eight bolts in order to separate my car's body from it's chassis.

As for other advice... I suggest you not only disconnect the brake lines from master cylinder, but also remove them from proportioning valve. In my case, I left the lines connected at the proportioning valve and snagged them when we lifted the body and that pretty much destroyed them.

Doug

[Roger D.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Roger,

I had the same issue with a #3 bolt and my solution was to cut the bolt using a Dremel tool with right angle adapter and diamond wheel--it took a while, but worked very well in the tight confines of the #3 bolt pocket. In all I needed to cut three of the eight bolts in order to separate my car's body from it's chassis.

As for other advice... I suggest you not only disconnect the brake lines from master cylinder, but also remove them from proportioning valve. In my case, I left the lines connected at the proportioning valve and snagged them when we lifted the body and that pretty much destroyed them.

Doug

Thanks Doug for the suggestions. I'll also check into that right angle adapter for the Dremel tool.

Folks, one more thing that has been gnawing at me... Because I have a new frame, I'm not as concerned about damaging the captured nut assembly at mount #3 on the old frame. I'm now more worried about the bolts at mounting location #4 on both sides. The bolt there goes into the body from below. Isn't that a captured nut in the body itself at that location? How do you repair that if it is damaged during bolt removal? The nut in the body at #4 is not exactly in a very accessible location.

Thanks folks.
Roger

[Scott M.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Thanks Doug for the suggestions. I'll also check into that right angle adapter for the Dremel tool.

Folks, one more thing that has been gnawing at me... Because I have a new frame, I'm not as concerned about damaging the captured nut assembly at mount #3 on the old frame. I'm now more worried about the bolts at mounting location #4 on both sides. The bolt there goes into the body from below. Isn't that a captured nut in the body itself at that location? How do you repair that if it is damaged during bolt removal? The nut in the body at #4 is not exactly in a very accessible location.

Thanks folks.
Roger

Roger, the captured nut at the mount #4 position is part of a reinforcement plate that forms onto that well area in the back. It is held on there with rivets and the captured nut is held in place on the inside by a steel housing that is riveted to the reinforcement plate. I had to replace mine due to rivets giving out the held the captured nut in place. Its actually not as hard to do as it looks. Plenty of vendors have the replacement parts. There is 1 whole single page in the assembly manual dedicated to mount #4.

[Roger D.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

Roger, the captured nut at the mount #4 position is part of a reinforcement plate that forms onto that well area in the back. It is held on there with rivets and the captured nut is held in place on the inside by a steel housing that is riveted to the reinforcement plate. I had to replace mine due to rivets giving out the held the captured nut in place. Its actually not as hard to do as it looks. Plenty of vendors have the replacement parts. There is 1 whole single page in the assembly manual dedicated to mount #4.

Wow. So if the rivets give way, then I'm looking at fiberglass repair work on the body in that location? My frame off restore only includes doing the frame itself. Everything on top looks great and I was only planning on doing some refresh work in some areas and keeping everything except the frame/chassis in original condition. I wasn't planning on restoring the whole car.

Roger

[Steve L.]

Re: Did you forget anything when you did your body lift?

The #4 rivets are not that easy to replace. The rivets need to be bucked from the inside. There is not enough room ( on a coupe-not sure of a convert) to swing a hammer. I used an air hammer to replace those rivets. Also, the #4 mounting cup( the part that is rivet to the body) has no drain holes. It is a great place to hold a cup full of water. I put lots of windshield adhesive inside before the riveting to make sure no water gets inside to cause rust.

Also, there is barely enough room to get an air hammer and the rivet tool vertically into that tight spot. I had to make a new rivet tool with the shortest shank that would still work on the air hammer. The factory must put this mount in before they glue the rear clip together.