[xkeots]

I have my body off my 1967 GTO Convertible and the ground the frame is on is level. About 18 inches to the side of the GTO my back yard starts sloping. I bought 4 Saw Horses from Harbor Freight Co. and 3 pieces of 4"x4"x8' wood from Home Depot. I had 2 pieces of 4x4 under the body of my GTO Convertible, between the frame and body that has no interior and pretty stripped down. I figure that is can't weigh over 900 lbs in total as it is a convertible and not a hardtop. The saw horses that I bought from Harbor Freight are advertised to hold 1,000 lbs tested for each. When they arrive the box said 1,000 lbs each and the instructions said 1,000 lbs each. It is easy math that if I put the 4 saw horses tested for 1,000 lbs under the ends of the two 4x4's to hold the body up, the weight should be distributed and even at about 200 lbs or less on each saw horse I should be in the zone. WRONG!!! As I was under the rear drivers side one of the saw horses snapped and the body slid down. I did manage to get the third 4x4 under the body and jack it up, with no body damage but on uneven ground. When I heard creaking I got out as fast as I can but the body ripped out a chunk from my ear area and almost took my ear off. Even with blood pouring out, I had to save my GTO. I cleaned it out after and I had to use butterfly bandages to close the wound. From the hit of the body to my head it put me in bed for a week as I was also dizzy with nasty headaches. The body is now like this. It is sitting center body above the drivers side tires, I have my cherry picker, or engine hoist holding a tow strap with the hooks holding the lower boxes on my cowl so the body stays in place with a lot of wood under the body holding it up. I made a few different wood frames to hold it up where it is and I am moving the body an inch or less a day in this 99 degree heat. but I do not think I can move it anymore. I will have to make a frame lift from two 4x4's held together with steel straps, that will be about 12 feet long, so I can lift the body enough to pull out the frame. Once the frame is out I can use 8 foot long 4x4's, move the body over slightly to bring the complete frame back under the body. This is a nightmare due to Harbor Freight's misleading weight maximum rating. I am lucky to be alive. If this was mountain climbing ropes or rock stakes and they broke while I was up there I would not have a second chance. Friends here, please take this as a warning. These made in China parts are not rated for me to trust after this episode.


Thanks
Jax

[The Boss]

Do they sell beer in your town & do you have 3 friends, or 1 friend who knows 2 other guys who like beer?

4 guys can easily lift a body off a frame and locate it wherever you like - two guys can do it when you don't care what the car looks like when you're done. It's a lot easier than what you're describing, and cheaper than a visit to the emergency room.

[ChuckG]

This is how I got the body off the frame on my 66 convertible. Used an engine lift for the front end and a 2x4 thru the rear trunk braces attached to a cum-a-long suspended from a beam in the barn. Frame still had tires on skates and rolled out the side easily. Then I lowered it some and attached the rotisserie. One man job, no helpers.

[xkeots]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Do they sell beer in your town & do you have 3 friends, or 1 friend who knows 2 other guys who like beer?

4 guys can easily lift a body off a frame and locate it wherever you like - two guys can do it when you don't care what the car looks like when you're done. It's a lot easier than what you're describing, and cheaper than a visit to the emergency room.

Thanks but all of my friends have moved out of my area. I wouldn't do any type of work drinking beer, after it is done sure.
But the body is 6 inches off the wall and if it slips the people on that side will be crushed.
I posted this to warn about my experience with harbor freight. I also need a solid base so I can replace the inner rockers.

Thanks
Jax

[arbys]

Sorry to hear that. Do you have a link to the sawhorses that you used?

[xkeots]

Originally Posted by ChuckG

This is how I got the body off the frame on my 66 convertible. Used an engine lift for the front end and a 2x4 thru the rear trunk braces attached to a cum-a-long suspended from a beam in the barn. Frame still had tires on skates and rolled out the side easily. Then I lowered it some and attached the rotisserie. One man job, no helpers.

Thanks but my garage is a light steel shed with a roll up door and a dirt floor. I was posting to warn people here about watching what they buy from HFC. My front is up like yours but this week I am building out of wood a rear support to hold it up so it will look like yours. My roof beam will not support it.
I don't have a rotisserie but I made 2 supports, one for each side since the incident. Once the frame is out, I can shift the body and I can put it in.
Can you tell me how to post pictures?

