Builds A pig for Father's Day (1 Viewer)

[WarDamnEagle]

I had an epiphany a few days ago and decided I had to turn the pig around before removing the body. Lots of details why but basically it was the constraint of getting the lift arms between the tandem axle tire fenders and the front of the trailer. Regardless why, son and I spun it this morning and after much repositioning, finally got the arms in the right place and the body lifted a few inches. On the first try it was obvious after the first inch or so that the front was coming up but the rear wasn't. We put a couple hundred pounds of weight in the front foot wells and it's fairly stable. To be clear you could still lift it up in the front if you wanted to and I don't think I'll be opening the tailgate until it's safely on the trailer but there's no issue opening doors, etc. Guessing with the hood and/or without the tailgate it would be fine.

There were a few body mounts that I couldn't get out so I have only lifted it a few inches to take care of those. Some came out without too much hassle but I still have the front 3 on the passenger side remaining. Once I get those we will lift it higher and pull the chassis.

So I did lift it using the rockers, FWIW. I routed a 1/2" wide groove, 1" deep in a 2x4 (for the pinchweld) and positioned the lift arms under the 2x. The only other way I could see to get it off the chassis was to lift it through the door openings.

All in all a good day.

 

[greenbeast]

Well that was easy!

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Well that was easy!

When it comes to these types of jobs, I want to do all my hard work up front. Anticlimactic is just fine with me.

 

[samc2447]

When it comes to these types of jobs, I want to do all my hard work up front. Anticlimactic is just fine with me.

That's the way to separate the body, but ratchet strap it to the lift arms. There is more weight over the rear and the front will lift. Don't rely on the weights you put in the cab.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

That's the way to separate the body, but ratchet strap it to the lift arms. There is more weight over the rear and the front will lift. Don't rely on the weights you put in the cab.

Great advice; thanks. Got it strapped down and it's definitely more stable. Wasn't an obvious way to strap it down close to the lift arm so we went over the top.

Still have to remove two more body bolts/spacers but otherwise it's ready for the trailer to back in.

My plan is to build cribbing under 4 of the body mounts on each side and then lag bolt the body to the cribbing. Body and cribbing will then be strapped to the trailer. Sounds easy enough.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Got the last two body mounts off yesterday. One of those cushions did not want to budge. Finally got it but it was a two man job. A little heat took care of the bolt and sleeve but obviously you have to get the rubber out of the way first - or at least you should.

Removed the fuel tube connector this morning. Had totally forgotten about it. That's a '76 and up item so a lot of you won't have one. Engineering overkill just to get hose connections through the interior body panel but I like it. I also pulled the rest of the plugs of various sizes and types that are in the body.

Inspected my fill tube which has been of much discussion lately in the Sty. Pretty sure I can reuse this one. It's a little stiff but I don't see any signs of cracking in the rubber. Grommet might need replacing though.

Starting to design the trailer cribbing to set this body on. What would I do without a laser level?

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Took the trailer to get some 2x material for the cribbing and backed it under the pig when I got back. Less than 2" clearance on each side between the tires and the lift post. I also had to move the roll cab as I needed all 12' of space in front of the lift for the trailer. Trailer is about 2" off the back wall.

Really pleased with the way this is going to work. Second photo is about where the body will set when on the supports. That height will give me just enough room to release the lift arms and swing them out.

 

[jestlurnin]

Fantastic work.

Out of curiosity if you had say 2 4X pieces of wood long enough to put perpendicular under the body could you put a guy on all 4 corners and lift a pig body? No idea the type of weight we are looking at.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Fantastic work.

Out of curiosity if you had say 2 4X pieces of wood long enough to put perpendicular under the body could you put a guy on all 4 corners and lift a pig body? No idea the type of weight we are looking at.

