I am in the process of getting ready to lift the body off of the frame. I will be pulling the trunk lid off later this week. I'm trying to gather some ideas as to how to go about this.

Would this beam in my garage be able to support the weight of the body? If so would a winch mounted to the beam and the attached to 4 points on the body be sufficient enough to lift it onto 4x4's on jackstands?

also I was unable to locate a diagram of the body mount locations in the body or chassis service Manual. I will have to double check, but does anybody have a diagram handy?

 

Not knowing how that beam is supported, no I would not use it. Here are some suggestions. You can locate all the body mounts simply by looking at what bolts run through rubber mounts into the frame. Chassis service manuals can be had either in the misc classifieds on here or Ebay.
These are good reads.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...off-frame.html

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-off-body.html

 

Well I have began unbolting the 14 body mounts. Is it normal for the two above the rear axle and the two in front of the rear axle to not be bolted in? Found only bushings and no bolt. Pretty sure they're original.

 

Yes that is correct for those bushings, they just sit in the frame.

 

Okay good. Now the next step to get these 4x4s supported by something so I can roll the frame out.

 

Jack stands or cinder blocks will work. We had my friends 56 Chevy on cinder blocks and 4x4s long ago. Kinda scary it was a good 3 feet in the air, but no problems.
Good luck
Steve

 

I do not have jack stands that will go high enough and i would need about 60 cinder blocks at about $1.60 a piece. I have several 4x4 fence posts in my yard along with tons of 2x4's. My question is if i build this "body cart" out of 4x4's braced together with 2x4's will i die when i crawl under my fish car? lol

Yellow = preexisting 4x4's
green = new 4x4's
red = 2x4's



The back post will go up about 20" higher than the front

 

That depends on how good of a craftsman you are, it should be fine so long as it is braced VERY well.

 

If I were to acquire 16" x 8" x 8" cinder blocks how high could I safely stack them. Also what is the preferred stacking method? I've always been told to never trust cinder blocks to support a car, but an empty shell is only maybe 600 lbs.

 

buy a used rotisery it'll be cheaper in the long run and safer.. when done you can sell it for as much as you bought it for..

 

If it was my tush, I would not trust cinder blocks. By a used rotisserie or at least replace the cinder blocks with wood. (8x8 or 6x6) They will not shatter and crack at a bad time.

 

Trust me if I could find a used rotisserie I would have one. It's easier said than done. I was just curious about the blocks. I don't trust them at all especially stacked 3 feet high. My original plan was to use the 4x4 fence posts I have lying around (because I want to spend my limited funds on parts) Maybe if I brace two of them together on all 4 sides that would work better?

 

What is cheaper a used or even new tool that will safely do the job and when done you can sell.??
or a nice hospital stay from getting hurt??
Yes you could build a wood based cart or stand, but because you are asking, tell me you don't have enough wood working skill to do this and not chance getting hurt..
I'm in the same boat , like most are limited funds.. but I have learned from hospital stays that ,that tool I didn't want to spend the money on was cheaper in the long run than the lost of time at work/job and the hospital bills, AND my wife not wanting me working in garage alone anymore.. Making doing so. come with a headache..

 

Well the hospital bill might actually be cheaper lmao. But I'm looking into buying this auto rotisserie. Does this look like it'll bolt up to the body or just the frame as the description says? I don't know much about rotisseries. http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/...l-cr-3000.html

also do these universal door bars look like I'll be able to bolt them to my body?

https://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com...r-3000-udb.htm

 

Check out YouTube for homemade body carts. Some great ideas there with carts made out of wood

 

Well the frame is finally out. I bought two shop cranes from harbor freight for $99 each. Once I could lift it evenly I built a wooden support to hold the body while I roll the frame out. I'm most likely not going to climb under it but I go in there from time to time and shake the crap out of it. It seems solid.