Body/Frame Separation in 7 minutes!

[Nicholas R]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFL4-fwGj9c

In real time it was 5 hours 48 minutes. The only thing that had already been done prior to the video starting was the removal of the rear fascia.

First 4 minutes are the process of disconnecting everything at 64x, last 3 minutes are the actual separation of the body and frame at 32x.

Don't mind the video freeze from 3:58-4:14, just a windows movie maker glitch.

Also sorry, the song is really catchy. I've had it stuck in my head all damn day...

[rddmc]

Thanks for posting this, I really enjoyed the show. I was worried about the windshield but it seems to be fine. What do you plan to do to the frame, repair or replace it? Did you uncover any surprises during the process? If possible keep us posted on your progress.

The music does tend to linger.

Good luck,

Rod 10921

[Nicholas R]

Well in the video you'll notice that early on my dad and I spent a lot o time in the driver side rear wheel well. That was because the body/frame bolt in that shock tower was just spinning. Turned out that the little pocket that the square nut sits in was elongated and somewhat rusted allowing the nut to just spin. To gain access the wheel, spring, and shock had to be removed, then, that little slot was torn/cut off, and we got on the square nut with a vice grip. That will need addressed.

Otherwise I didn't find anything else I didn't already know about. There's several spots that I'll finally be able to address in the passenger side rear section of the frame and engine cradle area. Luckily it seems all the areas of the frame that I've never before been able to lay eyes on look great! Still there are a multitude of jobs that I'll be able to do with much ease. Trailing arm bolts for example.

[jawn101]

Wow, that was cool to watch. Never seen that done before! What do you plan to do now that the frame's out? I guess the possibilities are endless. That almost looks easier than a straight up engine pull.

[tc connors]

Any chance you could catalog the steps into a how-to on the separation process?

[Jeremy Popp]

Looks good Nick! Is this for an engine swap? It think I read that on facebook or heard from someone. Let me know if you need an extra hand in the project. There is no shortage of help in the area as you know (unless you're in FL?).

Jeremy

[Nicholas R]

I'm in Cincy, and yea I'll probably need help. The body frame separation wasn't all that hard. A while back I posted a thread asking about it:http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?1831-Body-Frame-Separation&highlight=body+frame+separation

Afterward I pretty much went through and added everything to a checklist that I went through. I was really worried that I would forget something but it turned out the list was fully comprehensive. When it was time to split, it came right apart with nothing still connected.

The biggest thing for me was that since I only had 2 jacks, I couldn't put a jack on each jack point and lift. Because of this, we decided that the best course of action would be to jack the car up as high as we could via the frame. Once there, we removed the remaining 6 body/frame bolts in the interior, put jackstands under each body jack point, then lowered the frame back down. (little by little, with extra jack stands under the frame as well as the body, just in case) It worked great!

The only issue then was of course that the jack stand was in in the way of the front wheels. We decided to use the engine hoist connected to the 2 shock tower bolt holes (since there are metal plates under the fiberglass to distribute the load). That way we could lift the front end, remove the jack stands, and roll the frame back.

In the process, we kept wondering what the hardest thing to clear would be, whether wheels, shifter, etc. Turns out it's the top of the condenser on the front of the radiator. The shifter goes through the tunnel in the body so it's fine. As we took the frame back, it finally got to a point where the tub was just too low.

To get the last bit of the frame out, we had my mom and girlfriend come out and pull the jack stand out of the way just long enough that my friend could roll the frame back, while at the same time, my dad and I each lifted up on the back end of the body tub. It worked great! Then we steered the frame into the second garage bay and called it a night.

[Nicholas R]

Honestly it wasn't nearly as bad as I though it would be. 5 hours and 48 minutes, and about an hour was spent addressing that spinning square nut mentioned above ^.

Heck the front frame extension replacement I did this 4th of July took like 12+ hours. I wish I had known that this was going to be happening because I would have just held off! I bet I could do the crumple zone replacement in a good 3 hours with the car in this state!

[Farrar]

Nick, it's very heartening to see this done. Eventually I intend to POR-15 the frame of #2613 and this makes it look a lot less scary! Thanks! :)

Farrar

[jawn101]

it's very heartening to see this done.

Especially given the music. All Benny Hill ever did in 7 minutes was lose his pants and chase people around in circles. This was much more productive.

Now to see if you can get it all back together again :) lol

[Farrar]

Especially given the music.

Having watched lots of car videos on YouTube over the years, I got into the habit of turning down the sound before starting any video. I find the body/frame separation just fine as a silent film.

Farrar

[Henrik]

I was curious about how you cleared the chassis from the rear jacks so I watched that part in "real time" in the full length version. Looks like someone is getting a good yelling' at 5:36:30 :hihi2: Can't blame you though, after such a long day....

[Nicholas R]

I was curious about how you cleared the chassis from the rear jacks so I watched that part in "real time" in the full length version. Looks like someone is getting a good yelling' at 5:36:30 :hihi2: Can't blame you though, after such a long day....

Haha, oh yea I guess someone didn't realize that removing the jackstand meant fully removing it so that the frame could roll backward. At first she just moved the jack backward and it was still in the way of the wheel.

Also, yea we had a good hold on the body, but it was still pretty heavy so stress level was pretty high in that moment.

[dn010]

When I removed my frame - I put a 2X8 or 2 under the car going from side to side (Ex running from in front of left rear wheel well to in front of right rear wheel well - same with the front of the car), make sure it is long enough to stick out from under the sides of the car a foot or 2. Then you can place the stands out of the way while you roll the frame in/out without having to move them. Of course, when the frame was out I moved the stands more under the car and also - obviously you need to remove/install the boards with enough room between frame and car. Not a bad job tho, I had to remove mine 2 times and up for a 3rd already... :sad30:

[Anthony]

Cooool, great job
i am happy to see your video, because when i separate the frame, i forgot to make a video

but i make a video when i put back the frame, see this video and maybe is one idea for you, for put back the frame !
we put back in 2h30, in the small garage !

the date of my video is 12 march 2011, if funny we choice the same song :smile:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abzBuBNA5o

[sphiend]

Gonna bring her back to the Con this year?

[Nicholas R]

Cooool, great job
i am happy to see your video, because when i separate the frame, i forgot to make a video

but i make a video when i put back the frame, see this video and maybe is one idea for you, for put back the frame !
we put back in 2h30, in the small garage !

the date of my video is 12 march 2011, if funny we choice the same song :smile:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abzBuBNA5o

Haha, thats funny because after I posted this, James sent me the link to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VXNX8T3PhQ

that I had never seen before that ALSO used the same damn song. Thing is like a disease....

Thanks for posting your vid, definitely gave me some perspective on the re-joining process!

[Anthony]

cool, thas funny !

i want a lifter :sad30: