77 body removal

[dan]

Just picked up a 1977 L48 auto. Need guidance/instruction for lifting body off frame. Have a body sling lift kit, with four straps to go on the body with a central lift eye. Already tackling body mounts!! Two to go. The problem is that the rear bumper has already been removed by previous owner along with rear bumper rebar, lights, etc.. (Had I bought it a week earlier the car would have been complete) Looking at the rear of the car you can see the rearmost portion of the frame. Because the sling front straps are placed aft of the front wheel wells, the major concern I have is the front end weight. Do I have to remove the front bumper and internal components such as lights or headlight operating components to reduce front end weight prior to lifting the body? Or, can I get away with adding dead weight to the rear of the car.
Any help you can give would be fantastic, or a link to a site showing body lift would be priceless. Possibly you may know of a specific manual?

[fatherlarry]

Welcome aboard!

Now your fun begins!

You have to remove the front and rear bumpers. Remove the hood and make sure all you wiring harnesses are disconnected. Good idea to remove the seats to give yourself room to work. You may run into some trouble with rotted body mount bolts. If so you can cut the bolts off with a hack saw. Disconnect gas lines, steering column to steering box. If you belong to a Corvette club, there may be some members of the club that have done a restoration with body off, they may be able to spend some time to guide you. The Corvette community is friendly and love to help each other out. There's a link below to a previous post on this forum that is similar to yours. You may find some additional help there. Remember, the lift process for a convertible C3, should anyone here with a vert be reading this, is a different procedure.

Good luck, and post some pics.


http://www.fatherlarryscorvetteshop.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?threadid=704 :usaribbon

[dan]

Great to have a response in a short timeframe!!! Thanks for the info. Will likely take a week or two to complete body removal at which time will forward pictures. Would be helpful to hear from anyone else with experience removing body or pictures of same.

[DavisZR1]

This my give you a general idea :yikes:

http://www.corvetteprojects.com/Completed_Parts.htm

http://www.corvetteprojects.com/Bodybuild.htm

[dan]

Great links, I appreciate the info. Although nowhere being close to complete teardown, I can tell you that removing most bolts is really easy when they fatique break. I will no doubt spend countless hours with a drill and easyout in hand. Thanks

[dan]

A little bit later than anticipated, time wise; however here are the pictures showing the '77 body-off. The first three pictures show the vette being prepared for separation and the last two show the body raised.
Opted to raise body sufficiently to insert a wood frame under the body and secure body by framework to ceiling due to limited height in the work area. Body height is sufficient to easily roll out frame for work and balance of frame teardown. The framework holding the body, is secured in place by threaded rod through the ceiling with an additional rod placed at the rad support to provide stability and relieve some weight from the front end.
Coming along as planned!!
Damage to frame at first glance before removing rust:
- all body mount positions
- all lines fuel, brakes
- rear frame gussets
- rust through drivers side forward of #1 mount
- rust through both sides behind rear axle crossmember
Actually impressed by overall condition considering this frame has spent its life in Ontario, Canada. Next phase is to remove drivetrain and suspension, then remove rust from frame and determine extent of work to restore the frame.
Of interest to all, managed to remove one(1) body mount bolt intact with the remainder having to be ground off or fatique breaking upon attempting removal!!!!!

[dan]

pic#2

[dan]

pic #3

[dan]

pic #4

[dan]

pic #5

[fatherlarry]

Great job Dan! Thank you for sharing those pictures. It's going to help a lot of the enthusiasts here that want to do a restoration, but need that visual to help them out.

As far as the rust, the areas you mentioned are the most common areas where the C3's are vulnerable to rust. Another common area is the windshield frame.

Now there is one thing that I'd like to mention. This is a coupe and it has the center brace going down from the center of the windshield to the rear top body panel. It's almost like a built in roll cage which gives the C3 strength, so you can lift it with the doors off. Now for those who have convertibles from 1968-1974, there are two ways of doing it. One way is to just leave the doors on, and the second way, if you decide to take the doors off, is to build a custom brace with 1/4 inch by 2 1/2 or 3 inch wide steel stock, and bolt it on from the top hinge to the striker, for added strength. See diagram below.

Good luck and keep us all posted with pics on your progress. Thanks again for taking the time to show us.