Hanging MKIV Body

[NJMike]

Hello Gents,

So, my kit will be arriving next week. I've got my frame dolly built, but haven't decided where I'm going to store the body. My 2 options are; 1. build a body buck and store it in the backyard or, 2. hang it from the garage ceiling, I have 11-1/2 foot ceiling height so plenty of room. As I see it the backyard storage has 2 issues that concern me; Storing it for an extended period (realistically 1-2 years) out in the elements and probably more important my wife will not like it stored in the yard. Therefore, I'm leaning towards hanging it from the garage ceiling. I'm looking at using 2 bicycle hoists each with a 100 lb. capacity. I know some of you have hung the body as I've seen several Youtube videos. Has anyone used bicycle hoists? Does anyone have a better method of hanging the body? Have you run into any problems with the body distorting since it wont be on a Body Buck?

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

[MaxVmo]

Mike, I had an issue with storage that required me to keep it outside on a buck. I had a plain car cover on it for about 1.5 years through snow and heat with no issues in case that’s your solution.

[jengum]

This is how I supported mine from the garage ceiling which included the body bunk and room underneath for the frame and dolly. I added horizontal 2x4's at each end under the body bunk frame to act as outriggers for some heavy duty kayak hoists at each end rated for 150 pounds load. The garage ceiling is 10' high and the body bunk is just low enough to allow the garage door to open just over the top of the front end fiberglass body. For peace of mind I added some vertical 2x4's at each corner (not shown) just touching the garage floor in case the kayak hoists ever let loose. Everything is attached with 1/4" bolts and wing nuts for easy removal from the body bunk. Worked better than expected and it's a 1 person operation. HTH.
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[jengum]

Photo is upside down for some reason but opens in MS Photo correctly.

[Mike.Bray]

Photo is upside down for some reason but opens in MS Photo correctly.

Open it in Paint and save it. That will sort it out for you.

[NJMike]

Thanks guys,

Max, good to hear that you didn't have any issues storing it outside, now have to get the wife onboard if I go that route.

Jen, that's an impressive lifting device that you built. What did you use to hoist the body up? It looks like some sort of block and tackle. I had considered building a short body buck with outriggers, maybe I should reconsider and get started building.

Appreciate you sharing your ideas.

[rich grsc]

You do not need to cover it if it sets outside

[Jeff Kleiner]

It can sit outside. As for your wife...my buddy's Coupe body spent over 2 years screwed down on the back deck off of their living room. His wife is very understanding ;) You don't necessarily need a full buck; install a cockpit brace then run 2x4s from side to side under each of the wheelwell openings and lift it from those.

Jeff

[Stangrob]

If you can get your wife to go along with storing the body outside it is a bit easier for sure. And it makes for a cool conversation piece when you have friends over.

Rob

[jengum]

Thanks guys,

Max, good to hear that you didn't have any issues storing it outside, now have to get the wife onboard if I go that route.

Jen, that's an impressive lifting device that you built. What did you use to hoist the body up? It looks like some sort of block and tackle. I had considered building a short body buck with outriggers, maybe I should reconsider and get started building.

Appreciate you sharing your ideas.

Yes a basic block and tackle with 4:1 mechanical advantage. I reside in a HOA so storing it outside was not an option.

The product description for the hoist says for an 8' ceiling but there was plenty of cord for my 10' garage ceiling. I think there's a newer version now for even taller ceilings.
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[NJMike]

I'm relieved to hear that the body can withstand being stored outside for an extended period of time.

Thanks Jen, that's very similar to what I was looking at although a little heavier duty at 150 lb capacity vs 110 lb capacity.

Jeff, by a cockpit brace do you mean a brace such as a 2x4 from the front to the rear of the cockpit to keep it from flexing inward? Is the body just sitting on top of the side to side 2x4's without any additional bracing?

Sorry if i'm asking dumb questions but this new to me as a first time builder and don't want to get to the body install to find that it was damaged by the way that I stored it.

Thank you all again for your help, it is much appreciated.

[tundra2050]

I wish I had a tall ceiling and a 3 car garage. I built this high rise body buck, a modification on what's in the manual and what I found on the forum. With my wife's car out of the garage, I can slide the chassis out from under it without opening the garage door. I can also just roll it out of the garage. Spent less than $100 on it. Just another alternative.

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[gbranham]

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[jrcuz]

I have a single car garage only 11 ft. x 25 ft. It was plenty wide enough to keep the frame on my rolling chassis dolly. I built my elevated body buck with casters and every day I would roll it out of the garage to work on my build. I did this for at least 2 years before I took the car away for paint.
JR

[CraigS]

Jeff, by a cockpit brace do you mean a brace such as a 2x4 from the front to the rear of the cockpit to keep it from flexing inward? Is the body just sitting on top of the side to side 2x4's without any additional bracing?

Not Jeff but yes. I like one 2x4 cut to match the distance between front and rear body and another cut about 10-12" longer and screwed on top. So the double brace just sits there and the long overhangs make sure it can't fall through while moving.

[NJMike]

Thank you Craig, thats what I had envisioned.