EDIT: Sorry I misread your question. If you are lifting it off the frame; that would be very difficult. It's several inches from the mounts to the bottom of the body so your 2x wouldn't be sticking out unless you cribbed up underneath it to the tune of 8 to 10 inches, depending on which mount. As far as weight, all I know is that it was remarkably easy to roll that chassis around once the body was removed. Now if the men were strong enough, I could see them just grabbing underneath at the firewall and rear corners and lifting the body but they would have to be weightlifters. Would likely be very possible to do that with 4 men on each side, as long as the pizza and beer come afterwards. I would also remove all 4 doors, everything in front of the firewall (all bolted), and the tailgate.

Second Edit: The other thing you have to realize is there is only a maybe 1" thick puck between the frame mount and the body so it's not like you can get a 2x or a 4x in between unless you jack the body up first somehow. There's also so much stuff in the way that it's hard to get something all the way from side to side. Lifting the body by the rockers is definitely the easy way to go.

Now here below was my original reply. I thought you wanted to put the body on a couple of 4x pieces of wood. Apologies.

Yes but not sure I would go all the way to the corners and to be clear, do not use the frontmost body mounts (1 on the diagram) to support any weight.

Starting at the firewall, there are 4 proper body mounts down each side (2, 3, 4, and 5). In addition, there are 2 "cushions" down each side, more or less, under the rear seat (6). I wouldn't use those cushions for anything either.

So if I was just going to support all the weight under two pair of the body mounts, I would choose the pair under the firewall and the pair just behind the rear seat. Those are labeled 2 and 4. I'm not saying you couldn't use 2 and 5 but if I was only using two pair then I would split the stress a bit more evenly and go with 4.

Because I am trailering it for a long distance, I plan on supporting under 1, 2, 3, and 5. I will set the body down on 2, 3, and 5 and then build some blocking under 1. You really don't want any stress at all on 1 as it's all bolted construction between there and the firewall (aka the doghouse).

 

[mn12]

@WarDamnEagle
Thanks for adding those pics.
Can you share if the circled went back into the tank?
If not, do you know where?

 

[bobm]

EDIT: Sorry I misread your question. If you are lifting it off the frame; that would be very difficult. It's several inches from the mounts to the bottom of the body so your 2x wouldn't be sticking out unless you cribbed up underneath it to the tune of 8 to 10 inches, depending on which mount. As far as weight, all I know is that it was remarkably easy to roll that chassis around once the body was removed. Now if the men were strong enough, I could see them just grabbing underneath at the firewall and rear corners and lifting the body but they would have to be weightlifters. Would likely be very possible to do that with 4 men on each side, as long as the pizza and beer come afterwards. I would also remove all 4 doors, everything in front of the firewall (all bolted), and the tailgate.

Second Edit: The other thing you have to realize is there is only a maybe 1" thick puck between the frame mount and the body so it's not like you can get a 2x or a 4x in between unless you jack the body up first somehow. There's also so much stuff in the way that it's hard to get something all the way from side to side. Lifting the body by the rockers is definitely the easy way to go.

Now here below was my original reply. I thought you wanted to put the body on a couple of 4x pieces of wood. Apologies.

Yes but not sure I would go all the way to the corners and to be clear, do not use the frontmost body mounts (1 on the diagram) to support any weight.

Starting at the firewall, there are 4 proper body mounts down each side (2, 3, 4, and 5). In addition, there are 2 "cushions" down each side, more or less, under the rear seat (6). I wouldn't use those cushions for anything either.

So if I was just going to support all the weight under two pair of the body mounts, I would choose the pair under the firewall and the pair just behind the rear seat. Those are labeled 2 and 4. I'm not saying you couldn't use 2 and 5 but if I was only using two pair then I would split the stress a bit more evenly and go with 4.

Because I am trailering it for a long distance, I plan on supporting under 1, 2, 3, and 5. I will set the body down on 2, 3, and 5 and then build some blocking under 1. You really don't want any stress at all on 1 as it's all bolted construction between there and the firewall (aka the doghouse).

