Auto Rotisserie a complete car?

[404]

I have some underfloor rust I need to deal with. The cars are a 1987 Celica and a 1992 Corolla alltrac wagon.

Anyone know if these cars can be supported on the front and rear bumper bracket holes, (with custom brackets into where the bumpers were) or can they be held with plates on the front and rear wheel hubs.

I want to turn the car fully over, but at the moment would rather not strip the whole car. So I am looking to grab the complete car on either custom brackets into where the bumpers went, or grab on the wheel hubs after taking off the wheels. I have a 2 post lift to get the car up, and will make a rotis to turn the car.

Most important to me is not to mess up or twist the car during the process. "Do no harm" etc.

I will drain all the drippy fluids, remove the battery, loose change under the seats, etc.

What else should I be doing?

As always all comments, suggestions, and gratuitous abuse welcome.

Thanking the GJ Brain Trust in advance,

Regards
404

 

[99LeCouch]

Rusty unibody cars with all the heavy bits still in there such as the engine/transmission/glass/interior seem a bit much for a rotisserie. The car could potentially buckle in the middle, especially given the corrosion issues, which are likely more advanced than is visible right now.

Just gut the interior and do it with the car right side up. Less chance of mucking up a perfectly good seat, or in destroying an otherwise repairable car.

 

[Bull]

Is the Accessible Systems Easy Tilter an option?

 

[wnstwolf]

If you can find one, an older garage "pit" works great for this type of stuff. Just watch out how long your are down in the hole and use a fan. those fumes will want to linger down there with you and it is not a nice headache to get. Trust me..

 

[404]

Rusty unibody cars with all the heavy bits still in there such as the engine/transmission/glass/interior seem a bit much for a rotisserie. The car could potentially buckle in the middle, especially given the corrosion issues, which are likely more advanced than is visible right now.

Just gut the interior and do it with the car right side up. Less chance of mucking up a perfectly good seat, or in destroying an otherwise repairable car.

The carpet and seat inside is a real good point.. had not even thought of that. My big hang up with "right side up" is that applying paints/coatings upside down really stinks.. Thanks for your input.

 

[404]

Is the Accessible Systems Easy Tilter an option?

I like that a lot! Do you think I would have to have an alignment done after with the side force pushing on the suspension? Or is everything normally strong enough?

 

[404]

If you can find one, an older garage "pit" works great for this type of stuff. Just watch out how long your are down in the hole and use a fan. those fumes will want to linger down there with you and it is not a nice headache to get. Trust me..

I have a 2 post lift, but am trying to avoid painting upside down.. Thanks for your reply, and the warning about pits.

 

[sublimate]

I like that a lot! Do you think I would have to have an alignment done after with the side force pushing on the suspension? Or is everything normally strong enough?

Even a modest car can see sideways G-forces while going around a corner of .7-.8 and sports cars can hit 1 or higher.That's the equivalent of having the car on its side like that.

A car is designed to handle much higher loads than that - it'll be no problem. A rotisserie would be no problem for a car as well.

 

[404]

Even a modest car can see sideways G-forces while going around a corner of .7-.8 and sports cars can hit 1 or higher.That's the equivalent of having the car on its side like that.

A car is designed to handle much higher loads than that - it'll be no problem. A rotisserie would be no problem for a car as well.

Thank you. Logically what you say makes perfect sense, it is just so weird to see a car leaning over held just by the (gasp!) wheel studs.. I guess I just need to get over it.

 

[chevy2]

Ive got one of those tilters.Where are you located?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[404]

Ive got one of those tilters.Where are you located?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Hi, I am in Central MA not too far from Worcester MA.

Regards,
404

 

[ScottsGT]

I've seeen rigs made with half round reinforced 3/4 plywood circles bolted to the bumper mounts.

 

[Silver Heels]

all you need is a 2x4

 

[Bull]

Hi, I am in Central MA not too far from Worcester MA.

Regards,
404

West or east of Worcester? You aren't too far from me.

I'd call the guys at Accessible Systems and talk to them. They seem to know what they are doing and have a variety of products to help people work on their cars. I'm considering getting one of their rotisseries to help me do my Trans Am resto.

 

[MScott]

I've seeen rigs made with half round reinforced 3/4 plywood circles bolted to the bumper mounts.

You mean like this one?

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44539&highlight=Rotisserie

 

[404]

all you need is a 2x4

And an angry mob to push it up that far.. That set up is ideal for finding fuel leaks using a candle for light. Blast should push me right out for safety.

 

[404]

PM sent.

 

[bad_idea]

No one else has said it yet? Considering the time and money spent on rotisserie-ing and repairing the rust, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to find a solid body and swap your drivetrain over? I am half way through floor pans in my 79 Camaro in my garage and HATE it. If I wasn't so emotionally attached (I said it) to the car, I would find a solid body and do some mechanical work.

 

[404]

No one else has said it yet? Considering the time and money spent on rotisserie-ing and repairing the rust, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to find a solid body and swap your drivetrain over? I am half way through floor pans in my 79 Camaro in my garage and HATE it. If I wasn't so emotionally attached (I said it) to the car, I would find a solid body and do some mechanical work.

