Working on metal replacement for my 70 Challenger. My first plan morphed into a revised plan but lately, I have been thinking about taking a step back and going at this differently. Currently, I have the car on a make shift rack all leveled out and evenly supported so that I can get fairly accurate measurements when I start mocking up all the new pieces. The only problem I have run into is it cannot be moved. I've been thinking about building a dedicated rack that I can attach the body of the car to. Something with wheels so I can move it in and out of the garage and also levelers to lift it off the wheels and level it all out.
This is how I'm shade treeing it right now:
This is a picture off the Internet I found that is kinda like what I'm considering:
What do you guys think? Anyone done anything like this or have better ideas?
How many cars do you plan on needing this for...?
The current car of course plus another behind it. The other one just needs some front end rail work but I'd use it for that second car too to ensure all my measurements are solid.
Down the road, I could see using it on other Mopars. I love doing all the metal work on these cars so I can see always having a project going just as a hobby, whether mine or someone else's.
How about a 4 post lift ? They can be leveled and ones like mine have removable casters if you want to move it.
I'd love to have a lift like yours. That thing is sweet. A bit too large though for my two car garage. It's not so much that I need to lift the car. More that I need a precise table to work off of to ensure all frame measurements are as close to spec as I can get them.
My thinking is to build the table so that the car rests on the points shown as X-6. This is the point where many measurements are taken. If the car is zeroed out on the table while resting at these anchor points, I can the add in removeable rests which sort of make it into a jig for more precise alignments of things like frame rails.
I did this with the front end rebuilding the whole thing and it came out perfect. New front rails, upper lower cowl, etc. the key was having a way to get accurate measurements. Once I hung the doors, fenders, and hood back on, it all lined up great. I want to do this in the back but there are more parts so I need to get it just right. Trying to get away from the hokey jack stand holding U channels thing.
Can someone tell me what would be good dimensions for a frame table?
there are no "good" dimensions for a frame table. you can build one from large sections of steel tubing or buy a used old one. I just bought one here in France for $500 and will have to build all the supports.
I checked here with iron suppliers and I would have savend $100 buying steel !!
maybe you should try CG and find a good old one. :takemymoney:
A place I used to work had a jig set up like this for construction of large signs. They had 10" I Beams with threaded rod going through the bottom I to adjust the height and they were spaced about 2' apart.
The taller the beam, the less deflection it will have when you load it. This type of layout also means you can stack the I beams up on the side of the garage when not in use, whereas a ladder style jig will take up a fair amount of space, even if flipped on its side. Of course, the nice thing about something pictured above is it very mobile and can be moved around while work is in process.
I made this for my rag and was made from factory prints above. Have about $400-500 in material.
Quote from: Mymcodebee on March 24, 2018, 07:09:35 AM
I made this for my rag and was made from factory prints above. Have about $400-500 in material.
Nice! Looks similar to what the AMD installation center uses - http://www.amdinstallation.com/
Yes: That's a great looking setup.
:wrenching: Are there any blue prints, plans, or kit where one can build a jig for a Cuda? Also where can one get the measurements for a 71 Cuda like the schematics above for the Challenger? Thank you all in advance.
That drawing came from a factory service manual.
:wrenching: Thanks RUNCHARGER; does anyone have the factory service manual for the 71 Cuda-Barracuda?
Quote from: 1Burgfish on August 22, 2018, 08:35:24 AM
:wrenching: Thanks RUNCHARGER; does anyone have the factory service manual for the 71 Cuda-Barracuda?
See if this helps
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=factory+service+manual+71+cuda
:wrenching: Thanks Timbbuc2 I will check it out to see if it has the under body measurements.
Quote from: Mymcodebee on March 24, 2018, 07:09:35 AM
I made this for my rag and was made from factory prints above. Have about $400-500 in material.
That's kind of what I was looking for! Thanks for the picture.
Been off of here a while focusing on fun stuff but gonna try to stay more connected to the forum discussions if I can.
Regarding the measurement points of the car in the sketch , Is the datum line the floor ,or just a flat level surface such as the top of the jig?
Both. If you were to strip the car to the frame and set it on the garage floor, it should rest on the four lowest points at the front and rear cross members. Since that isn't practical to work on, the jig or table raises it up. What I did was put cross beams at the four resting points and add in the thickness of that bar so all my measurements came out right.
When I started this post, my thought was to make a dedicated jig or stand with 6" posts to bolt the car to. Then any frame measurements would correspond to the factory blueprint. I'd still like to do something like this but now I'm thinking I'd need a way to break it down for storage or easier moving.
I enjoy saving these old cars so when I retire in a couple years, I probably will make such a jig but come up with a way to reposition the resting posts so it could work for other makes and models.
Ok Thanks
Heading to the blaster.
Rack loads on the trailer and tied down in 5 minutes with winch. My 5 year old literally ran the winch and I just made sure things were straight..
Car is tied to rack with k frame bolts and rear trunk pan bolts. Had to add some smaller casters to the front and rear as I made this rack very long to accommodate other cars.
Another.
My uprights come off as well. They are just tacked on there and I'll simply slice them off when I need to do a b-body.
I only have about $300-$400 in material. My brother is building another one so we have two in the shop as they work great to place the whole body together and keep everything square.
Quote from: Mymcodebee on March 06, 2019, 12:11:38 PM
My uprights come off as well. They are just tacked on there and I'll simply slice them off when I need to do a b-body.
I only have about $300-$400 in material. My brother is building another one so we have two in the shop as they work great to place the whole body together and keep everything square.
The tack and cut later idea works too. Hadn't thought of that. I tend to overdo stuff. Lol
That was my main reason for wanting such a rack. I built a really crude one when I did the whole front end and everything came out perfect. When I start in on the back, I will be replacing pretty much everything from the rear window back so I want to feel good about alignment as it comes together.
Sounds like you need this piece from Dynacorn!!
That's nice. I have the pieces but I get to assemble it all myself
Quote from: torredcuda on March 28, 2018, 10:15:45 AM
Quote from: Mymcodebee on March 24, 2018, 07:09:35 AM
I made this for my rag and was made from factory prints above. Have about $400-500 in material.
Nice! Looks similar to what the AMD installation center uses - http://www.amdinstallation.com/
Can you tell us what size square tubing you used and what thickness please? Thank you, :cheers:
I noticed this old post I started and that I never updated what I did. This is the rack I built. It's major overkill. Every resting point is adjustable side to side and front to back making it work for any car. On height, the risers would need to be lifted out and swapped for different lengths. These are cut to accommodate my 70 Challenger.
Not being an engineer and hearing guys warn about potential flex issues, I picked up the thickest tubing I could find. It's all 1/4" seamless tubing like they use for building tow hitches. It wasn't terribly expensive at the time but I'm sure it would be today. Damn thing weighs like 1000 pounds. No joke. Way more than really needed.
It did the trick though. Zero flex anywhere. In fact, I had a different car on it and was able to tie it down and do frame pulls on it. There is nothing on a car that is thick enough to challenge the integrity of this rack.
Pretty slick set up. I like the adjustability.
I am so impressed with the talent and ingenuity I see here - wish I had the space and welding chops to do something like this. Just need more time, more space and most of all more money!
Very cool stuff