View attachment 3849605

I'm sure you already know!! If you or your body guy removes those doors and tailgate they better do a lot of crossbracing 1st. My is 5gs+ and others have registered 8gs . Wifes LX570 is 6800lbs empty .

 

[WarDamnEagle]

@WarDamnEagle
Thanks for adding those pics.
Can you share if the circled went back into the tank?
If not, do you know where?

View attachment 3849668

Yes it goes back into the tank. Happy to add the intermediate photos if you want but it goes in here:

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I need some help. The short version is I need a photo or a description of how an OEM A/C Condenser mounts. I am going back with a new OEM radiator, A/C condenser, and fan shroud. A previous PO removed the OEM radiator and condenser and they must have changed the mounting tabs for the condenser.

Now for some additional information. There are two triangular tabs tack welded to the radiator support uprights that held the replacement condenser. I've attached a couple of photos. Those must have been added when they made the replacement and they won't work for the OEM condenser (not parallel horizontally and about 4" too narrow between centers). Having said that, I cannot see any evidence of original tabs that would have held the condenser. I still have the old OEM condenser and it's exactly the same as my new OEM one so it must have been mounted somehow. Pretty sure it needs tabs as the center line of the holes horizontally is just over 22" and the radiator upright flanges are maybe a 1/2 wider so it's too close to the edge to drill holes in the uprights.

Edit: Remembered that the old condenser was never mounted so I struck through that information.

Not super time critical but I do need a plan in the next week or so. I've been searching A/C threads but haven't found anything yet. Will keep looking in the meantime.

Here's the old and new OEM condensers - identical. Well sans a bit of wear and tear on the older one.

 

[bobm]

Does @DTC72 have factory AC??

 

[WarDamnEagle]

So just as I was falling asleep last night I suddenly remembered that this pig didn't come with factory air. The guy that bought it from Redline Cruisers sourced all or most of the OEM components but that old condenser must have been too far gone to install so they installed a different condenser which mounts on those two tabs that they installed. For whatever reason they also changed the radiator; probably at the same time. So that's why there is no evidence of OEM tabs for the condenser.

So, I should have just left my previous post with the first paragraph. Just need to know how the OEM condensers were mounted. Part's diagrams are no help other than they call out the bolt part number that was used. Looks like there must be a captive nut involved though as it only calls for 4 bolts.

As soon as I get the body mounted to the cribbing I might bolt the old OEM radiator back in and see what I can figure out with the old or the new OEM condenser. I just want to make sure I know what the body shop needs to do before they paint.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Played around with the old OEM radiator and condenser this morning. Not the greatest of photos but you can see that the condenser will just fit inside the flange of the radiator vertical supports. This photo is from the engine bay side. Hopefully you can also see though that the front flange of the supports more or less splits the center line of the condenser mounting tab holes.

I've also included a photo of the radiator side of the condenser. There's 3 small nibs down each side which might also be some type of support mechanism although I don't see anything helpful in the parts diagrams in that regard. The last photo shows the condenser on top of the radiator in the proper orientation just to illustrate their respective mounting tabs/holes orientation.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

And one last piece of information that I just found. There are several pages of Heater and AC diagrams in the part's diagrams. I backed out, so to speak, to the Heating and Air Conditioning Set and found this illustration. It doesn't list individual parts so I don't know if those brackets shown in the diagram only came with the set??

 

[DTC72]

Does @DTC72 have factory AC??

My 1969 did not have factory AC but I did put in a Vintage Air system and it works great! It is an all in one system, mounts under the dash, and blends in well.

 

[bobm]

Oh I

 

[Ol Yeller]

And one last piece of information that I just found. There are several pages of Heater and AC diagrams in the part's diagrams. I backed out, so to speak, to the Heating and Air Conditioning Set and found this illustration. It doesn't list individual parts so I don't know if those brackets shown in the diagram only came with the set??

View attachment 3850894

So the curved shrouds have the mounts it looks like, could be tough to find!