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Okay- I'm getting ready to pull the body off the frame. The car is parked nose out of my one car garage. I was thinking of lifting the body off the frame and pulling the frame out the garage door.
OR- should I turn the car around, and pull it out the back? (*the car does not move under it's own power, this would be a big job too).
Thoughts?
IF I do pull it out the front, how high do I need to lift the body to clear the gas tank?
Depends on how much you removed from the engine, like the carb and distributor. IIRC the height of the engine and gas tank isn't too much different so I would leave the car where it is. If you can raise the body 3.5 to 4 feet that should be plenty of clearance. When I lifted the body in my garage as soon as we were able to roll the chassis without hitting the body that was high enough.
Here are a couple of pics to give you an idea of the clearance needed.
Rick B.
Last edited by 72LS1Vette; 06-16-2014 at 06:31 PM.
It make a difference...not so much on how high you have to raise it....but mainly in the rear body flexing/sagging when it comes off the frame.
You can raise it basically level but it will not be perfectly level. But can with a little effort...you can pick up on the body where needed to level it out while someone pulls out the frame. So, in my opinion...it does not matter which way you have the car parked in the shop.
Make sure all shims are accounted for when you raise it and record them so you know how many go to each mount point.
'73 coupe. I'm EXPECTING a lot of sag, because of the condition of the rocker channels. I have a buddy ready to make them up (for a LOT less than the inserts go for)- just wanted to send him a "sample" from each side. (If these custom rockers work out, I can have him make me a dozen or so and I'll offer them for sale, more on that shortly).
The frame itself is totally toast- and I have a replacement ready for it, just need to swap over and rebuild the suspension. Also, the motor is out of the car, so I think my only real issue is the gas tank. I might try to pull the tank when the body's in the air. I know I can easly get it 36-48" up without hitting the rafters.
The plan was to mount the motor + tranny before I roll it back under, so I do want to watch for clearance.
Does the fuel tank meet the deck lid?
I'm going to build a "crane" right into the garage out of 2x4s/2x6s to support the body, so that I can replace the rocker channels and clean things up under there.
If you lift the body about 18 inches, the gas tank can easily be accessed and lowered. With that out of the way, that might be high enough to pull the frame out from under the car without lifting it any higher.
That might work too. Going to the home depot thursday to grab the lumber while I still have the trailer here. I still need to free up the driver's side mounts, steering box and bumpers.
Also, my three year old daughter is looking forward to getting her first ham(b)mer, so it's well worth the trip
Below are some pics of pulling my '72 body from the chassis a couple months ago. I didn't measure the height of the body when it cleared, but they should give you a feel for the min clearance required. Mine was obviously in the garage nose-in. In addition to the fuel tank, you also have to clear the top of the engine of course no matter what direction you go. Two people rolled the chassis out without any problem.
1... (you can see my father to the right of the pic and he is about 5'11" tall)
Got the body off the frame today. I pulled it out of the garage and went out the side instead of leaving it in there. I just didn't think I'd have the clearance - and if something went wrong, I didn't have an escape route.
06-16-2014, 04:43 PM
Pull the frame out the front or the back?
