Lifting body off frame, 56 2 door, precautions?

[Cadman-iac]

I need to take the body off of the frame on my 56 coupe, but I want to be sure I don't tweak it in the process. What if any bracing or whatever is necessary.  The body is stripped down completely now except for the door shells and trunk lid, and I'll have them off before I do this. The (broken) windshield is also still in, and  I don't if it would help to keep the shape if I left it in or not.
I've done trucks before but not a car, and I'd rather not bend her in half if you know what I mean.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Seeing as it has a roof, there should be no need to install bracing, as the body structure of a roofed car is totally different to that of an open car.

I would be leaving the glass in, but removing the doors and trunk lid would assist in lightening the load.

Glass in these older cars is not as vitally important as in modern cars, where the front and rear screens are classified as structural panels.

Bruce.

[savemy67]

Hello Richard,

If you don't need to remove the windshield, you can leave it in place to help keep that portion of the car stiff.  I suggest you consider some kind of bracing for the door openings.  I have used pipe welded to plates that were fastened to the hinge and latch locations on the pillar and door jamb.

I am assuming you have made an assessment that the amount of rust on the body has not compromised structural integrity.  If the car is very rusty, you may need to reinforce the locations that have rotted away.

When lifting the body, consider jacking it off the frame as opposed to lifting it with a gantry.  Jacking allows a more methodical lift process with time to correct potential disasters before they occur.  Be sure to use adequate support once the body is high enough to roll the frame out from underneath the body.  Good luck and work safely.

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher Winter

[J. Gomez]

I need to take the body off of the frame on my 56 coupe, but I want to be sure I don't tweak it in the process. What if any bracing or whatever is necessary.  The body is stripped down completely now except for the door shells and trunk lid, and I'll have them off before I do this. The (broken) windshield is also still in, and  I don't if it would help to keep the shape if I left it in or not.
I've done trucks before but not a car, and I'd rather not bend her in half if you know what I mean.

Richard,

Same as Bruce..! 

If you intend on lifting the body off the frame just a few inches there should not need to add any braces as long as the body is square, held in multiple points, corners, middle, etc. and the lift in done equally on all sides. Having the doors in place (and closed) does help by keeping the body rigid as well, trunk lid and hood is not an issue, windshield is good to keep in place.

I did my ’56 sedan with doors and windshield in place and no front fenders, hood or trunk lid to replace the body rubber bushings with no issues.

Good luck..!

[BillR. CLC # 29203]

Richard,

Be careful and get some helpers. My son, his best friend and I did the whole move with help from four farm jacks.
Below is a photo that shows the '59 detached and in the background the gurney on rollers that my son built so he could work on the chassis by simply pulling it out from under the body. My son had lightened the load by removing and ctyaloging "everything" prior to the lift but it still weighed a bunch. The front was light compared to the rear as one would expect. Brian ( friend of son ) and I could not get a good run at getting the rear up and on the gurney so we stood on cinder blocks. [ six months later I had a Hernia "fixed" but the detaching process and fun with my son and friend were almost worth it.

BillR.
CLC # 29203

[INTMD8]

It's been some time since I've done this but I remember (I think) reading about keeping/marking shims at each body mount so you can re-install in the same place when re-assembled.

[Cadman-iac]

Christopher,  Bruce, Bill,  J. and Jim,

I have 4 modified camper jacks that I am going to use to lift the body with.  I have used them before with truck cabs but a truck  won't fold. (At least not a good one anyway).

I've seen some shows on the tube and they brace convertibles but I don't remember if it's necessary on a hardtop.  I know you don't have to on a sedan.

This body has really substantial rocker panels and there's no rust, except for the front floor where the rain leaked in. But the windshield pillars are (made) so thin I'm afraid something's gonna give.

I want to put it on a rotisserie so I can  replace the front floor on the drivers side and fix a few small holes on the passenger side. And I can clean up the bottom then too.
And hopefully the rotisserie will make it easier to replace the wheel well seals against the inside of the 1/4 panels.

I like your idea of bracing between the hinge and striker locations with bolt in bracing.  I don't want to have to grind off any welds and that would prevent any grinding. Thanks for your input.

This will also let me get to the frame easier so I can get it all cleaned up and get the drivetrain installed and all the lines and other stuff that attaches to the frame.

But the main thing is to keep the car from folding when I lift it!!
Thanks again.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Those bodies are rather flexible as I discovered it when I restored my '56 Sedan de Ville. I lifter the body and frame with a jack, supported the body at the sills and lowered the frame. Later, I added a support at the rar of the trunk to stabilize the body during the work. I had later no problem to put the body back on the frame.

[G Pennington]

Richard,
How badly are your floors rusted?
When I removed the body on my '53, I had already added extensive bracing (because it's a convertible), so i used an overhead hoist attached to hard points on the bracing to lift the body off.
But honestly, I don't think I could have jacked the body off the frame, because the floor was so rotted.  No place with enough structural integrity left to position the jacks.  Being a closed car, hopefully your floors are solid and you can find a way to do it.
But in any case,  I would remove the doors and install a brace  between the upper hinge attach point and the latch attach point.  More rigid and lighter weight than leaving the doors on.

[Cadman-iac]

Richard,
How badly are your floors rusted?
When I removed the body on my '53, I had already added extensive bracing (because it's a convertible), so i used an overhead hoist attached to hard points on the bracing to lift the body off.
But honestly, I don't think I could have jacked the body off the frame, because the floor was so rotted.  No place with enough structural integrity left to position the jacks.  Being a closed car, hopefully your floors are solid and you can find a way to do it.
But in any case,  I would remove the doors and install a brace  between the upper hinge attach point and the latch attach point.  More rigid and lighter weight than leaving the doors on.

Gary,
Thanks for the advice.  Yes I have a small amount of rust, but not enough to cause a problem.  My rockers are in good shape albeit not the straightest. The former owner must have been halfway into off-roading.  The left side is great, but the right side, well, not so much.

[J. Gomez]

I want to put it on a rotisserie so I can  replace the front floor on the drivers side and fix a few small holes on the passenger side. And I can clean up the bottom then too.
And hopefully the rotisserie will make it easier to replace the wheel well seals against the inside of the 1/4 panels.

Small details such as this can really skew any input we can provide related to your main topic. If you plan on mounting the body on a rotisserie them it would be best to add additional braces to keep everything intact and square.   

Just lifting the body off the frame as originally stated there is no need to add the additional bracing as others have stated above.

Unless you plan on using the body for a soapbox derby race. 

Good luck..!

[Cadman-iac]

Small details such as this can really skew any input we can provide related to your main topic. If you plan on mounting the body on a rotisserie then it would be best to add additional braces to keep everything intact and square.   

Just lifting the body off the frame as originally stated there is no need to add the additional bracing as others have stated above.

Unless you plan on using the body for a soapbox derby race. 

Good luck..!

Thanks,  I know my plans, I don't get why no one else can read my mind,  LOL!!!🙂
Yeah,  you've got a point there. I
didn't think about someone just lifting the body to replace the mounting bushings.

[J. Gomez]

Thanks,  I know my plans, I don't get why no one else can read my mind,  LOL!!!🙂
Yeah,  you've got a point there. I
didn't think about someone just lifting the body to replace the mounting bushings.

Richard,

Not a problem just remember pictures, pictures for sharing ..!