Temporary car body stand ideas?

[Stooge]

Planning on pulling the body off of the frame on my '37 Buick in the next month so that I can do a quicky clean up on the frame and throw some paint on it. I don't plan on having the body off for more than a few days, and don't plan on doing any work to the body aside from maybe using the opportunity to spray the underside black, but would like to rig up some temporary but stable enough stand to hold it. Im picturing a pair of sawhorses, 3' tall, A frames made out of 2x2 3/16 angle iron, (angle because of cost) or box/ rectangular tubing, and the bottom opening braced, and 6' of maybe 2x4 rectangular tubing to welded to the tops to tie the pairs of A frames together and serve as a flat platform, (and have a pair of sawhorses). Just tall and wide enough to clear the tires so I can pick up each end with an engine hoist, prop it up on the sawhorses and roll the chassis straight out from underneath it. I've seen a few commercially available sawhorses that could handle the weight, but are too narrow or have cross bracing that would be interfere with the frame. Thoughts?


Its a big car, (126" wheelbase), but with the front sheet metal off, it will be more manageable, probably support it above the rear axle/ wheel opening, and maybe a foot in from the front cowl, near the front of the door openings.

2019-12-05_11-01-07 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

IMG_20191026_110749_061 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

 

[Kaizen]

overthinking it. Did the same on my 69 chevelle. used hollow cinder blocks and 4x4xwhatever feet. Like you are thinking. Set the blocks and lift one end. slip in the wood. repeat. Only time i'd do a steel setup was if it was a rolling dolly

 

[4xdog]

Here's a body stand used by a British sportscar restoration place near me. (That's my Triumph on the stand in the photo.)

 

[4xdog]

Here's a (bad) photo of a cradle a buddy made, again for a Triumph TR3, that allows the bodyshell to be rotated. Sort of a poor-man's rotisserie.

 

[Rag Roc]

Haven't started the project, but I scored an old boat trailer for a body stand. Plan on spanning the frame with 4X4's and setting the body on.

 

[ruffasguts]

Don't know if the picture is going to send or not , but I got some old pallet racking from work and made 2 stands the same height as my work bench.

 

[Ohmthis]

I think you are overthinking it also. Wood will easily hold the weight and is much cheaper. Now if you were making movable dolly, that’s different. I would make the verticals posts with a 4x4. Screw a 2x4 to the foot in a T with 2x4 bracing up from each end to the post. Across from post to post I would use a 2x6 (doubled up if you feel the need). That will hold up the car and you can take and screw the two different ends together so they can not slide apart.

 

[Stooge]

Well not surprisingly, sounds like im over thinking it The guy I rent my shop from owns a construction company, and there's a wood shop on the property, so I'll check with him to see what we can whip up, but it sounds like it can be fairly simple. I wouldn't really mind building a good stout dolly to put bodies on and to have around just incase, but for how infrequently I would need it, it would just be taking up space most of the time.

 

[Kaizen]

Well not surprisingly, sounds like im over thinking it The guy I rent my shop from owns a construction company, and there's a wood shop on the property, so I'll check with him to see what we can whip up, but it sounds like it can be fairly simple. I wouldn't really mind building a good stout dolly to put bodies on and to have around just incase, but for how infrequently I would need it, it would just be taking up space most of the time.

Plus it’s hard to make a dolly that will fit different breeds of cars. Good idea if all you want to do it one vintage. Have fun


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[bullnerd]

Yellow steel folding saw horses from HD.

Fold up very small and can hold 1k pounds/pair.

And, you can use them for other jobs when your done instead of having a weird stand thats just in the way.

 

[matt_i]

I saw some nice welded ones on a construction contractor's work area, something like 6-8" structural channel for the top, some box tube legs and more channels for adding stability. A few gussets on the bottom. Were clean and simple weldments. They would not stack but could nest them together.

As mentioned, unless its a collapsible "A" frame it might be good to have bolted flanges that could be removed for storage in the "offseason".

 

[Stooge]

Yellow steel folding saw horses from HD.

Fold up very small and can hold 1k pounds/pair.

And, you can use them for other jobs when your done instead of having a weird stand thats just in the way.

I was talking with a buddy at work this morning, and he was suggesting these https://www.homedepot.com/p/TOUGHBU...site-Table-1300-lb-Capacity-TB-C700/205870356 he has a few sets of them, has used them for all sorts of projects, holding large amounts of wood, etc. I also stumbled on these ones from Eastwood, and one of their usage examples is supporting car bodies https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-1500-lb-metal-saw-horse.html plus never hurts to have a few extra heavy duty saw horses around. I might stop at home depot to fondle these and get an idea how big they are, but it sounds like there are provisions to bolt up wood to the top side of it to extend it on both the toughbuilt and eastwood ones.

 

[jayoldschool]

Four tall jack stands, two 4x4 pieces of wood spanning the stands, sit body on top as you roll the frame out. Easy.

 

[driftpin]

Even though the HD is < weight rating than the Eastwood, looking at the adjustability, the pads on the legs, and the adjustability, I would go with the HD. Seems like a better product, and you probably could mod it if needed to meet your needs. The Eastwood just looks spindly to me.

I also like the idea of a carriage of some-sort, and adapting a low boat trailer to do the job seems like a good way to go. With a bit of planning, you could probably figure out a way to have it break-down for storage: remove the wheels, put some casters on the end, and hoist it up on-end, though the length might require outside storage, unless you could remove the trailer tongue, and maybe the frame aft of the axle, or something similar.

I would not use cinder blocks! Cribbing out of 4X4's or larger would be better.

 

[Slednut]

I also stumbled on these ones from Eastwood, and one of their usage examples is supporting car bodies https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-1500-lb-metal-saw-horse.html plus never hurts to have a few extra heavy duty saw horses around. I might stop at home depot to fondle these and get an idea how big they are, but it sounds like there are provisions to bolt up wood to the top side of it to extend it on both the toughbuilt and eastwood ones.