Good point, and this Celica body IS the more solid one and I did swap my drive train into it.. This body had an engine with the oil filter installed loose... A loud bang later, and it was for sale on CL.

Nothing wrong with emotional attachment, I do a lot of things on that basis. Without it, we would all be leasing something very very cheap.

And feeding our older pets to our newer pets when they got sick.

 

[404]

Thank you ScottsGT and MScott for the inspiration and the link. Lots of good info there.

 

[Falcon67]

No one else has said it yet? Considering the time and money spent on rotisserie-ing and repairing the rust, wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to find a solid body and swap your drivetrain over? I am half way through floor pans in my 79 Camaro in my garage and HATE it. If I wasn't so emotionally attached (I said it) to the car, I would find a solid body and do some mechanical work.

Every 60s Mustang that hasn't been stored in cosmoline or a plastic bag needs floor pans. Normal stuff. Fresh body is about $10,000, floor pans less than a couple hundred. Gut the interior, repair, reassemble.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Gut the seats, carpet etc. and go to work! I have an 83 Camaro here now for a floor pan repair. No big deal!

Capt. Chrysler

 

[404]

Gut the seats, carpet etc. and go to work! I have an 83 Camaro here now for a floor pan repair. No big deal!

Capt. Chrysler

Thanks, I wish I had you energy! I forgot to mention that this car is a semi daily driver. So I am looking for something I can do over a few days to stabilize the situation till summer.

 

[Ron Lombardo]

... heres my homemade rotisserie for my Pantera

 

[404]

... heres my homemade rotisserie for my Pantera

Wow. Thanks for the pics. Just wow.

Mind if I say you ****?

Wow.

 

[Ballistic Jello]

Wow. Thanks for the pics. Just wow.

Mind if I say you ****?

Wow.

Gotta agree. Sweet ride.

 

[volleyball]

Least work would be to remove seats as mentioned and work under the lift. Brush the rust sealer on the new panels, who is going to look?

 

[404]

Least work would be to remove seats as mentioned and work under the lift. Brush the rust sealer on the new panels, who is going to look?

I agree it might be less work that way over all. Some of this is my perfectionism and another part is the gravity fighting me every inch of the way. I would like to mig in some new panels and having sparks fall down my neck, onto my helmet. I have done stuff upside down before and it is SOOOO MISERABLE!!!

This hobby is supposed to be FUN!

 

[astroracer]

Mig the panels from the top side... You have the lift, it does go up and down, right?... All of the tin work I have done in my van has been from the top, no reason to weld from underneath. Most of this work can be done with the car sitting on the ground, having the lift is good for finishing the bottom side but it's really not that necessary to get the panels replaced.
Mark

 

[404]

Mig the panels from the top side... You have the lift, it does go up and down, right?... All of the tin work I have done in my van has been from the top, no reason to weld from underneath. Most of this work can be done with the car sitting on the ground, having the lift is good for finishing the bottom side but it's really not that necessary to get the panels replaced.
Mark

LOL yes it goes up and down. The undercoating is on the bottom though. That has to be scraped back beyond the tunneling rust. Individual rust zits that have popped or bubbled have to be dealt with too.

My other problem is medical, I get vertigo from some inner ear problem if I am looking up and then turn my head. This after I gave up drinking. Outrageous.

The vertigo makes me feel like falling down or rolling over, it is really nasty.

So you are right I could weld from above. The prep and reseal would still have to be done from below to some degree.

I appreciate you input.

 

[ScottsGT]

Since we are showing off home made rotisseries, here's mine:

After:

 

[404]

ScottsGT, yes , thanks for showing it. Same for any one else that has one, old or new. ScottsGT, the paint on your roti is better than the paint on my cars.

Maybe some people's rotis have been shown before, but so what, this is a discussion site, not the Library of Congress.

 

[sublimate]

I'm glad people are posting all these pictures of cars tilted on their sides - it explains a lot.

I knew I was doing something wrong, but couldn't figure out what...

 

[volleyball]

The issue with a car that isn't being totally restored is that you have to take apart stuff that was never intended to be work. Then you find more problems, and more expense as well as time.
You could do what you can and it may be cheaper to pay a helper to do the dirty work underneath. That way a lot of things that you would have to pay to replace such as gaskets and bolts.
If the floor is rusty, so is the rest of the under carriage

 

[404]

I'm glad people are posting all these pictures of cars tilted on their sides - it explains a lot.

I knew I was doing something wrong, but couldn't figure out what...

There will be snow here soon, and this IS a solution that needs no tools. Maybe If I remove the front grill this will work OK.

 

[404]

The issue with a car that isn't being totally restored is that you have to take apart stuff that was never intended to be work. Then you find more problems, and more expense as well as time.
You could do what you can and it may be cheaper to pay a helper to do the dirty work underneath. That way a lot of things that you would have to pay to replace such as gaskets and bolts.
If the floor is rusty, so is the rest of the under carriage

So maybe I should hose it down with Fluid Film and wait till spring when I can do it all. Hmm. Thanks for the input.