depdep3

I am in the planning stage of lifting the body off a 71 vert. I have 76" from the garage floor to the bottom of a lifting beam I am building. Will this be enough height to lift the body off the frame with the gas tank and engine installed? I believe the gas tank or engine will be the 2 main parts I will have to clear to pull the frame out from under the body once lifted. Would it be better to pull the frame out the front or out the back?

Thank for your advice.

yooperod

I'm not sure if this helps you
my 74 454 frame is in the house garage
to the top of the gas tank is 36"
air cleaner housing is 35"

I removed the doors and made a steel brace to fit that space
I can pick the body up by that brace, real important on a vert (mine is a t top)

rod

72LS1Vette

That should be enough height. Measure to the top of the back of the car and figure that is is the high point of the gas tank. Remove the back lower panel to get more clearance. Measure the thickness of the body to the frame and that will tell you how far to lift - max . Remember to figure in the windshield frame for clearance. If you remove the gas tank, distributor and carb before lifting the body you will need a bit less room but the back end of the frame is a high point also. I removed 2 bodies in my garage and each time I backed the car in and rolled the chassis out into the driveway. If you can lift the body out in the open air you won't have any problems. Get 6 guys and a couple of cases of beer.



Rick B.

redwingvette

You need to lift the body about 26 inches off the frame to clear the tank. That is higher then the motor. I pulled mine out the front.

eastltd

If you plan to use the lifting strap arrangement from the corvette vendors you may need additional height. The straps I bought were real long and I chose not to shorten them. BTW I rolled the chassis out the back.

Have a look:

gkz

I removed my gas tank (easily drops from the bottom) before rolling the chassis out toward the front. The carb easily cleared the front clip. I raised the body 28", one inch higher than the rear risers of the frame. Any additional clearance can be made by letting some air out of the tires. You won't be sorry for doing this--everything is so easily accessible.

Smokin Joe

removing the gas tank is easy. I also, didn't have the rear suspension on the car when I did mine. It just worked out that way. I used a floor jack under a rear cross member. This lowered the back of the car considerably.

gkz

I removed the doors and made a steel brace to fit that space
I can pick the body up by that brace, real important on a vert (mine is a t top)

rod[/QUOTE]
Sorry that I forgot to mention this in my previous response, but I used a chain to brace the door openings; forward link to the upper door hinge, aft link to an eyebolt screwed into the shoulderbelt retractor bolt hole. A turnbuckle in between. I understand if you don't do some sort of support of the door openings, you'll wind up w/two bodies--front and back.

jnb5101

as eastltd stated, the biggest loss of height is the strap assembly. if you have the straps more horizontal than vertical, you'll be adding a tremendous amount of stress to the body. when i lifted my vert, i built a wooden frame that had outboard rails going from front to back, and a main cross member that was centered over the seat belt bolts. i passed straps over the cross member and bolted them to the seat belt bolts, and strapped the front and back of the car to the side rails. that way, the straps were vertical. then used an engine hoist to lift on the cross member, using enough chain so that when the hoist arm raised, it didn't hit the top of the door. had plenty of height in my garage.

depdep3

Thanks for the information everyone. If you have any other warnings please let me know. This is my first time for a project this big and hoping to avoid mistakes.

Thanks again

palamesa

I guess I got out sized on heavy equipment. Do you need to pull the body off the car in your avitar??? If so....Why??? That thing looks PERFECT!!!!
http://s187.photobucket.com/albums/x...t=DSC03899.jpg

spf72

I agree on the straps if you are using a sling. I tied a bunch of knots in mine to shorten them up and lifted the body off with my engine hoist. The straps took up as much room as the car before I shortened them!

Smly1971

I recently lifted my 71 off the frame. I had the same problem with height at the gas tank. I used my four post lift to raise the body. After I got it all the way up, I moved the frame forward so the tank was next to the rear wheel opening. I then put a wheeled jack under the rear spring. I rolled the frame out sideways letting the gas tank pass through the rear wheel opening. My engine was out, so I am not sure how that would effect it. I am putting my engine back on the frame before putting the body on, so I hope I can do it.

The problem is the straps stretch too much before lifting. I will probably tie some knots to shorten them.

redwingvette

My starps were a lot shorter then the ones shown here. I did not like the way they put pressure on the doors so I placed a 2x4 length way across the top of the doors to hold the straps out away from the door skins a couple of inches.

69427

I was planning on using my four poster also to get the body off. I didn't know if the lift would go high enough to allow the body to clear the tank, so I was planning on lifting the car to the top, attach the body to the posts via some beams between the posts, and then slowly lower the frame out from under the body. I'm building a spare (modified) frame, so I was hoping I can just roll out the old frame and then somewhat immediately just roll the new one on the ramps prior to lifting it up to the body. So far it sounds good, I just hope it pans out.

Thegunth63

i built a 10ft A-frame out of 4x4's and 2x12's (for the header) in my backyard (don't have the luxury of a garage). I tried taking the body off and still didn't have enough clearance. i ended up adding 4ft to the height and was able to get it. you have to take into consideration the length of the hoist you are using and that the car tends to tilt backwards alittle as you lift it up. you want to have enough clearance. in your case taking out the gas tank would be to your advantage (and motor, if worst came to worse)good luck buddy.
Gunther