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Body Lift Method
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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:15 am    Post subject: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Sorry if I'm duplicating an old post but I plan on lifting my body soon and ran across this while doing a google search:

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The original picture is found here: https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hsx/2007/05/Top-Ghia---1956-Karmann-Ghia/1454797.html

I'm probably going to end up lifting the car solo so I need to figure out a safe way to do this. But is this going to tear the roof off?! Shocked LOL

I mean it would work for a Beetle for sure. I'm thinking of attaching straps in the engine and trunk area instead. Then just roll my dolly underneath.
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TDCTDI
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:56 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Peter D. wrote:
Sorry if I'm duplicating an old post but I plan on lifting my body soon and ran across this while doing a google search:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.



NOOOOOO! That roof & pillars are not meant to support the body like that. I'm sure that that method caused damage to the window flanges, some warpage of the roof & possibly some door alignment issues.

If you have to use an engine hoist, run a pipe or 2x4 under the body, above the suspension, & loop a 2" ratchet strap over the protruding ends & over the body so that the hoist can pick up one end at a time.

The factory used wide padded hooks on the fender arches.

Stolen from the gallery.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Notice that the framing makes it so the hooks are not pulled inwards.
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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:25 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Yeah! That was my initial reaction too but when I saw it was on Hemmings I figured they knew something I didn't know.

I think I can get a 2x4 into the engine bay and maybe in the gas tank area.
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CiderGuy
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:39 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

I tried using a 4x4 from above with a vert and it snapped the board. Also pull the motor first, so you don't need to lift as high.

I ended up using two rolling floor jacks and that broken 4x4 to lift the body off the car, under the wheel wells.
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:42 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Really, I think you will be fine. I lifted mine solo a dozen or more times and sometimes left it hanging for several days. I used a simple come-a-long to lift. I used 2 2X4's bolted together and went the opposite way than above (door to door, not front windshield to rear windshield). Hanging happened AFTER I cut over 30 inches out of the roof. Cool Carry on.
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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:19 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Well, my house has sagging floors and I'm not sure if I want to take that risk. Watch the floors collapse and the insurance company laugh at me and my wife divorce me!
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TDCTDI
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 2:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Peter D. wrote:
Well, my house has sagging floors and I'm not sure if I want to take that risk. Watch the floors collapse and the insurance company laugh at me and my wife divorce me!



You know... that might be the cheap way out Think Twisted Evil
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:29 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

^^hmm, might be right.
I dont think a ghia body weighs more than 400 lbs, max most likely less. Mine was hanging on a 6X4 about a 10ft span, I hardly recall the wood cracking. Laughing Wink
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Loren
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:11 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

This is how I put the body back on. Worked great with no damage to the roof.

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My Ghia was a little lighter since it was missing the nose section and portions of the front fenders.
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Mellow Yellow 74
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

I wouldn't lift the body using the roof - can't you find three friends, neighbours, random strangers to help for 10 minutes?
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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

TDCTDI wrote:
Peter D. wrote:
Well, my house has sagging floors and I'm not sure if I want to take that risk. Watch the floors collapse and the insurance company laugh at me and my wife divorce me!



You know... that might be the cheap way out Think Twisted Evil


Haha, she hates the car but things haven't gotten THAT bad yet.
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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Well, I've never seen that. Is that a scaffolding jack?

I've got some people coming over Sunday... I decided I didn't want to invest money in a bunch of equipment I might use twice and then take up space in my garage until I sell at a massive loss on Craigslist.... story of my life!

Loren wrote:
This is how I put the body back on. Worked great with no damage to the roof.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


My Ghia was a little lighter since it was missing the nose section and portions of the front fenders.

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TDCTDI
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 3:15 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Eh, that’s gonna be a crap shoot. Not that many a VW body haven’t been removed by a bunch of buddies but imagine it as trying to be a pallbearer of some 5-600# guy when the casket is attached to the hearse with bolts, glue, & wires. You’ll need at least four guys so they can hold it while you pry & disconnect shit that you either forgot or got snagged on something else as the body is being separated (like the heater cables to the body or the battery cable to the starter.).
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GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.
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kiwighia68
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 3:58 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Mellow Yellow 74 wrote:
I wouldn't lift the body using the roof - can't you find three friends, neighbours, random strangers to help for 10 minutes?


I agree. I found a man with a dodgy shoulder and 2 women, one old and arthritic and the other heavily pregnant.
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 6:33 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

You can do the body separation and lifting by yourself. Here's how:
1) Build your dolly
2) Build a gantry lift
3) Lift one end of the car onto the dolly then the other

For the hoist and actual lifting
You will need some 2x6 Lumber, a 2x4 or 1.5 inch square tubing, wood screws, a come-along, and a chain or towing strap. My hoist is built entirely out of 2x6 lumber. I used deck screws to hold everything together but feel fre to step it up a bit in this department. Place the a length of 2x4 or 1.5" tubing across the underside of the wheel arches. Use the come-along and chain or towing strap, attached to the center of the cross bar, to lift the body. Go slow and it will all fall into place. TDCTDI is right, you will find things keeping the body and chassis together while you try yo lift the body off. This approach grants you some leverage in breaking the seal between the body and pan. I did it by myself, in my driveway in about 90 Min.
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This plan mounts the body onto the dolly using the wheel arches. The dolly I built is a shortened version which mounts the body using the area under the napoleon hat and the rear body to pan mounts. I built my dolly using 2x6 lumber because it's what I had available for free. You can use a 2x6s in place of the 4x4 cross members as long as you brace them with angle iron along the underside. Ignore the caster size in the drawing. Use 5" or 6" casters. Trust me on this one Brick wall You may aslso want to use fixed casters on one end and swivel casters on the other. This will keep the dolly from wandering while you are moving it.
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In process
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A come-along is always handy to have around and the lumber can be repurposed once you are done with your build.

...we're all in this together,
Emil
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RickS
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 4:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

I took this body off and on the dolly and chassis several times during the build by myself using nothing but a floor jack, jack stands and a little Giant ladder. It's really no big deal.
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slalombuggy
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 8:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

I lifted my bare body 3 times with my chainfall hoist using 2 2x4s and tie down straps. U put one across the roof through the side window openings and one out the front and rear windows with 4 straps going to the hook on the hoist. No distortion of window lips or rain gutters. Easy peasey

brad
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Peter D.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 11:22 am    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Finally got my body off just using basic manpower. Took 30 seconds! I was just overthinking things and being nervous.

It looks crusty as hell but that's part of the fun I guess!

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

It's hard to tell from the picture but do you have any longitudinal bracing on the dolly? I don't see any triangulating (diagonal) braces and it's hard to tell if there is an upper longitudinal runner. (That's a lot of 50 Cent words there Embarassed ) If it's there, carry on, otherwise you may want to add some. You may also want to add triangular braces or right angle "L" brackets to the cross member corners. It would be a shame to see that Ghia injured on the ground.

On a positive note, excellent choice on caster size and the chassis, seat rails, and suspension look to be in decent shape. The floors don't look too bad either. Now the fun begins.

Peter D. wrote:
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Body Lift Method Reply with quote

Geez, your pans look good. A couple license plates, an old NO TRESSPASSING sign, some roofing tar and drywall screws and call it a day. Wink
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