VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood 1941 chevy coupe body lift off...

Good day!

I have a 1941 chevy master deluxe coupe that I am planning on having media blasted. In preparation for this I am taking apart the body down to being just a bare shell, less doors, trunk, glass, trim, and literally anything else.

I am trying to plan ahead about HOW I will get this off the chassis. I don't have a lift, so the thought is to get about 8 of my good friends (and adequate quantity of beer) to literally pick it up off the frame and set it down on some rollers.

Does anyone have a rough idea what the bare shell would weigh? I just want to do all my homework before we get halfway into it and discover it was a really bad idea....

I have no clue as to the weight of the body but you have a lot of mass there. I'd be very wary about lifting it by hand. I may be wrong but I don't think 8 is enough. Good luck.

I lifted the body off my '31 coupe's chassis using 4 heavy duty cargo straps, ratcheting each a little on each corner until I could push the chassis out from underneath. The straps were tied to 2 x 6's running cross ways on top of the ceiling joists in my attic.
Sid

69ChevyGuy,

I recommend you invest in a rotisserie but you may not need to do anything to the bottom of the body. Get some straps and use a tree. Oh, yeah, Kansas. Hmmm. No trees. Build a couple of "A" frames and winch it up.

Nonetheless, I think that four guys on each side could pick it up easy enough. They would have to be paratroopers, Marines Recons, Seals, Green Berets, Rangers though. The booze is a good idea. You may want to get a sack of Texas size rattlers to help stimulate them at just the right time. Using the "one," "two," "three" method , on "three" empty the sack of snakes at their feet. Job done. Fast too!

If you are using former sailors then double the crew. If you are using former airmen then you would need about the same amount unless you do it in in-climate weather with precipitation a-coming down. Then you would need to double the crew to 32 because half of them would be a-holding an unberalla for his buddy. Would too!

You're welcome,
Charlie

If you'll forgive the subject matter, here's a pic of how I lifted my "off topic" coupe. I made a longer arm to fit into the arm of the cherry picker and made a bracket to hold a 4"x4" beam. I operated the engine hoist and a friend balanced it at the trunk end. Worked great !