body rotissere

[John Mcgraw]

Thought that a few of you might appreciate this. Here is a pic of a body dolly \ rotator that I completed last week. I have about $300 total cash out of pocket as well as a couple of evenings welding. I have finally just gotten tired of laying on my back under a car with crap raining down in my face! Note the icing on the cake, the 10" pneumatic casters that I found on sale at Harbor Freight for $9.99! They allow the rig to roll over the lip into my shop with ease and allow it to be rolled out into the grass without sinking in.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/P0000736.JPG

Regards, John McGraw

EDIT http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1071536

 

[studiog]

That is SWEEEET! How stable is it when rotating the body? Is the body secured at the body mounts only? Very nice.

 

[69MyWay]

very nice!

If you look at my homepage, under the 71 Vette Tab, you will see how I flip a body....very crude, rude, and dangerous!

I like the way you took the time to build this dolly and add those huge tires for easy rolling.

With your set up, you could go full custom, and basically prep the belly as nice as the body, then roll it in the paint booth and paint it 360 degrees of color inside and out!

 

[IMA Z06]

Indeed very nice John.....

 

[matchframe]

That is really nice!

I am trying to figure out how to roll my Vette body over to work on the underside. You gave me some ideas. I really like the wheels. Makes it a lot easier to roll outside.

Good job!

Bill

 

[matchframe]

I have some questions:

How did you make the rotating part? Can you post some close up pics of that area?

Also, I noticed that you have the main vertical beams where they can be adjusted, do you have locking pins holding it in place, or something like a threaded friction pin?


Is the body held on by the factory mounting bolts? Are they strong enough to hold the body in place while upside down?


Thanks!

Bill

 

[John Mcgraw]

Thanks guys,
The body is indeed held on by the body mount bolts only. The body sits on top of 5" steel spacers that are bored through the rails and welded on both sides. This is a very secure mounting method and the body is very secure in all positions. the spacers give lots of room to get your hand between the body and frame to sand the body. You are correct that I intend to full custom this body with the underside being as slick as the top. The body rotates very easily with only a couple of fingers necessary to turn it. This is due in no small part to the adjustment that I built in to allow the frame to be adjusted for center of gravity. In the pic below you will notice the clamp plates that allow the frame to be moved up and down in relation to the pivot. The pivot is simply 2 peices of heavy wall tubing nested inside of each other to allow rotation. I welded a nut to the outside of the outer tube so that a jam bolt can be tightened into the inner tube. I was going to use holes in the tubes and a pin, but realised that if the two ends were not exactly level with each other, than on pin would probably not go in on one end. This arangement gives me unlimited positioning as well.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/P0000737.JPG

Regards, John McGraw

 

[matchframe]

That looks like a really good design. I was wondering how stable the two ends were to each other, until I noticed that you had a wire tightened between them under the Vette body. Looks like it would be pretty easy to build.

If you wanted to raise, or lower the body, how would you do that? Just have a person at each end to loosen the jam bolt and lower, or raise? Or do you need a hydraulic jack or chain hoist to do the work?

I guess that when it is not being used, the whole thing come apart for easy storage.

Thanks for sharing this!

I may try to build one myself.

Bill

 

[John Mcgraw]

Bill,
The ends were pretty stable to each other even without the cable, but I decided to put it on anyway. I was hoping that it would be rock stable without it so that I could store my chassis under it when it was not being worked on. Because I only used 14 gauge steel tubing for the frame itself to keep the weight down, there was some twist where the center tube torqued on it, so I decided to put the cable on and preload it to take the stress off that joint. It probably would not have ever been a problem, but I didn't like the bounce as it went over the lip to the shop. I had considered putting some hydraulic cyls on it to raise it up and down, but finally decided that this would be a little over the top! The end frames are drilled on 12" centers and have a 1/2" bolt that slides through the hole and supports the slider.
I just use a floor jack to lower or raise the slider to the next height. The clamp plate adjustment is only used to find the center of gravity and after adjusting it for the body, it is locked down and never changes.
Regards, John McGraw

 

[matchframe]

I was wondering about the clamp plate. Make sense building it that way! I guess that would never need to be adjusted again, unless a different body was put on it that had a different center of gravity.

When I was thinking through it this morning, I thought of using a boat trailer ratchet on both ends with a pulley on the top of the post to raise and lower it, but like you said, even that may be an overkill.

Bill

 

[PTighe]

Excellent job John, we do you find all the time to do this? I thought you had to work for a living! :L

 

[John Mcgraw]

Patrick,
Ijust live in my shop when not working!!!!

 

[IH2LOSE]

So John I have a rotissery (borrowed) and I have to mount my car and body dolly to it. How much room did you leave between the front/rear of the car and the end spinner sections of the rottisery? I need to weld up some brakets to mount this .Car is finally going to the media blaster thsi coming monday

 

[Mrmike]

Mr. Mcgraw, Sir,

I am a late comer to this thread and would love to see your rotisserie, However the link to the pictures is not working. Have you relocated them somewhere?

Thanks

 

[vetzs]

Hi John, I too am having trouble with the pics... much to my dismay as I enjoy your sharing your knowledge with us. Later..vetzs

 

[John Mcgraw]

Larry,

I only left about 2" of clearance between the rotator plates and the body at front and rear. It made it a little difficult to paint those two areas, but it takes up less space in the shop. Now that you have revived this old dog of a thread, I guess I will have to put a link back to some pics! LOL

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1071536

Regards, John McGraw

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Yeah..Me Too...Linky-- No---Worky any more????

 

[67HEAVEN]

Yeah..Me Too...Linky-- No---Worky any more????

Does now.

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

Does now.

Heh Thanks Heaven......You Da Man...

What was it??? To many dots.......... in the address???

Any way..it looks cool..Get the Chicken and the Steaks ready...we can BBQ on that sucker when the car is done..

 

[IH2LOSE]

Larry,

I only left about 2" of clearance between the rotator plates and the body at front and rear. It made it a little difficult to paint those two areas, but it takes up less space in the shop. Now that you have revived this old dog of a thread, I guess I will have to put a link back to some pics! LOL

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1071536

Regards, John McGraw

Thanks John.

Was the choice to keep it so close done just for shop space? or was it done for strenth? I am trying to figure out how to make it so I have some room in the front/rear to work and paint,then also be able to simply disconect the rotiserry from the body dolly. I also dont want to physicly change the rotissery I was loaned.

Thanks again I will post some photos on sunday of what I finally end up with,the body will be back on the trailer going to the media blaster to clean up the engine bay,underside,trunk,door jambs,interiour area,and any other place that still has paint on it


Sorry for digging up an old thread