poor mans rotisserie

[Highbanked Hauler]

 Hey,  WITH SAFETY IN MIND  has anybody gotten a body shell up on its side to sand blast and paint?   I figured that I might use an engine hoist and wrecker straps. once its close to vertical  anchor the top side to a large tree.  IDEAS,  I am not paying big money for a rotisserie  for one car that I am not going nutty on.  I am not going with a sterile restoration.  This car will be rebuilt NOT restored, there is a difference and that doesn't mean loading it with body filler either.

[Tilar]

I'm not judging your ability by any means, but that sounds like a planned train wreck to me. I would think that when it gets to the point that it's "close to vertical" that the bottom will kick out and you'll have more body work to do than you started with.   

[nvrbdn]

would the weight on the straps dent in the quarter panel door skin or front fender??? im assuming your wrapping the straps around the body

[Highbanked Hauler]

would the weight on the straps dent in the quarter panel door skin or front fender??? im assuming your wrapping the straps around the body

   It would depend on how high the engine hoist will go but I' be lifting from the front leaf spring mount and a K frame bolt. the weight of the body will always be on the bottom of the opposite rocker panel and no way would I get near vertical. I don't think the body shell would weigh much more than 2000 lb. as a complete car is 2 ton.
   I am looking to see if anyone else has done it.  Years ago I saw a guy stand a Road Runner on its rear bumper to repair underneath.

[TylerCharger69]

I think speaking from an engineering point of view.....its an accident waiting to happen.....   You can probably find a couple of good engine stands from a pawn shop or somewhere and some square tubing and fabricate your own rotisserie  using the engine stands at a good starting point.   What your describing doesnt sound safe   plus the flex of the unibody will be flexing in ways that it shouldnt.     The purpose for the rotisserie is to be able to spin the car 360 degrees without being top heavy at any given point.    Be safe!!!   PLEASE!!!!!

[Domino]

"you can do it"
Before building a rotiss, I thought this through.  My idea was to bolt two "cross bars" to the frame.  One at the k frame and one at the very rear across the bumper mount holes, or even better to the underside of the rear frame once you pull those corner plates off.  The bars would extend out both sides. One side would have a sizeable "T", vertical piece from the ground up to roof level with a angle gusset.  The other side of the bar has a lifting eye. 
With a proper block and tackle / pulley in a tree, you could pull it up with a truck turning it 90 onto the "T".  You'd want the unibody stripped 100% (no suspension, interior, or body panels) I'd also consider staking the "T" legs down while you worked.  1/2 ton 4x4 truck will lift a 1000 lb moose up into a tree over a single pully from the front tow hook, I can assure you of this.

[elacruze]

Check out Motorcitydak's thread;
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,59466.0.html

He built his own with 4x4's and a boat winch.

[Troy]

"you can do it"
Before building a rotiss, I thought this through.  My idea was to bolt two "cross bars" to the frame.  One at the k frame and one at the very rear across the bumper mount holes, or even better to the underside of the rear frame once you pull those corner plates off.  The bars would extend out both sides. One side would have a sizeable "T", vertical piece from the ground up to roof level with a angle gusset.  The other side of the bar has a lifting eye. 
With a proper block and tackle / pulley in a tree, you could pull it up with a truck turning it 90 onto the "T".  You'd want the unibody stripped 100% (no suspension, interior, or body panels) I'd also consider staking the "T" legs down while you worked.  1/2 ton 4x4 truck will lift a 1000 lb moose up into a tree over a single pully from the front tow hook, I can assure you of this.

I'd go with this idea but I don't know if I could bring myself to go the full 90 degrees. You'll want some sort of bracket/lever extending outside the body so the strap/chains don't cause more body damage. I'd also use some 4x4 lumber or something similar as a "prop" once you get the body to the angle you desire - just in case something goes wrong with the lifting mechanism (sort of like jack stands). There's a neat rotisserie-like device that actually just rolls the car over on it's side (without needing a lot of clearance at the side or above). One of our foreign members used one a while back I believe.

Troy

[charger_fan_4ever]

My brothers fabbed a rotisserie that bolts to the front and rear wheel studs. Bows out around the side of the car and you can roll the car over on the side with the bars taking all the weight. The rotisserie side of the car is a good 2 feet off the ground. Only thing is you need the front and rear suspension still in. Hoping to have my 70 on its side this winter.

[69 OUR/TEA]

I hope Jeff Foxworthy does'nt live near you.

[Daytona R/T SE]

Hey,  WITH SAFETY IN MIND  has anybody gotten a body shell up on its side to sand blast and paint?   I figured that I might use an engine hoist and wrecker straps. once its close to vertical  anchor the top side to a large tree.  IDEAS,  I am not paying big money for a rotisserie  for one car that I am not going nutty on.  I am not going with a sterile restoration.   This car will be rebuilt NOT restored, there is a difference and that doesn't mean loading it with body filler either.

Yes, I've done it.

Several years ago I whored myself out to do the rust repair on the shell of an old Camaro 71 ?

This thing was toast.

I had it dipped to remove the paint/bondo/rust and there wasn't much left when I got the car back from the dipper.

I had made a steel body dolly for it from 2x2 tubing, so I could shove this POS out of my way when I wasn't performing the

resurrection on it.

I soon discovered the rear framerails were paper thin.

The quarters were junk anyway, so I rolled it up on it's side, with my cherry picker attached to the front leaf spring mount,

and braced it in position with some 2x6 lumber, on it's side,  on the body dolly.

This way I was able to replace the framerails with the car laying on it's side on the dolly.


I could shove the thing out of the way up against the wall when I wasn't working on it.

You can do it, just go slow with the cherry picker, hook it to a good solid mounting point, and brace it in postion with 2x6's

when you get it at a full 90 degrees.

[Mike DC]

 
Here's a new one to me.  At least new in the form of a commerical product. 


http://toolmonger.com/2007/09/07/eastwoods-tilt-a-car/

 

[Troy]

 
Here's a new one to me.  At least new in the form of a commerical product. 


http://toolmonger.com/2007/09/07/eastwoods-tilt-a-car/

 

That's similar to what I was talking about but at $1,400 you could buy a good rotisserie. The major difference I see is that one attaches to the axles so you can work on a complete car.

This is cheap - and about what you described:
http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/71493-econo-wooden-car-tilter-designs/

Another:
http://s688.photobucket.com/albums/vv243/KAILUAZ2/Tiptissorie/?action=view&current=Rolltissory-1.jpg

Scroll to the bottom on this one:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=703&page=2

This place has a couple of cool models but the first looks way over-engineered to be "cheap":
http://www.cjautos.org.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/cjautos?opendocument&part=2
http://www.cjautos.org.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/cjautos?opendocument&part=3
http://www.cjautos.org.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/cjautos?opendocument&part=4

Troy

[lexxman]

I like the engine stand idea.I would put a cuople more brasses,but it would be easy and cheaper.

[TylerCharger69]

Exactly...a few more welded brackets at the mating points.....some square tubing,  and a drill for adjustability for different applications...and presto.   The engine stands are basically the starting point for most rotisseries anyway....and Ive found them in pawnshops for as low as 25 bucks!!!