Should this electric winch be adequate for pulling the body off the frame? Claims it's rated for 880 pounds, and they're on sale for only $75 at Harbor Freight Tools.

880 Pound Electric Hoist

 

I bought mine from WalMart for 42 bucks. It is a 6000lb rolling, 2000lb dead winch. It works AWESOME!!!! I am very happy with it. Pulls my camaro conv no prob which is heavier than my vette onto my trailer and I don't have the smooth ramps either, I have the kind for tractors and such that have the triangles ^_____^______^______^ kinda like that but without the bottom, takes some **** to pull it up, but the winch works great!!!



DOH sorry misread post, mine is for my trailer....not deleting just incase anyone would like to know about the one I have..

 

I guess what I'm asking is the 880 lbs adequate capacity to lift the Corvette body (vert)? It's an electric hoist and I'm planning on mounting it along an existing ceiling beam, hooking the body harness sling to it, and lift the body off. I'll set the body back down on a wooden frame.

 

I'm sure it would be fine ... lifting devices usually have a 5:1 safety factor ...

 

We have a smaller one of these for lifting things in/out of our sonar tank at work.
It works great.

As far as 880 pounds, I think the body will come in under that,
but you should remove as much as possible - including
seats, steering column, headlight assemblies, radiator, all
bumper parts, etc ...

http://nhvette.homeunix.com/ftp/in/P2180015.JPG
Good Luck

 

You might want to remove the doors also to get the weight down as much as possible. We left the doors on, but you absolutely must remove the heavy (i.e. all) metal structures from the front. There is nothing holding the front clip to the firewall but the bonding glue when you lift the body.

Rick B.

 

Make sure the beam you are hooking it to can support the load also. If it is just a single floor joist I would find something more secure. If it is a metal support beam you should have no problem. I hooked one to a metal beam in my old house and it worked fine.

 

I would step up one step on the winch. I bought the same brand at Harbor Freight last fall rated at 1300 lb (double line) and lifted the body off mine a couple weeks ago with doors, interior and all still intact. I also have a steel beam that fits the brackets of the hoist that spans 6 of my 2 x 6 joists. Make sure your lifting straps are adequate that you conect to the hoist. If I'm not mistaken, the hoist you have is 440 lb single line or 880 lb doubled. I also lifted my frame up with the same hoist to do some detailing...it was a slightly intimidating procedure doing it for the first time!

 

I think the corvette body would come in slightly less then 880 lbs. I assume you'll remove things like battery, carpet, seats, and headlights. Those alone probably weight almost 200 lbs. You could hook up one pully and give your wench a 2:1 advantage.

 

Thanks guys. I'll post results in a couple days.
I removed the steering column, seats, battery, all the front bumper area metal, but am going to leave the doors on for rigidity. I haven't removed the headlight assemblies, that looks like a real pain--but I'll take another look today before I lift. The radiator stays with the frame, but the A/C condenser and compressor stay with the body--that'll be a challange to build supports for those--I don't want to break the A/C lines and lose my original R-12 charge!

As for the ceiling, I have one end of a heavy 5 ' pipe (the hoist is designed to hang from a 1 5/8" dia. pipe) sitting directly on a 4x4 base on the garage's main ceiling beam, the other end sits on a 4x4 is straddling two 2x4 joists, which I braced up internally to the roof girders. I cut a 8" x 12" hole in the ceiling sheet rock to let the hoist cable pass through. If there's any sign of ceiling sag when I lift, I'll stop and build a 4x4 floor-to-ceiling brace underneath.

The hoist is a 440/880, and comes with a seperate pulley to allow the cable to be doubled. That also allows the winch to raise lower at one half the speed--a definate control advantage.

 

Kenko --- You must be reading my mind !! I have the exact same question --- I have purchased the 440LB hoist from a local store and then ordered the 880lb from Harbor Freight that was 2 weeks ago --- they said it had a 20 day leadtime as they were out of stock , --- I am still waiting with the frame all disconnected from the body . GOOD LUCK !! keep me posted
Brian

 

Will a engine hoist lift a 71 coup body safely? my chassis is in so many pieces it will take a fork lift to move it.

 

Sorry Brian, I must've got the last one! I ordered on the internet Sunday night, the 12th, and it showed up on my doorstep Monday the 20th. I also ordered the 2 ton load leveler, which should help balance the load during the lift.

I also did a whole lot of reading on this forum concerning body lifts--I haven't put this much attention and planning into a project before!

I will also have a fifth strap to support the front end, I'll have a multi-point nylon web almost completely surrounding the nose section, attached to the front end of the load balancer at the lifting point. I'll post before, during, and after pictures of the lift--today and tomorrow if all goes well! After the lift, the body will be resting on three sets of saw horses--2 fore and aft under each side of the body, and one sideways under the nose, should hold the body about 1 foot off the frame. I'd pull the body completely and set it to the side, but Mama won't give up both sides of the garage....

 

Kenko

Thanks for the info on the three Saw horses ---iI had only two set up for now ----- But it is all alone in the pole barn ---40x60 I could just set it on the floor hmmmmmm ---Also thanks on the Harbor freight info too ---they had punched my Credit card # in wrong ---therefore not sending my hoist !!! Duhhhhhh ---Good luck with yoour project --Mine will be setting on the fllor by Saturday !! Then off to rebuidling all the suspension , brakes and steering

Brian

 

If you're going to be lifting a convertible body, I think you should consider leaving the doors on and closed. If you want to take the doors off, or open them during the lift, you need to create a brace that spans between the upper door hinge and the body/door "finger" that the door uses to lock against the frame. (Sorry I can't think of the correct word for the bolt that the door open/close mechanism uses to clamp to the body.) Maybe just a wire loop with a turn couple between the hindge and the body/door "finger." Question: Why would you want to lift the Covertible body up with the doors missing or open? Answer. If you want to use body/frame alignment pins you have to have the doors open/removed. There's a 5/8 inch body/frame hole near the drivers side #2 body mount and another 5/8 inch body/frame hole near the passenger's side #3 mount. When you drop the body and you want to use these alighnment holes, you need to have the doors out of the way. After you open your driver's door, look down at the aluminum sill plate that covers the carpet edge. Remove it. Now you will see two plastic plugs. One is near the #2 body mount. Remove the plug. You will see a frame alighnment hole. Similarly on the passengers door under the sill, you will see a plastic plug near the #3 body mount. Remove it you will see a body/frame alignment hole.

If you lift a Convertible body without the doors, there's a danger that the body will bend if the front door hinge to body/door finger is not wired/supported.

I ordered 5/8 inch alighnment pins from a machine shop supply company. If you just try to use 5/8 inch bolts, they might not work. The vey long 5/8 inch bolts I ordered were actualy too big in diameter( I think they were intended for wood framing.) The accurate 5/8 inch pins I ordered were only a few thousands of an inch smaller that the frame alighnment holes. After I deburred my frame a little bit, they worked just fine.

 

If it's a convertible, the doors must stay on & closed or at least have some other hard brace in place to give the body support.

Be careful with your extra strap to the nose end. Securing it too tightly to the front may cause a pressure point where the front cap is glued below the bird cage. IMO I would not & did not strap the front end. It's very weak there so you don't wany ANY tension on it when lifting the body.

Actually, the best way to lift the body is with TWO straps with each going under the body (over the frame rails) & across the floor pan to the other side.

Body Removal Pics

68/70 .... the word you're looking for is "striker".

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