Body lift and chassis refurb time line?
Discussion
For those who has done it...whats the average time for body lift and chassis breakdown? I am looking at having the chassis blasted, repaired if required and zinc coated...then have the body repainted...finally, have the interior refinished.
I am thinking, 3 days to lift the body
3 days to break the chassis down
one week for repair and coating of chassis
2 weeks for paint
2 weeks for interior (all but seats)
One week for reassemble of chassis and body
This is working on the car about 3-4 hours per day and about 8 on the weekends. My knowledge is about more than average on mechanics and I have pretty much all the hand-tools required. Only thing I do not have is a lift for the body...build or beg for help...oh and having the body and chassis done at the same time to compact the time line.
Thanks chaps!
I am thinking, 3 days to lift the body
3 days to break the chassis down
one week for repair and coating of chassis
2 weeks for paint
2 weeks for interior (all but seats)
One week for reassemble of chassis and body
This is working on the car about 3-4 hours per day and about 8 on the weekends. My knowledge is about more than average on mechanics and I have pretty much all the hand-tools required. Only thing I do not have is a lift for the body...build or beg for help...oh and having the body and chassis done at the same time to compact the time line.
Thanks chaps!
jmccrary said:
For those who has done it...whats the average time for body lift and chassis breakdown? I am looking at having the chassis blasted, repaired if required and zinc coated...then have the body repainted...finally, have the interior refinished.
I am thinking, 3 days to lift the body
3 days to break the chassis down
one week for repair and coating of chassis
2 weeks for paint
2 weeks for interior (all but seats)
One week for reassemble of chassis and body
This is working on the car about 3-4 hours per day and about 8 on the weekends. My knowledge is about more than average on mechanics and I have pretty much all the hand-tools required. Only thing I do not have is a lift for the body...build or beg for help...oh and having the body and chassis done at the same time to compact the time line.
Thanks chaps!
Wow. Took me two years. But then I'm below average on pretty much everything.I am thinking, 3 days to lift the body
3 days to break the chassis down
one week for repair and coating of chassis
2 weeks for paint
2 weeks for interior (all but seats)
One week for reassemble of chassis and body
This is working on the car about 3-4 hours per day and about 8 on the weekends. My knowledge is about more than average on mechanics and I have pretty much all the hand-tools required. Only thing I do not have is a lift for the body...build or beg for help...oh and having the body and chassis done at the same time to compact the time line.
Thanks chaps!
Griffinr said:
What about the time for cleaning up, repairing/replacing, painting all the bits you took off. Trailing arms, tank and frame, wishbones, engine, gearbox. Are there any leaks to fiminimalistndition is your clutch in, the list goes on "while your at it".
Rob.
Rob, you are correct about the list. As for the frame and suspension, these will be repaired or replaced as needed. On the motor, clean-up and change only the required parts. This will be a minimalsit on the mechanics. I know the rear trailing arms are excellent, but the fronts not as much. Rob.
Looks optimistic to me and assumes you have all parts available at just the right time.
It took Dulfords 6 months to do mine and we didn't touch the interior etc..
Good luck though great to see another saved.
Oh should point out mine was the worst chassi Dulfords had seen to date.
Cheers Damian
It took Dulfords 6 months to do mine and we didn't touch the interior etc..
Good luck though great to see another saved.
Oh should point out mine was the worst chassi Dulfords had seen to date.
Cheers Damian
DamianS3 said:
Looks optimistic to me and assumes you have all parts available at just the right time.
It took Dulfords 6 months to do mine and we didn't touch the interior etc..
Good luck though great to see another saved.
Oh should point out mine was the worst chassi Dulfords had seen to date.
Cheers Damian
Ouch! Glad its sorted! As for saving...I want to keep her on the road for as long as possible and enjoy as much as possible! It took Dulfords 6 months to do mine and we didn't touch the interior etc..
Good luck though great to see another saved.
Oh should point out mine was the worst chassi Dulfords had seen to date.
Cheers Damian
jmccrary said:
One week for reassemble of chassis and body
Sorry but you seem to have 6 days to take body off and strip and only one extra to put it all back together!
Depending on what snags you hit, your ability to solve them and your general speed of work body could be off in a day, there's really not a lot holds it on.
As others have said you will have a multitude of bits to clean, inspect, replace, paint etc.
Time will just "disappear" once you start re-assembly.
Think somebody has watched too many "Wheeler Dealers".... nothings ever siezed, broken or buggered, new parts always fit etc....
Good Luck
Edited by phillpot on Tuesday 10th December 20:39
phillpot said:
Sorry but you seem to have 6 days to take body off and strip and only one extra to put it all back together!
Depending on what snags you hit, your ability to solve them and your general speed of work body could be off in a day, there's really not a lot holds it on.
As others have said you will have a multitude of bits to clean, inspect, replace, paint etc.
Time will just "disappear" once you start re-assembly.
Think somebody has watched too many "Wheeler Dealers".... nothings ever siezed, broken or buggered, new parts always fit etc....
Good Luck
Edited by phillpot on Tuesday 10th December 20:39
As for the 'Wheeler Dealer' aspect. I would be amazed if someone thinks it only take a few mins to take a motor out of a car and to replace everything. Having done all of this personally, I know that a five min job can turn into an all niter. I would be cynical if I figured it would come out and go back in from just shear thought. All of this is going to come from months of prep work. I know what I need to order for the front suspension (all of it)to be done, but just checking out each part and getting most of it lined up and not wait until everything is apart to do the ordering.
