Glass dune buggy body lift

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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This is one of a couple pixs that Clonebug posted on how he got it body off the pan and back on and it has got me thinking... thinking hard about doing something similar. Right now one of the younger neighbors is kind enough to help remove or replace the body onto the pan which is taking advantage of him as far as I am concerned (a weekend job usually taking roughly a half hour assuming I have things cleared out of the way.

Since my black buggy's body is quite a bit different; e.g. longer, shaped differently, the glass is thinner and the stiffening flanges that would have to be used are narrower what Clone buggy is so it probably wouldn't work well (potential body dam(n)age). I have done some measuring already and the flanges that would be used are not 1" inside gap but a tight 3/4" gap so the rectangular mounts that would be needed for the woven straps to be used would be 3/4" by 3" at a minimum or maybe up to 4" on the long side. Length is somewhat of a problem too. Again, the flanges are thin enough that the mounts for the straps have to be carefully considered as to pulling the flange out of shape to the inside.

Anyway, this is a potential start to something... or not as there is going to be several potential options to it.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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This is how Clone's buggy body is picked up.

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This is how my buggy's flanging is, the flange is over an inch on the outside and ~3/4" inside and the flange on the inside is 1 1/2 deep. I'll have to make a metal inside flange that is at least 3/4" X 3" and probably at least 3" to 4" long to spread the weight so the flanges don't get broken for several different reasons.

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This is an old pix but it gives you an idea of what I am dealing with.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I've run into a problem with the ceiling beam spacing and location in that area of my garage. Also the area where the garage door ends when open plus the location of my lathe and milling machine and long work table ( ) plus most of my junk has added to the question . I also found some other problems but they are not as much of the problem as the other things are.

Since I hadn't paid that much attention to how the weight balance of the body is fore and aft I went out and lifted the front of the buggy and it was OK weight wise. The rear of the buggy is very heavy and awkward which is why my neighbor and I lift from the sides and mostly to the rear of the buggy when taking it on and off the pan and onto the storage framing.

Removing the body on my other dune buggy isn't as heavy and awkward as this one is even though the FG is thicker.

I haven't given up just looking at things harder than I did before. It may be that cleaning up and rearranging the garage might be a requirement also .

Lee

Just as I hit the submit button I had an idea that might work... it had to deal with the rearrangement of the garage maybe moving the lift to the center section of the 3 car garage. Hmmmm!

Lee

[SCOTTRODS]

Lee... you're gonna have to go back and redesign the whole frame to get this right... LOL

Should have built the Lift to come off with the body, so you can use that frame to lift it. Then you could have just welded on some tabs on the inside and put any number of different types of brackets (temporary or permanent even) for lifting and not having to risk hurting your fiberglass. I;ve been struggling with a similar situation and and had figured on building a thin lift for my FG body, so I could mount the body to a frame sandwiched up to a roll cage so I could lift it all off like you're trying to do. I'm still in the design stages and have not even begun measuring to fit yet. But this was one of my first hurdles to address. I'm planning a shoe horn fit for the roll cage as well, so it has to slip in at an angle from the rear, into/under the "dash" area. I have fiberglass work to work out as well, as I have an IRS Chassis (and want to stick with it) with a Swing axle Body. I've already cut out the "battery box" area and plan on just raising the shelf up to match the driver's side and keep it clean.
The lift kit you've been building has been intriguing to me, so I've been watching your progress over time as well. Making that lift work may require a special frame to lift with that fits under the sides and cradles the body... Mine is fairly thick and rigid FG so I don;t have the risk of damaging it so much, but it's Still Fiberglass and very old...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Lee... you're gonna have to go back and redesign the whole frame to get this right... LOL

Should have built the Lift to come off with the body, so you can use that frame to lift it. Then you could have just welded on some tabs on the inside and put any number of different types of brackets (temporary or permanent even) for lifting and not having to risk hurting your fiberglass. I;ve been struggling with a similar situation and and had figured on building a thin lift for my FG body, so I could mount the body to a frame sandwiched up to a roll cage so I could lift it all off like you're trying to do. I'm still in the design stages and have not even begun measuring to fit yet. But this was one of my first hurdles to address. I'm planning a shoe horn fit for the roll cage as well, so it has to slip in at an angle from the rear, into/under the "dash" area. I have fiberglass work to work out as well, as I have an IRS Chassis (and want to stick with it) with a Swing axle Body. I've already cut out the "battery box" area and plan on just raising the shelf up to match the driver's side and keep it clean.
The lift kit you've been building has been intriguing to me, so I've been watching your progress over time as well. Making that lift work may require a special frame to lift with that fits under the sides and cradles the body... Mine is fairly thick and rigid FG so I don't have the risk of damaging it so much, but it's Still Fiberglass and very old...

One of the main reasons I didn't do/haven't done what you suggested was the issue with the 091 trans nose cone going through the body lift so the body lift couldn't be installed well if the trans w/engine were already mounted on the pan; with a swing or stock IRS trans the body lift wasn't problem but the relieving the rear firewall had to be done. Add the body lift and the relief in the body had to be fixed and the body lift had to be modified for nose cone access.

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Originally the buggy was going to be a street buggy but then something happened when I was driving my blue buggy on the street that got me to change my mind (nothing or nobody got hurt it was just the reactions by kids that scared the pudding out of me).

"Making that lift work may require a special frame to lift with that fits under the sides and cradles the body..." which is what I am looking into (just got back in from the garage having a staring contest with the pan and body).

I don't think the body mount flange is going to be usable right now as it has to be remade do to the body not being a good fit mostly in the front to the firewall but the upper side flanges (in the pix above) with the right construction w/protection and making an "I" shaped mount with the adapters on each end of the cross bars of the mount or at least that is my current thinking. The hoist would/should connect to the center fore and aft part of the I beam... again that is what I am currently thinking.

I am also thinking about re-arranging my garage to change the location of some things. My wife along with most of her family is going to Hawaii for the next week so I will have some lazy or work time in the garage .

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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I haven't forgot about this and as a matter of fact I go out everyday to look at the problems. I've even been cleaning up and moving things around in my garage to potentially make things easier .

The lower horizontal red line is what I think "I" shape piece of the lift would be going down the center of the inside of the body. The two uprights are roughly 20" to 24" away from each other and would sit in the flanges of the inside of the body. They would be different lengths to keep the body fairly level when sitting it down over the fuel tank (in the rear which is what I an currently trying to work on hence the body need to be on the pan for probably a short time so I can mark where the holes for the mount to sit and the inlet of the tank to be in the center of the hole in the body.

Since the body is tapered as you go forward the cross pieces of the lift would need to have some movement in them to fit in the flanges but not break them either when the body is being lifted, moved then mounted on the pan.

The body is made from "S" glass which is supposed to be strong so the body itself is thin. Where the arrow is is where the flanges flatten out, got around a corner and join to the dash. Not well done and another scary place.

My neighbor across the street has been helping me with lifting the body on and off the pan and he says he doesn't mind doing so. I am hesitant about buying the lift Art has which is currently on sale ($30 off) which ends in a couple of days. Also the mounting it to the ceiling is bothering me as when they built the house there was some ??? I think I see.

Anyway, still contemplating on yes or now.

Lee

I forgot to add that the rear end of the body is much heavier than the front end and that is going back to almost the rear firewall. Very awkward but if you are careful and young it can be done .

Still trying to determine yes or no.

Lee