I have four of Eastwood's, caught them on sale and all four cost $109 with free shipping on anything over $99. I use them all the time, I don't see how they are rated at 1500 pounds when extended.

 

[Stooge]

Even though the HD is < weight rating than the Eastwood, looking at the adjustability, the pads on the legs, and the adjustability, I would go with the HD. Seems like a better product, and you probably could mod it if needed to meet your needs. The Eastwood just looks spindly to me.

I would not use cinder blocks! Cribbing out of 4X4's or larger would be better.

I have four of Eastwood's, caught them on sale and all four cost $109 with free shipping on anything over $99. I use them all the time, I don't see how they are rated at 1500 pounds when extended.

Thanks for the pictures, Slednut, though im sure they are probably strong enough to actually hold the weight, seeing the skinny little legs on the extensions aren't exactly confidence inspiring for what I'd be using them for here, but look really useful for everything else. I'll stop at HD and check out the toughbuilt ones, even if those ones don't clear the frame, i like the notches in the sides that support 4x4's and i could use a few of them outside the frame, supporting the body with wood.

I would not use cinder blocks! Cribbing out of 4X4's or larger would be better.

i got what he was saying, but i wouldnt trust the slats? of a cinder block to confidently hold up the weight for any period of time. Theres quite a few wood blocks of, I'd guess they are 6x10,floating around from the construction company that could be used to block up if need be.

 

[bullnerd]

I bought the yellow hd ones with a gift card.

They're beefy and very easy to use/store.

 

[chaosracing]

Here's a body stand used by a British sportscar restoration place near me. (That's my Triumph on the stand in the photo.)

Yours is in way better shape than my dad's was when he got it. Had to split the car in half and replace all the floor boards and the sills/rockers. Amazing how much time and money can go into a small car like that.

Sorry OP, its not often you see these cars, had to comment.

But as stated above, I would not over think it. A few blocks and 4x4's is all you really need for a few days.

 

[TLGriff]

When I restored my '72 Chevelle, I built a simple wooden cradle to support the body for access to the underside. It was made of 4x4's with 3/4" plywood gussets and mounting tabs, with casters to make it mobile. It worked great and was easy to get rid of when it had served it's purpose.

Tom

 

[Kevin54]

I had a '62 Impala body that set on (4) 5 gallon buckets for 6 months.

 

[toplessHO]

I like those HD horses
4 of those and a couple 4x4s and youre in business
Ive seen complete full size vehicles supported with 4 steel 55gal drums

 

[4xdog]

Yours is in way better shape than my dad's was when he got it. Had to split the car in half and replace all the floor boards and the sills/rockers. Amazing how much time and money can go into a small car like that.

Sorry OP, its not often you see these cars, had to comment...

Yes, the TR3B was in decent condition when I bought it in 1981 -- one of the reasons I got that particular TR. As a central Ohio car it was a LOT better than most.

Here's how it turned out when it came back on the road in 2012. (With a bit of help on parts one can't see from our friend Kevin54, I gotta say.)

OK -- hijack off -- sorry!

 

[Stooge]

Yes, the TR3B was in decent condition when I bought it in 1981 -- one of the reasons I got that particular TR. As a central Ohio car it was a LOT better than most.

Here's how it turned out when it came back on the road in 2012. (With a bit of help on parts one can't see from our friend Kevin54, I gotta say.)

OK -- hijack off -- sorry!

Ive always had a real soft spot and bias for little british sports cars, so if theres going to be thread hijacking, a triumph is fine with me! Looks great!

 

[FANTM58]

4 jack stands and some lumber..

 

[Kev442]

When I pulled my first body, I found that standard sawhorse height was way too low.
My Dad had bought a sawhorse kit back in the '70's. I popped the standard height 2 x 4's legs out and put some longer legs on. I then put a length of 2 x 4 flat on the bases to keep them from accidentally closing under any kind of side load. Total cost $0 as I had scrap 2 x 4 lying around.
The sawhorses can be any length and height using the kit.

The firewall area I put an extension on my engine hoist and added a bit of counterweight to the back of it. The extension was about 4' or so.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H39T8E/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Stooge]

^ ideally, and since ill probably be doing this alone or with 1 other person, i want a pair of stands with atleast 62" of open inner space width wise to sit outboard of of the frame, (axle and wheel width is 59", widest part of the frame is 43"ish), and a min of 32"+ to clear the 30" tires. so one end of the body can be propped up, slide the stand under and have the clearances to just roll the chassis straight out with the tires on.

The truck cab last time was too easy and we just picked it up off the frame and put it on a skid!

 

[Kev442]

If I remember correctly, after the junk frame was rolled out, I set the front of the car on some plastics barrels I already had to free up the hoist. A car body even with doors in place doesn't weigh that much. So that was solidly 36" high.
The only sketchy thing I did was nail a bunch of 5'-8' 2x4 scraps together to make 12' 4 x4s. (too cheap to buy 12' 4 x4 s for a one time use). They sagged a bit but held the body up for months.

 

[Stooge]

Ran into the property owner, (happens to also be a long time hot rodder) about what I was planning and if he had any ideas. Goes around the side of the building to a little alley, and pulls these out. He had used them on a few of his cars, then used it for one of their sanders before building new ones for the new sanders but wants to check with his son if they will be needed when they pull their other sander off one of the trucks. A spot or 2 will need to be rewelded, but should be fine for me. A little over 7ft wide, 34" inner height

20200222_162235 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

 

[Kev442]

34" will be plenty. I remembered I had to go over rear coil spring pockets, you won't have that problem.

 

[Ohmthis]

Winner! Winner!