The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Rotisserie Suggestions

Looking to acquire a rotisserie for my 53 Suburban. Not real sure of the one to look for or the method to mount it on the rotisserie. Body will be off the frame from the firewall & back. Looking for suggestions from those that have been here. All help appreciated.

I put my Suburban body on 6x6 rails and/or cross members.

No rotation, but we could easily reach/attack every inch of it.

Be careful with any "suspension techniques" - the cab/body does not flex. There are lead-soldered joints that will crack/break under stress. Even a two-end suspension could be too much joint stress.

"Here Are My Intentions" Unless the Suburban guy's talk me out of it. Will it work?? *** Plan on putting the body on a rotisserie so I can get the underside sand blasted cleaned and then get a good undercoating applied. I have the plywood floor completely out so everything can get sand blasted. ** Then remove from rotisserie and place on a dolly that will support the body in all four places as it would be sitting on the frame. At this time body work and paint can be accomplished. My thoughts are if any of the leaded joints crack {a couple already have cracks} they could be corrected with the body work. ** Looking for the thoughts of the Suburban guy's or anyone else that might want to join in.

I raised my 37 panel up high with two camper jacks ( the old style ) with a wooden beam through the doors. In the rear I used a large roll around bumper jack. Vary solid. Up about 3'.left the floor in.The floor is structurel. I'd be afraid of the body collapsing. I guess you could weld in a bunch temporary braceing.
I may be wrong never used a rotisserie. That's my 2 cents. Someone with more experience will chime in.

A faux luxury, not a necessity. Don't know if you are taking axles off the frame. Anyway there are very few places you can't blast or coat while on frame. The frame can be raised and supported high enough with body mounted to it, then lift body a hair to get under body mounts if that bothers you. Cherry pickers help, 6x6's help, jacks help. If you want to build a one time, expensive, rotisserie, it's doable also. Wherever it attaches will be uncoated also .

Many people use two engine stands to create the spin axis and build from there.

VW busses are repaired using two hoops attached to the body. Then they roll it over to desired spot.

With a rotisserie, I would be very careful about body twist/distortion/damage with the rear floor, all doors and frame gone!!!!!

With the wood floor out, there really is not a whole lot to blast/coat underneath. Just the front floor and the rear sill....maybe some floor joists. Easy access to those. I don't consider inside of body panels as underneath. You can make that decision. It seems that most of that is accessible by standing between the joist/cross members. Provided you agree that the only reason for a rotisserie is for underneath, I say nyet.

It is not advisable to sandblast/blast the differential. You can not keep the media out. It may cause damage inside. Gears, shims, bushings, bearings, precision shafts, seals...You will never get it all out....and it is not necessary.
Also all the greasy stuff can not be blasted. Someone will have to do hands on. Soak, brush, wire wheel, gasoline, degreaser, scrape, chisel, needler.

After you are done blasting/priming/painting the underside by whatever method you choose to use, I would suggest that you put the body back on the frame and make sure that all of your body-to-frame spacing measurements are to specs prior to body work.
It would be a monumental task to create a "stand" which would duplicate the frame. It is crucial to have the frame under the body to perform any body work, as there is a huge probability that there will be distortion from it. Just by removing that huge structure from the frame will likely result in some distortion that you won't be able to detect until you go to put it on the frame.
Carl

I'm with the rest of these guys, not enough gain to flip the hippo over to get to her bottom verses the risk of the leaded seams and change of twisting the body door opening gaps. I put my burb body on a home made dolly made of 6x6's and large caster wheels from tractor supply company. Even after bolting it soundly to the dolly once I put the body back on the frame the door openings and door alignment changed enough to where we had to go back and do some tweaking and body work. And we had already spent a ton of time playing with gaps ect prior to putting the body back on the frame. Live and learn......

I built my own rotisserie. Combo of plans bought on eBay. My son has body business and he will get a lot of use of it, so went ahead and built it. My 52 GMC was in very good shape, just some rust in the floor of the cab. Had a vent on the roof (Army ambulance). All I can say is, it makes work so much easier on the rotisserie. Scraping undercoater off the floor, body work on the roof, welding horizontal instead of vertical or overhead, not to mention painting that "hippo" as mentioned. Roll that thing all around the shop, back and forth to the paint booth. Nice. We're primed (#3)and ready to wet sand and paint. And herculiner the bottom, wheel wells, firewall, etc. Of course, we haven't fitted the doors yet so I may rethink if things have moved around a bit. No seams cracked that we saw. I don't have photobucket accnt. Got lots of pic I can email if interested..Just my 2 cents worth. YMMV

azcornman

Check out the other rotisserie post in "tool chest"

Hi,

I put my 3/4 ton 1938 panel on a rotisserie. Because of its top-heaviness, I could not rotate 360 degrees, but I was able to turn the body to more than 45 degrees each way. It made body work and painting MUCH easier--not sure how I would have been able to do the job without it. I've tried to attach a link to a couple pics, showing how it was done. Hope it works.

Jim


<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1045.photobucket.com/user/jmmmn/embed/slideshow/1938%20panel%20on%20rotisserie"></iframe>

Sorry, it didn't work. Here's a link that you might be able to open or copy--can't remember how to post pics.

Sorry,
Jim


http://s1045.photobucket.com/user/jmmmn/1938%20panel%20on%20rotisserie/story