[nightwrencher]

anyone got plans on building your own rotisserie? about a year ago, while scoping prices, found that, well, they're pricey. anyone build them themselves and how? I guess the biggest question, what and where to buy for the actual rotating piece. I've heard some people use engine stand pieces, but have seen warnings not to do this. anyone got plans, post them!

[65Mark]

I'll be building 3 rotisseries soon, I am finalizing the plans and making a materials/cut list. Life keeps getting in the way of my play time. The rotator will be 3" tube inside of 3 1/2" tube. I wouldn't trust my car on engine stands but have heard of people using them. If you aren't in a hurry for plans I'll share mine when I get them done. I looked at the units available and I think they are too much money, but everyone has to make a profit and pay overhead. Mine will be set up with hydraulic jacks to raise the pivot, for easy loading and unloading.

[CDJr]

I used a piece of 2 3/8" O.D. pipe inside of a piece of 2 7/16" I.D. when I made mine, but thats just cuz they happened to be the closest-fitting sizes I had at the time. Id considered using engine stands, but after seeing how much adapting had to be done to them, it was just as easy to make them from scratch. A lil 2" square tubing, couple pieces of scrap pipe, few cold adult beverages, and a few hours of cutting and welding. and voila...instant rotisserie!!!

[68droptop]

I'm building one as well, but I have a problem. They didn't have the round pipe that I need. Anyone know where I can get 3" DOM round tube and the size that fits inside it?

I have some plans from someone else that I'll have to look up for you.

Thanks.

[CDJr]

You can try here, https://www.metalsdepot.com/ but youd probably save some money going to a scrapyard or a welding shop since all you need is a couple of feet or so.

[hawk36]

Trusted body shop man, went over some plans in magazine using engine stands. After pricing materials, he opted for Rotor 2000 and modified for the pontiac frames. Claimed price was simlar with parts and general build was heavier than engine stands. Sorry if you've already looked into this.

[gtohunter]

I would think that what you want to do with one dictates how you want to build one. I built one out of two 1000lb engine stands, and only used the vertical member, with the mounting plates. Attached to a pair of 6" I beams with casters under them, tied them together with 2" square tubing. Structurally it's as strong as it needs to be, and has more than enouqh capacity to support a 700lb body. I'll chop it up and scrap it when I'm done with mine. I have all of $100 in mine, which allowed me to dump more $$ into the car itself.

[CDJr]

No need to scrap it, Jimmy. I finally took my car down off mine (after 2 years) and I cut the tops off and welded them together, added casters, and voila again...instant roll-around car stands lol. They help alot while assembling the suspension and painting

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

If you take a look at the pics in my sig you can see the rotisserie a friend of mine build that I used. Looks easy to build if you can weld. Worked great and made things a lot easier at the time.

[goatman-68]

Heres a photo of the one I made. Cost about 500.00 in materials.


http://www.wctc.net/~arm/DSC00303.JPG

http://www.wctc.net/~arm/rotisseri.htm

[Kron]

Here is a link to a solid design http://www.autobody101.com/rotisserie.php

You can do a google search on auto rotisserie plans and/or run a search in this forum. There's tons of stuff out there. If your planning to use it once, it may not be worth the expense and time although thats been debated in the past as well.

I was planning to build the one shown in the attached link, cost was about $200 off from a complete unit shipped (that included having the pieces pre cut by my metal supplier). Since I don't plan on using it much I opted for a good body cart, thats more than sufficient for my needs at a fraction of the cost.

Kron

[nightwrencher]

the link to those plans was pretty good. some things didn't seem totally clear though. If I see it right, there is just one through bolt on all the adjusting pieces that hold them in place? also he mentions a "lock bolt" and a pin to hold it from rotating. the pin is obvious, but what does the lock bolt do? the other post had a similar one but didn't seem like it would rotate, but can adjust the height of the swing or jack up the whole member. does it seem feasible that you can combine the two ideas and have one where the outer sleeve has a jack connected to it and slides up the verticle member of the stand? I've never even used a rotisserie so I don't know if that would hold up. I guess there is a lot of ways to go about it, but I want to get a plan right to make one strong and versitle. It'll be a while before I build one, but need to start with a plan.

[nightwrencher]

this may be stupid, but the swing arms showing these rotisseries seem kind of low, wouldn't the sid of the car hit the ground while spinning? also, how do you rotate the body? do you just grab the body and spin it while a buddy puts the lock pin in place? sounds like it'd be tough.

[CDJr]

The trick is to find the center point of the rotating mass. On mine, I had to pretty much guesstimate just by looking. I actually got it real close...it would sit still in horizontal positions, but when turned on its side, it tended to roll over upside-down. So it was just a little top-heavy. I remedied this by putting the leaf springs on it and it pretty much balanced it so that itd stay still in any position. Of course, I still used lock pins to hold it while working on it. However, if you make one thats adjustable, you could set it at different heights until it was balanced. I made mine solely for a first generation F-body, so it wasnt adjustable.

[1970gpsj4speed]

Why would you make one with 500 in material when i bought one new for 7bills.when you are done you can probably sell it for 6 bills.no way i would put my car on one made of engine stands.i think the owner Steve carrell of auto twirler would sell you all the metal cut out and ready to weld for 450.00 or so.his units are awsome .im doing a frame off now on my 70 gp and painted the frame today.here is a link to autotwirler and a link to my frame off
http://www.autotwirler.com/

http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/gro.../a2fc?b=17&m=s

[pcar]

Check out this link. Seems like a good design.

http://www.harwoodperformance.bizlan...itorial_20.htm

[UKcat]

I have been thinking about trying to make one. After looking at the auto twirler website; it looks pretty good to me and would be a heck of a lot easier!!! Anybody know approximate shipping costs on it?

[A-body]

I bought the Autotwirler a few years ago. Shipping was free because I bought it at a show, free shipping was their show special. I had considered buying one online prior to that, and I believe shipping was about $150. Give them a call, they'll tell you what shipping is, There is no way I would put my body on an engine stand either, after looking at these.
I'm sure you could build one cheaper, but considering your time, trips to get metal, gas etc., what are you really saving. Plus like someone else said, when you are done, you can sell for almost the same. People are always looking for them.
Gary

[goatman-68]

Originally Posted by 1970gpsj4speed

Why would you make one with 500 in material when i bought one new for 7bills.when you are done you can probably sell it for 6 bills.no way i would put my car on one made of engine stands.i think the owner Steve carrell of auto twirler would sell you all the metal cut out and ready to weld for 450.00 or so.his units are awsome .im doing a frame off now on my 70 gp and painted the frame today.here is a link to autotwirler and a link to my frame off
http://www.autotwirler.com/

http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/gro.../a2fc?b=17&m=s

That cost included the 110 volt linear actuators. I have since sold it for $1000.00 so it was no big deal on the cost. Plus it gave me practice welding.

[1970gpsj4speed]

That cost included the 110 volt linear actuators. I have since sold it for $1000.00 so it was no big deal on the cost. Plus it gave me practice welding.

So you sold it for about what you had in it ?
I rest my Case
Bob Slusser