marty59

A bit of you have way more experience in this area than myself and I want to do this most safely.
I will be changing out my damaged frame from a parts car which I'll strip down a bit first so I have that one to remove too.

But, more to the point, I wish to keep the body on my S as intact as possible, and the underside I will clean up in the frame area(s) and finish the rest after the replacement frame is installed. My floorboards are in good shape they just need a good cleaning and paint to match to the original finish.
With all that weight and what I have to do, I'm not looking to use a rotisserie but more in the lines of a two post lift that I am able to accommodate.

I believe the best way to lift the body and distribute the weight with a lift would be to take a 4x4 piece of wood, cut a slit for the rocker panel seem and spread the forks out end to end of the rocker. Once initially lifted, I will brace/bolt both sides together to add some rigidity. Will the weight of the body support itself safely while allowing me access for my clean up work? I'd put some support stands underneath before I'd consider getting under there as well as minimizing my height!

I will also build a wooden frame so I can move my parts car around afterwords but my S will stay on the lift, and as most safely as possible preferred.

So, judging by my questions you can tell I've never done this before and I've seen plenty of disaster videos on YouTube!!
Am I taking a good approach to this? Will the body weight and overhang of the rear section be okay as to not become distorted or damaged?
Anything else I should consider?

dream66

Thats the way I've done 3 frame offs on A-body cars except I use a modified steel square tube instead of a 4x4. Cut the grove in the 4x4 (actually a 2x4 is sufficient) close enough to the edge to allow it to clear the frame.

I've never used the braces you mentioned. There is really more stability in the operation than it appears but by all means add whatever makes you feel safe.

lemoldsnut

How I have raise the body a time or two. I also have two grayline lifts that I put on each side under the 4 x 4's

TripDeuces

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ar-down-4.html

On page 4 of the above thread I show how I did it. The thread is my restoration project just to give you an idea of what's involved.

marty59

I enjoyed reading your whole thread and your progress, attention to detail and your mods! I will be following.

marty59

I appreciate the responses. Looks like I'm where I need to be in my planning. I'm pretty much a "one man show" on this but hopefully with some occasional recruits to help with the bulky stuff. It is fun to get others involved when schedules don't conflict!

Innosentz

I removed the body of my 73 S by jacking up the frame as high as it could go. Jacking up the body corner by corner and putting blocks of wood under it until I could fit a 4x4. Then I used two shop cranes to lift the body high enough to build a wooden brace to support the body. Then I lowered the frame down and rolled it out.

J.O.

I also had to improvise getting my body off the frame. Fortunately on the family farm we had a lift truck as well as a set of forks on the manure loader. Having a ten foot spreader to the attached straps to work well. When having to switch roller casters I used the tractor with the forks. Pictures should give the idea. Good luck on your rebuild.
Wide spreader worked perfectly.

Had to make my own body casters (bottom of pic') using cheap moving dollies and 2x8 's for cross members and blocking. Lag screwed the front mounts.