Cheap Chassis Rotisserie (ish)

[clockworkbox]

I have limited space to work in and I'm not a young man anymore so I had to figure out how to flip my pan to finish the bottom with only my lovely wife to assist. I had a Harbor Freight engine stand that I use with a Brian/Type E engine yoke (highly recommended) but I found a use for the yoke that comes with the stand. I used:
2 Harbor Freight Bauer 29in. steel folding sawhorses, $20 each on sale
1 piece of 4 x 4 pine leftover from deck overhaul
2 8" HF C clamps
1 Engine mount from HF engine stand
12 thick washers to use as spacers to attach chassis to engine mount.

I bolted the chassis to the engine mount and attached the 4 x 4 to the sawhorse with the c-clamps about 8" apart. I lifted the front of the chassis up and placed it between the c-clamps to keep it from rolling or sliding along the sawhorse. I then lifted the back of the chassis up and had my wife place the 2nd sawhorse. Finally, after making sure everything was secure, I lifted and rotated the chassis so it was bottom up. It worked out great for finishing the underside of my chassis and was super stable during sanding, grinding, hammering and painting. It was a great working height as well and took up a minimal amount of space. I am not a professional and this is not intended as advice, it is just how I managed to get this done with minimal space and muscle power.

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'69 Beetle (pieces)
Learning the hard way is still learning...

[viiking]

I was a bit lazier than you. I just bought two engine stands and had one each end. I thought by the time I buy all the other accessories I may as well just get two. You can always sell one if you have to.

The contraption worked well EXCEPT. When you rotated the pan, it had a habit of wanting to tip over. I resolved this by temporarily clamping some 4 or 3x2 horizontally on the bottom part of the legs, wider than the outriggers on the pan. You can also clamp a long piece of timber between the two engine stands to hold them together when rolling.

Just for interest about the body. I originally made the timber saw horses that everyone seems to make to hold the body on. However as I had to replace the heater channels, I wanted to make something better to help brace the body.

I managed to source (very cheaply) horizontal warehouse section steel racking that was "no longer in compliance" and made up this frame that bolts onto the front under the fuel tank connection and rear body mount. A lot of warehouses have these lying around so I got them for less than scrap value. A pittance.

Welded it up all together to practice my welding skills. Once the body was loaded onto the frame I added further steel bracing between the frame and various parts of the A and B pillar to ensure it remained rigid when I came to remove the heater channels.

Over the top? Probably. But with my over-exaggeration tendency on how long things take to fix on my Beetle, I guessed that it would be better to have something more robust.

When the project is finished. Well if, I can always sell it on or scrap it.

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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[jspbtown]

Sorry...bad picture but I made a cheap rotisserie out of 2 HF engine stands and some scrap metal. You so have to adjust the wheels (or neck) to make them parallel to eachother.

The front and rear mounts were simple plate or square tube

[clockworkbox]

Originally I thought I would use the stand but I did not like the idea of using the stand with the angle it is on and I thought tipping it would cause instability. Also, I did not want to buy another stand, the sawhorses were cheaper than another stand and I can use them for other things when I am done with the chassis. I do not have the option of pinning the chassis in a vertical position the way I've done it but I didn't really need to. Doing it this way cost me less than $50, was very easy, and very stable.
_________________
'69 Beetle (pieces)
Learning the hard way is still learning...

[viiking]

[Bobs67vwagen]

Nice work and ideas on all these posts. I will be doing something like this for my 67 pan in the near future. Thanks to all.