[NJMike]

Tundra and jcruz, a tall body buck that straddles the frame is a good option if I can't hang it. Right now I'm leaning towards Jeff's suggestion of bracing and hanging it.

Thanks guys.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Mike,
Yes, the brace is to span between the front and rear of the cockpit as Craig describes. 2x4s about 7 feet long side to be side in the wheel openings. Raise the front and rear independently up to your ceiling—-easy peasy!

Jeff

[Bguetter]

My 289 body is hanging from the ceiling. I ran 2x4s between the wheel wells with eye bolts at the ends that connect via straps to eye bolts in the ceiling. I made a brace between the front and rear cockpit. for support.

[PMD24]

Another suggestion on hoisting hardware is to buy four ratcheting pulleys from amazon. You can then use them for installing your differential. Of course you'd need to lower the body to steal the straps for an hour or so to install the diff, but they worked great when I installed mine, solo.
http://https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006P39KPM?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_ti tle_2&th=1

[NJMike]

Thanks again for everyone's input, I really appreciate it. I think I'm going to go with the 2x4's under the wheel wells and cockpit bracing.

Ratcheting straps... great idea and will def use when install the diff.

[David Hodgkins]

I got some pullies from the local WestMarine an used hooks with clear tubing over them that hook to the wheel wells. 4 independent pullies. A bit of a hack but the advantage of using hooks is I was able to tape off and spray the underside of the painted body while it was hanging.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52529&d=1460061940

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53709&d=1462678842

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53721&d=1462678853

[NJMike]

Great idea Dave. My two bicycle hoists arrived today. They each have a 100 lb capacity, which should be sufficient. I'm going to lay them out and install them tomorrow in anticipation of delivery between tomorrow and Tuesday.

I believe that with my setup I should also be able to spay the underside as you did.

Thanks for your input and photos.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Mike,
I hang bodies from hooks in the wheel openings all the time when taking bodies off and putting them back on...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=223761&d=1669852422

...but when doing this the body is only hanging for a matter of minutes. I don't recommend it for long term storage because it does flex the body. If you do as I suggested and run 2x4s across the wheel openings the body is resting on those and not being flexed.

Jeff

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[Valkster]

I picked up a couple deer hoists, ratchet straps, and 4 Hang-Alls at HF and used them to lift at the fender arches. One hangs at the rear, and since the bar was not wide enough, I ran a ratchet strap along the lower bar of the hoist. The strap then ran off the hooks on each side, diagonally down to a "hang all" hook on each end (at the lip of each rear fender). I put pool noodle material on the hang all hooks to protect the fenders. The front was done the same way. It worked well for storage, and for removing the body from the chassis by myself. Cheap, too.

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[NJMike]

Valkster,
Thanks for the detailed suggestion.

I've already purchased the supplies to hang the body as Jeff describes using the 2x4's and hoisting with bicycle hoists. I was concerned about the hooks deforming the wheel wells so gonna play it safe and use the 2x4's. I expect that my body will be hanging at least a year, maybe two, hopefully not more.

Mike

[NJMike]

Just to close out this thread, I used the method recommended by Jeff Kleiner, 2x4's spanning the wheel wells with a cockpit brace spanning the cockpit front to rear and hoisted the body up using 2 bicycle hoists. This method seemed to make the most sense to me given my space, it cost next to nothing (3-2x4's, 4 eye hooks, 2 bicycle hoists $33 on Amazon) total spent under $50 bucks. The body is now hanging high up in my garage, when I'm ready to paint the underside I'll just lower it and paint in place.

Thank you all for your input and great ideas.

Mike

[Ejzajac]

Sounds like it is worth a picture to the forum.
Ed Z

[NJMike]

Thanks a good idea Ed. I'm fairly new to this site so I'll have to try to figure out how to post pics.

[jengum]

Easiest for me is to use the 3rd icon from the right to insert a picture. It opens a dialog box to either upload a picture from your computer or url. Check your photo or image for proper viewing rotation with MS paint.224596224597

[Mike.Bray]

Easiest for me is to use the 3rd icon from the right to insert a picture. It opens a dialog box to either upload a picture from your computer or url. Check your photo or image for proper viewing rotation with MS paint.224596224597

As Jen said, open the image in Paint and resave it as a jpeg to fix the orientation.

After inserting the image into your post, click the blue button in the upper lefthand corner.

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Then double click on the image to get this box. I save them as Large.

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[NJMike]

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[NJMike]

Thanks for the tutorial on uploading photos. Not sure why I couldn't add a comment to the reply box. I guess you need to add the comment before adding the photo?224609

[BRRT]

A body buck with a storage shelf hanging from a couple cheap Amazon chainfalls. Provided storage for body, doors, trunk lid, hood, bumpers, and other components.
Easy for 1 guy to raise and lower.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=189109&d=1692561726

[NJMike]

BRRT, Thats a neat arrangement, plenty of storage and much more substantial than mine.

[BRRT]

BRRT, Thats a neat arrangement, plenty of storage and much more substantial than mine.

Yeah, the lumber outweighs the body. :-)
I'm planning on keeping it after the build just for junk storage.