bigbrother

I just jacked the body of my 69 cutlass convert off the frame 4.5 inches with blocks. I want to get it up higher to roll the frame out from under. Problem is, I need to get it pretty high to clear the back wheel hump. How heavy is the body and any good ideas as how to get it up that high? Jack stands dont seem to be tall enough and a lift is a little to much money to get past my wife.

thanks BB

Oldsguy

Gearheads78 has done his '65 442, ask him. Although I know how he got the body up that high. Check out this thread and you will know too.

bigbrother

yeah, he had a lift. I need another option.

BB

Oldsguy

hehe, but he may be able to tell you how heavy his body was. Or have a work-around solution. He has done that kind of thing before if I recall correctly.

Eddie Hansen

I pulled the body off my 69 convertible, fenders were off engine was out etc.
I jacked up the front portion as High as i could, I then used an engine hoist to lift the rear some more, there are two holes in the trunk, normally these have the oval plugs in them, I made a spreader bar from a 4 x 4 wood beam, drilled holes at the appropriate locations and bloted heavy duty chain to it, then fed the chain up through the two holes made another spreader bar for the top portion of the trunk and fed the chain through that then just lifted it with the engine hoist ( cherry picker ) I would raise the rear support it, then using wood beams and a small hydraulic jack, lifted the front (beam across the tranny tunnel there are also two homes there you could actually mount the beam too.

I did this back and forth until i could roll the frame out, I built a stand from 4 x 4 beams with cross bracing etc, but you could mount it on a rotisseries, body dolly etc , actually with everything out of the shell you could probably use 5 or 6 friends and lift the body off easy. and then walk it out.

bigbrother

Thanks Eddie. I was thinking again last night and thought about jacking up as high as possible with jack stands and then removing the rear tires with a floor jack on the pumkin and lowering the rear of the frame. Hopefully this will give me adequate clearance.
Any other thoughts is always appreciated.

BB

tarheeldoc

The guy working on my 69 convertible did the same sort of thing. He just jacked up the body a little at a time with a hydraulic jack, and blocked it up with 2x4 pieces until he could get a 4x4 through, eventually using 4 4x4's bolted together in a tic-tac-toe arrangement on jack stands until it was high enough to roll the chassis out. He did it all by himself, just worked slowly. Good luck.

joe_padavano

All good ideas above. I'll add that since you have 4" of clearance now, slide a couple of long 4x4s in between the body and the frame. The 4x4s need to be longer than the width to the outside of the tires (so use 8 footers). Use a pair of floor jacks to jack one end then the other, using blocking to hold the body up. Stop when you clear the hump over the axle.

By the way, you DID install braces in the door openings before jacking, right?

oldsconv

If you can help me figure how to post pics, I can show you what I did. Mine is a 70 SX convertible. I welded up some braces for the door openings to avoid flexing and have the body gutted and front end off. Basically used heavy nylon straps (real heavy like they use to tie loads down on 18 wheelers - you don't want this thing falling). I ran one strap under firewall (between frame and bottom of rocker and right around door jamb front, so strap was captured on the indent there so it could not slide forward). I ran this strap from left to right side and made a loop and then shortened it so the top of the loop was at brake booster level. In the rear I did something similar and looped through opening where conv top folds down and wrapped around near trunk hinges. Make sure body mounts, cables, etc are disconnected before lifting.

Now I used a cherry picker engine hoist and lifted (by the strap) the front 1 foot and got a 4X4 (10 foot long) between the frame and body and each end extended 2 feet or so out from the rockers. I used the wider cinder blocks (8X12X16) for strong support instead of jackstands. Then went to the back and lifted the same and added another 4X4 with cinder blocks outboard. The stacks of cinder blocks at each corner are just outboard of the tires, so you can roll the frame in and out. I basically moved from front to back lifting a foot or so each time and adding a new cinder block at each corner. I went 4 cinder blocks high at each corner, which was enough to roll the frame out from under it. It works great - I can roll the frame out into the driveway and work under the body or on the frame, etc. I had to graft on a new rear frame crossmember so this works great. I actually went with 3 4X4's - one under the firewall area, one under rocker right in front of rear wheels and another in the back behind the rear wheel. The one in the back required blocking up the center with short wood pieces (with gas tank removed) so the bottom of the rear quarters did not rest on the 4X4 and get bent. I used small straps to tie the blocks of wood used in the gas tank area.

Only thing that would have been better is to have two engine hoists as we had to keep swapping front to back.

Oldsguy

When you select to reply to thread, do not use the quick reply but the "post reply" button instead. In the next screen there is a composition box, and below it is an "additional options" box with about five options. Select the second option which is "attach files" follow the guidelines for file size and upload your files, then click on "submit reply". That's it

Olds64

You could always let the air out of your tires and gain another 2 or 3 inches. Then you can attach a chain or tow strap to the front of the frame and pull it out from under the body with another vehicle. Then you inflate the tires and push the frame around to wherever it needs to go.

bigbrother

Its off! First I lifted the body enough to get blocking in under the body where the mounts go to get it high enough to slide in a 4x4. I then used a floor jack and a block of wood to raise the car up higher to slide in concrete blocks. With 3 concrete blocks on each lift point and a 8 foot 4x4 crossing under the car in the middle. I used an 8 foot 2x6 at the front for a little more stability, but because of the weight a 4x4 must be used in the middle. Still needed about 5 inches of clearance so I dropped the rear tires off and rolled it out on a Jack stand. To support the rearend, I used saw horses that are magically the right height. The concrete blocks are a much better idea than jack stands for support reasons, and if you need your jack stands....

Now to get it back on the frame might be interesting.

BB

Olds64

Please be careful using concrete blocks to support the weight of a vehicle. This should never be done because concrete does not compress the way wood does. Once the weight limit of the concrete is reached it just shatters and crumbles. I have always heard this is a bad idea. Luckily, I have never had to experience it.

bigbrother

I do believe concrete blocks will usually carry a minimum load of 1500 lbs per square inch. The older the block, the stronger it is. Many houses use block for the foundation. I doubt if the entire body is more than 1500 lbs and divided by 4 main contact points, thats 375 lbs per block.

Should be ok, but again dont take my word for it, research it yourself.
BB

Texascarnut

True Concrete blocks would likely not be a problem safety wise. Unfortunately a lot of people confuse Cinder blocks with concrete blocks as they look more or less the same. Cinder blocks have absolutely no strength if turned on their sides and darn little if sitting in a normal attitude. They'll shatter or crush in a heartbeat under very little dead weight without something like 3/8" plywood placed over them to distribute the weight. Best idea is not to use Cinder blocks to support a car or any part of a car if you intend to get beneath it.

gearheads78

I know its done now but did you brace the body at all before lifting? I would say anytime you raise a convertible a corner or a side at a time sure to brace. The roof is a major stuctual support and a convertible body not bolted to a frame is going to be easy to get bent out of shape. I fretted a few days on how to do mine but ended up with 2 x 8's the whole length of the rocker. I then used two large c-clamps at each lift arm to keep the wood from moving. The body is not braced but since I went straight up I feel comfortable with it. My door to 1/4 gaps only opened very slightly.

Alb

Hi,
Just removed the body off of my 69 cutlass. Want to thank everybody that posted on this, it really helped. I am new this this game and so far I'm having a blast. Haven't gotten this dirty in years. Brings back alot of good memories.Thanks again.
alb

Dapapadon

People always comment I'm working too hard when I'm around my cars. I try to explain I'm having fun! They never understand. I guess it's a car guy thing! Glad to hear you're having fun!

Don