Thanks again,
Jax

[arbys]

I have 4 of these and they are sturdy!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crawford-...A-16/100003259

[ChuckG]

To post a photo as an attachment I go down to the bottom of the reply to thread page, select manage attachments, then use the choose file button to find the picture in my computer, select the photo and finally select upload and the attachment will show up in your post.

By the way the rotisserie was a God-send for replacing the inner rocker panels, the floor pans, and the trunk floor. Good luck, stay safe. Chuck

[rustedgoat]

Quite a few members here and on other sites have built body carts out of wood that had enough room under it to allow a rolling chassis to go under it.

I've used cinder blocks and 4x4s, honestly I didn't feel too safe under it for the type of work I wanted to do. I ended up putting the body back on a frame but I placed 4x4 blocks where the body mounts go. I even used threaded rod in the body mount holes to secure the body from any chance of sliding off. This will give you clearance to work on the body away from the frame and your body wont get all twisted.

Moving your convertible body around with no frame or braces could lead to problems. Are you trying to restore the chassis? Replacing floor panels? Full frame off?

A rotisserie is as important as a good compressor setup if restoring a car. You can do it without it but it will make things easier and more enjoyable.

[bigblock4speed]

Someone on v8Buick.com made these and I copied them:

Using 2X8s make (4) stands with two sides 27" tall and the other sides 31" tall. Use the left over 2X8s to make feet for each side of the braces.

Then, use the 4X4's to slide under the rockers.

I made the above for around $80 in lumber from Home Depot.

Using an engine hoist and some straps, you can lift each end of the car to slide the 4X4s under.

The reason for the 27" height, is that should be the height to be able to roll the frame under the car with tires.

[xkeots]

I am going to attempt to attach photo of snapped HFT snapped saw. The problem is that when horse snapped my land where the body is over now is on a slant. To jack the passenger side up I need 27 inches and the drivers side i need 29 inches to keep level.
When I use my engine hoist the body slides over more. i am 3 weeks behind now.
I will post more pix of how body is sitting on frame.
Thanks
jax

[arbys]

I HAD a pair like that. Basically sheet metal and not that strong. I use mine for an iced tea glass holder or to hold my screwdriver, no more than that.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by arbys

I have 4 of these and they are sturdy!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crawford-...A-16/100003259

Problem is those could have came out of the same factory; junk made in China is an epidemic with little or no quality.

[ron cozzo]

You tried to support a body on a 4x4 in the middle of a piece of 1/2 particle board. The saw horse didn't really fail, it had too much load over too small an area. If you had a 2x6 on top of that particle board to spread the load out to the steel it'd probably still be holding, but certainly not stable.

[rustedgoat]

The weight was concentrated on the 4" section not across the whole saw horse. But I wouldn't trust the weight on those sheet metal legs anyway.

Whatever way you end up supporting your body if you are not willing to walk up to it and give it a nice push in all directions then you shouldn't go under it.

Be safe

[xkeots]

Originally Posted by ron cozzo

You tried to support a body on a 4x4 in the middle of a piece of 1/2 particle board. The saw horse didn't really fail, it had too much load over too small an area. If you had a 2x6 on top of that particle board to spread the load out to the steel it'd probably still be holding, but certainly not stable.

Each saw horse had a 1,000 lb load limit on each one. The empty GTO convertible body doesn't weigh 1,000 lbs. I had 4 under the body with two 4x4's across. Each had no more than 250 lbs on each.
It should have held.

Jax

[xkeots]

Originally Posted by rustedgoat

The weight was concentrated on the 4" section not across the whole saw horse. But I wouldn't trust the weight on those sheet metal legs anyway.

Whatever way you end up supporting your body if you are not willing to walk up to it and give it a nice push in all directions then you shouldn't go under it.

Be safe

I shook the car sideways and back and forth.
It was solid, then it went down about an hour later.

Jax

[Doug]

The particle board is the culprit!!

A piece of solid wood (2x6 or 2x8) would have worked very well.

Whatever you do from here on out, ditch the particle board or just attach a 2x6 or 2x8 solid wood piece onto each particle board.

[Ollie]

2X on the partical board. That is not real wood. You are lucky the others have not broken.

[arbys]

Particle board has compressive strength and very,very little tensile strength.