Confirming body lift procedure
 

Hi all,

Working on replacing 50 year old body bushings on my 69 gto. Given the stakes, would just like to confirm the approach in the pictures is ok. I have removed all body mount bolts on passenger side and loosened the drivers side. Steering column still attached, plan to disconnect when I lift drivers side.

The 4x4 is at the edge of the rocker, not including the vertical "tab" portion of the rocker underneath the car.

Thanks!

Confirming body lift procedure
 

Perfect location!

Some advice from someone that almost gave up on body bushings! Remove one at a time, and clean the area or touch up, then install a new set in that spot! Don't remove an entire side at once; don't ask how I know!!

Similar to what I did on my '64 and it worked fine. I padded the piece of wood with a couple of rags. I would disconnect the steering first for both sides and slide it back. If the engine is still in it - don't forget the head to firewall ground strap.

Thanks - I did the passenger side. Not that easy. The front wants to lift way easier than the rear. Might try elevating the front tires relative to the rear to give the lift somewhat of a rear bias. I noticed the oil sender wire pulled off the sender from lifting the body so high. Left the steering connected for the passenger lift. Hopefully no issues resulted.

Scary. Was worried about tweaking the body with a big crease down the roof or something. All appears ok. The rear body mounts were in tough shape but the fronts look almost new.

These California cars have their advantages. All the body bolts came right out, well that is, once I got a wrench on the square nuts behind the wheel wells for the front mounts..

On the driver's side be mindful of your brake lines leaving the master cylinder and your e-brake cable.

Yeah, I ran into a problem with the ebrake cable. I disconnected the "hooks" to give it some extra room but apparently that is not enough. I need to disconnect the front portion of the cable from the brakes entirely to provide enough slop.

The front needs to go so high to make room for the rear most bushing. Aggravating.

I also had to disconnect the clutch rod.

This lifting the body is stressing me out.

You might be able to pull the retainer clip where the cable housing exits the frame. I call it the Mickey Mouse clip because of the shape.

yes I did that but it wasn't enough. Should be as the front is like 4 inches or more high but the rear wasn't high enough to remove the rear bushing. Tomorrow I will completely disconnect cable.

I finally had an "Ah-hah" moment. I have been having a bear of a time getting the rear most bushing to have enough clearance to remove it. What's going on is that when I lift the body, the rear spring is lifting the frame to compensate. In order to remove the rear bushing, I need to lift the body so high that it unloads the rear spring, then the body will lift clear of the frame.

Meanwhile I'm lifting the body to stupid heights and the rear bushing has maybe 3/4 inch of lift.

Why isn't this already described in the archives here? Rats.

Anyway, the solution seems to be to remove the rear spring. Support the frame with a jack stand. Then lift the body. The frame should stay where it is, allowing clearance to remove the rear bushing. If my theory is right, lifting the body 2-3 inches should be enough. Not the ridiculously stupid amount of lift I have going on now.

Anyone agree?

I got it done. And I had it easy as all my body bolts came out no problem. I would never recommend anyone take this on. Do a full frame off or leave the bushings alone.

Make sure the trans is in neutral as the body will bind on the shift lever if its in reverse. Pulled master cylinder off booster and set it down near steering column. Tie steering column up out of the way so it doesn't end up bound between control arm and frame (ask me how I know this). Also, do what I said above. Let the rear end drop free (remove shock) and support frame on a jack stand. This will allow the rear of the body to lift off the frame without requiring so much lift to the front side of the body.

Man do I wish I never did this job. Hopefully the car rides better at least. A couple pics to show the madness

Wow, I never thought you would have to lift the body that much on an A-body. I have only replaced the bushings on a mid 70's Chevy truck and didn't need to separate from the frame that much.