[Scoutdog72]

Hi all. My 72 Opel has quite a bit of rust, which requires a lot of cutting and welding. I was planning on using the jack stands to pivot the body uo to about 75 degrees. I planned on using 7/8" iron pipe that would fit through the jack stand and then place a larger diameter sleeve(on the outside of the jackstand). At the end I was going to use a tee fitting. This means the body (stripped of everything) would be supported by the two jack supports with the tee sitting on the floor. The body would be propped up securely with 2x4 and a safety strap.\

On paper it looks good but I was wondering what other people have done to rotate the body up so it could be worked on.

 

[Gary]

If the body is just a shell, what about using 2 engine stands connected to brackets that are attached to the bumper mounts? Then you could rotate it 90°.

Travis has a neat rotator that attaches to the wheels and you roll the car onto its side. Works great if the suspension is still attached.

On the other hand, I have a '73 GT body that I was going to use for a V6 project that has minor rust (Outer rockers, one wheel opening)....... PM me if you're interested.

 

[kwilford]

Here's what my brother made to rebuild his Austin Healey 3000 Mk III (a "BJ-8" to the AH crowd)

 

[kwilford]

And here is a GT on a commercial rotisserie

 

[kwilford]

And what can be done with a couple of bags of insulation and a few jack stands

 

[kwilford]

Here's another solution

 

[kwilford]

And, for the magicians among us

 

[Old Hippie]

kwilford, I like the GT rotisserie set-up. How, or what is it connected to in the rear? How about the front? I don't plan on doing that much on my 69 Gt, but my 71GT is gonna get the full treatment and that is a GREAT setup. Got any info on that setup?

 

[Scoutdog72]

Thanks. It's nice to get different perspectives and it gives me a couple of options. I have limited space in the garage (one disadvantage to being married). Of course cost of a setup is also a consideration. Thanks for the input.

 

[Long-gone]

There was a picture on the net a few years ago of a wooden frame with rollers on it that looked like it worked. It had pins that went into the Jack holes.

 

[kwilford]

I was asked off-line to provide some details on the rotiserie that my brother made. Here is his response and couple of pictures:

Attached are some pictures of the rotisserie that I made for the BJ8. The original pattern used two engine stands, but I welded these up instead. They are made from around 35 feet of 2" square tubing with 24" legs 40" apart. The uprights are 36" with 2" I.D. pipe nipples welded on. The arms are 2" tubing as well with 22" arms. I rested the car body on horses, drilled holes in the arms to mount on the front and rear bumper bracket bolts, and welded the arms together that way. That gave me the proper spacing and the proper angle for welding the 2" pipe on to the arm cross piece. I drilled holes through the pipe nipple and the tubing every 45 degrees for bolts to hold the body at working angles. This is correct for the Healey but the Opel mounting will probably be different. The height of the upright was decided by the roll of the body and the angle of the arms fits the angle of the bumper bracket.

 

[kwilford]

And another view

 

[Old Hippie]

Thanks Keith, that will be helpful. Just need to visit the local metal fab shop and buy some scrap and/or new. I think I'll mark and drill anchors into the floor for the stands, that will come in handy for engine jobs too.

 

[jpiper]

Long Gone;

I believe there is a thread with pics that was posted a while back by Rallybob (forgive me if I'm wrong Bob) showing the fabrication of a GT/Manta stand. It included a material list and drawings too. Its not a rotiserie but it was a metal version similar to the wooden stand you mentioned.

 

[rallye73]

Here is the link to the origional thread
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=92

And the Parts list Zip.
http://www.opelgt.com/wbb/portal_da...2b231b4b&sid=e40a4e4d64cfed8575b9341d2b231b4b

Darrin

 

[RallyBob]

Yup, that was the one I made for my Dad's GT, but I added a second set of verticals so that it could support a Manta/Ascona chassis as well. The height though, was configured for a GT. If you look at the photo, you can see the lower crossbrace at the 'front' of the stand is a removeable piece. It's there for stability when moving the car around (by the way, it supports a fully-laden car with engine/tranny/suspension with no issues), and one person can move the car around a shop easily. The brace is removeable because the GT engine can be lowered onto the ground, and then the car rolled away. There's also a ton of room underneath so that the floorpan can be attended to for rust/paint, or whatever, just by sitting on the floor and reaching overhead. I'll try to find the picture with the GT on the stand again, I noticed it was deleted from the old post.

 

[RallyBob]

Here's a photo of the rolling chassis stand I spoke of:

 

[Travis]

Thats some interesting re-styling of the rear end.... Was this to get to hidden rust?

-Travis

 

[RallyBob]

There was a lot of bondo in the rear of the car, and there were signs of an old accident (dented body panel and gas tank). So I removed everything, added extra rear impact protection, rear gussets, straightened the gas tank out, plus added door strike supports to help stiffen the chassis more. Having the rolling chassis stand helped to put everything at a height I could work at easily.

Bob

 

[Gary]

Here is the link to the origional thread
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=92

And the Parts list Zip.
http://www.opelgt.com/wbb/portal_da...2b231b4b&sid=e40a4e4d64cfed8575b9341d2b231b4b

Darrin

Great search job Darrin!! That links back to the old forum when RallyBob only had 94 posts! We lost the members names when the old posts transferred over to the new forum.