Rottiserie question

[Cranker]

I have just finished my rottiserie (sp) and wanted to mount my car to it (72 chally) but i have the left front inner fender out. I was wondering if the car would sag do to that part not being welded in? I have heard people say both and was wondering if anyone on here had any first had knowledge of this. the car will be stripped of everything  so it will be just the shell. Thanks for your help..

crank

[ShelbyDogg]

I was told not to use it if the trunk floor was out, If the quarters are off, if the rear frame rails are cut. So I wouldn't use it on the front with the inner fenders are off.  I kept everything supported by the 4 recommended jack points (the floor longtitudinal mounts).  Think about the side stress on the frame rails, when the car is flipped sideways.  Alot of welding can be done inside the trunk, when the trunk floor and quarters are off.

I think Steve had good success with his rotisserie, and panels off.    Steve?

[70Cuda]

I'd brace it up.

http://www.accessiblesystems.com/udb01.php

[moparclown]

How are you?my 2 cents is never put a car on a rotisserie until the structure is sound.and quarter panels should always be welded on with the car resting on the suspension.A friend of mine dave who's work has taken awards at carlisle (Norms gold 71 440-6 shaker Cuda)and has restored more mopars than anyone i know.He taught me this and i trust him.And i have another friend Chris,who's restoring an AAR Cuda that actually fell off the rotisserie.and he said the same thing,and when he showed me the stress cracks I was shocked.And chris was not responsible for the fall, that happened on a flat bed at another shop but he has done an incredible job on this car.what i did was i built a dolly so that the car would be at a better working hight and so far its been a godsend.

[Steve]

These cars have flexed more in 30 years than you will flex them on the rotisserie. Not to mention the fact that these things weren't put together precisely from the factory. I did the quarter skins while on the rotisserie and then dropped the car onto my dollies, which attach at the suspension points in the rear. Do NOT do a complete quarter on the rotisserie! That would be big trouble. Chances are that the body is twisted to some extent...of course who's to say that the twist I put into the car (inadvertently) doesn't cancel out the twist that the factory, a few fender benders, and 30 years of driving put in it? Take frame measures on a restoration and see how far off the specs are compared to the book. As for door and panel fit, I've found that parts that fit OK on one car won't necesarily fit well on another. Expect to weld or grind material to door edges, decklids, etc.

The restoration shows will tell you to put the body on a chassis frame to ensure that the unibody is dead-nuts straight and level. If I were building a race car, I would do that, but...

I think you can do a very nice restoration without a frame rack or jig. Quality panel fit is achieved by customer matching panels and doors to the car. Squaring the car with a rack will not ensure that panels will fit any better. Also, take a look at the fit of panels on original cars....E-body tail panels are notorious for having uneven overhang from one side to the other. The factory guys simply didn't put much effort into ensuring fit, finish, or symmetry on these cars. That doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't do a better job than the factory...it's only to say that there was a lot of slop in these cars to begin with and you're likely to do a better job than the factory without too much effort!

Yah, dropping a car off a rotisserie is not a good idea!   

[Cranker]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
STeve: so are you saying that yuou think i would be okay to put it up on the rotis with out the one front inner fender? I was planning on putting a brace from the frame rail to the firewall temp. until i can get the inner fender put back to help insure nothing moves. I am just getting anxious to get it mounted on the rotis. I have put a good chunk of change and time into it and want to start using it. plus it would be nice to have the car semi mobile again.

[Cuda Cody]

IF one is going to put the body on a jig and have it straightened... is it better to hang the quarter skin 1st or wait untill it's straight and then hang it?
 

[Steve]

Cranker,
Oh boy...I think that the answer depends on the condition of your frame rails. If you have any rot in those rails and you cut out the inner fender, you might be asking for problems. You could also mount the car on the rotisserie, prop the front frame between the frame and the rotisserie, cut out the fender well and weld in the new one. Also, before you hang the car without a fender well, make sure that the floor pans are solid.

CODY,

Depends on how much quarter you're going to cut out. I can see how you could have the car straightened and mess it up if you were cutting out the enter quarter from the C-pillar all the way to the tail panel. On the other hand, if the rest of the car is solid, especially the floor and the frame rails, it should stay rigid when you cut out the quarter. If you have the car up on a rotisserie and you cut out the entire quarter, you might end up with some shifting that un does your frame work. Pulling on a quarter that was just install will crinkle the quarter. Pulling on a quarter that is crinkle will un-crinkle it.

I've thought about this issue in general a little more today. I'm not sure that there is enough published data to have the e-bodies lined up on a 3-D rack. Think about it, if you put the car on a jig, you have to have key dimensions in all 3 directions if you plan to get the car straight as per the engineering plans. The factory body manual has a very basic frame dimension diagram. If you were trying to get the car dead-nuts straight, you would put the car on a frame table (which is a steel-tube jig that is dead-level and represents ground level). Then, you would make all measures relative to that level ground and pull/push on the front/rear frame rails up or down to get the floor pan dead-level. The horizontal measures are easy. The vertical stuff would be more difficult as your frame rails, by design, are a different height above ground level the length of the frame rails.

[Cranker]

Thanks again for the reply. i think i will wait until i get the inner fender welded back in before i temp fate.

[Steve]

Hey guys,

Just checked with a collision shop about getting my unibody on a frame rack. They said the rack uses a database of information to get all of the alignment settings and the database doesn't go back that far.  From what I gathered, the alignment racks use a 3-D model of what the car is supposed to look like and the frame machine takes specific measurements and compares them to the model. Bottom line is that you need a lot more data than what the frame charts that Dodge provides includes.

I asked him how they did it in the old days and he indicated that they used a Tram Gauge, which was a level type device with movable probes that could be set on any two measurement points. The user would then read off the measurement.

So, I tried to get some data for us, but no luck. Maybe someone out there can find a shop willing to take a bunch of measures on a frame rack.