As for other projects that takes years...this can be explained because life gets in the way. Who knows, the car may rest in pieces for months or life may make it where I can have the time to work on her and put her back together. I do know one fact, I cannot afford to pay someone to do a lot of the work...so...it will be, chassis rots and car goes away, or I do the laborious work and hope for the best.
jmccrary said:
David...oh yeah, the top...sore subject right now lol...
Why so? I hope you don't know something I don't! It is raining in Baltimore, but I believe our cars are tucked away in the belly of the beast where they are nice and dry, if a little cold. If I see your car next week sitting in the elements I might ask the dock workers nicely to put it in their shed to keep it dry.Loach1 said:
Why so? I hope you don't know something I don't! It is raining in Baltimore, but I believe our cars are tucked away in the belly of the beast where they are nice and dry, if a little cold. If I see your car next week sitting in the elements I might ask the dock workers nicely to put it in their shed to keep it dry.
I hate the tan color of mine. But thanks a pic also!No offence intended Justin, just my wry sense of humour and maybe a little sarcasm......
However I still think (and you did ask)that with all the planning in the World to go from a bare chassis one Saturday morning to driving down the road next Saturday is a tall order!
Chuck in a bare, no lights, bumpers, door handles, striker plates etc etc fresh from paintshop body tub (doors and boot lid off, engine bay stripped out?) and you have a challenge !!!!
Team you have 36 hours, your time starts now
It all depends on preparation, a four bedroom house can be built in 72 hours, providing all materials and labour are on site at the right time, I have seen it done in the USA as a demonstration of six sigma in operation. So I guess what you've estimated looks about right for someone with good planning in place.
phillpot said:
No offence intended Justin, just my wry sense of humour and maybe a little sarcasm......
However I still think (and you did ask)that with all the planning in the World to go from a bare chassis one Saturday morning to driving down the road next Saturday is a tall order!
Chuck in a bare, no lights, bumpers, door handles, striker plates etc etc fresh from paintshop body tub (doors and boot lid off, engine bay stripped out?) and you have a challenge !!!!
Team you have 36 hours, your time starts now
No offence taken However I still think (and you did ask)that with all the planning in the World to go from a bare chassis one Saturday morning to driving down the road next Saturday is a tall order!
Chuck in a bare, no lights, bumpers, door handles, striker plates etc etc fresh from paintshop body tub (doors and boot lid off, engine bay stripped out?) and you have a challenge !!!!
Team you have 36 hours, your time starts now
. I do agree that in parts the wallet will magically open and start the ordering process. I do think it will be a tall order and stress me out quite a bit...however, I it will be good. Maybe this spring I will have everything in order and start the process. One thing I do want to do better is replace all the bolts in the suspension to stainless. The main reason is to ensure rust and any other type of corrosion on the bolts will not cause a weak link. So...preperation will need to be in place and hope there is no major issues to contend with.jmccrary said:
No offence taken . One thing I do want to do better is replace all the bolts in the suspension to stainless. The main reason is to ensure rust and any other type of corrosion on the bolts will not cause a weak link.
I wouldn’t be doing that, generally available stainless are not a high enough grade for the suspension so you would be causing a weak link not avoiding one.. One thing I do want to do better is replace all the bolts in the suspension to stainless. The main reason is to ensure rust and any other type of corrosion on the bolts will not cause a weak link. Rob.
Stainless bolts are great things, just be careful where you use them. Where you need strength use zinc plated high tensile bolts. I made a list of what I needed from the wiki as a starting point. You'll see its a weird and wonderful collection! Just order a few more to cover the ones that'll inevitably be misplaced and for the other things too!
It took me 8 months to complete my bodylift and found that the main delays came from waiting for thing's to be completed when I outsourced them to specialists. Ie, I was told my chassis would be repaired within one month, it took three in the end with it being returned at one point very poor and was rejected the first time. Be very wary of any promised timescales from suppliers as this can screw up your whole timescale! I also found as I went along that I had missed ordering little things or saw other jobs that I should do at the same time, so spent time waiting for those parts too plus the time to do them! Thats before I found out that I had ordered the wrong part and needed to wait for the correct ones to be delivered
Also as said by others, do not underestimate the time it takes to clean and repaint the other parts that come off. You won't want to be bolting something dirty and rusty onto your nice shiney new chassis
Good luck with the lift though, you will get to know your car very well by doing this! Lots of good info on here, people here really helped when I was stuck, either directly when I asked or by reading other build threads. There is a huge amount of knowlege on this forum and everyone seemed happy to help me and kept me going
It took me 8 months to complete my bodylift and found that the main delays came from waiting for thing's to be completed when I outsourced them to specialists. Ie, I was told my chassis would be repaired within one month, it took three in the end with it being returned at one point very poor and was rejected the first time. Be very wary of any promised timescales from suppliers as this can screw up your whole timescale! I also found as I went along that I had missed ordering little things or saw other jobs that I should do at the same time, so spent time waiting for those parts too plus the time to do them! Thats before I found out that I had ordered the wrong part and needed to wait for the correct ones to be delivered
Also as said by others, do not underestimate the time it takes to clean and repaint the other parts that come off. You won't want to be bolting something dirty and rusty onto your nice shiney new chassis
Good luck with the lift though, you will get to know your car very well by doing this! Lots of good info on here, people here really helped when I was stuck, either directly when I asked or by reading other build threads. There is a huge amount of knowlege on this forum and everyone seemed happy to help me and kept me going
Edited by The Big G on Thursday 12th December 13:50
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