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Remove the body, or not?

Dirsuper

Dirsuper

1/2 ton status
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I am just curious what different people used in deciding whether or not to remove the body from the frame for their build. One common theme I am seeing is body removal for major structural rot. Also, those who are building the 'wow' ones with custom everything. For a general overhaul, rebuild of every mechanical system (engine, Trans, TC, diffs, wiring, suspension, etc) is it worth it? Anyone willing to share, I appreciate it. I've been wrestling with this decision for a while and feel like I can argue either way as effectively. Probably risk of screwing up body is my biggest deterrent.
 
Yes, take it off.

You will end up with better access, with the ability to do better work with that accessibility....ultimately, giving you the better product that you have in your mind when your done spending thousands of dollars with an obscene amount of man hours.
 
NorCal69 said:
Yes, take it off.

You will end up with better access, with the ability to do better work with that accessibility....ultimately, giving you the better product that you have in your mind when your done spending thousands of dollars with an obscene amount of man hours.
Click to expand...
X2...the accessibility is huge for me, I hate rolling around on the floor anymore.
 
I'm with Norcal69. Once braced properly it isn't difficult to remove the body especially since you plan on taking everything else apart anyway. I would think for most people the biggest issue is where the hell to put it but it looks like you have plenty of room in your shop.

I didn't remove mine for my repairs but I wish I had for several things.
 
BRACE THE DOORS!

BRACE THE DOORS!

BRACE THE DOORS!


Then yank the body and throw it on a rotisserie if you can borrow one.


-G
 
If I would of had the room I would have pulled the body off of mine. As it was I removed everything but the tub. I could of done a much better job rebuilding the torsion boxes/rockers if I wasn't working around the body mounts.

One other thing, even with the tub still on the frame the firewall would move with the top and doors off. Brace the door openings before disassembly.
 
bigjbear said:
One other thing, even with the tub still on the frame the firewall would move with the top and doors off. Brace the door openings before disassembly.
Click to expand...
That reminds me. I pulled the front clip when I did my engine swap and when I put it all back together I almost made a pretty serious mistake because of that. I had the doors off as well and when I rehung the fenders I was amazed at how much the firewall/window frame moved. Luckily I noticed and rehung the doors and got those lined up (as well as I could) before mounting the radiator support.

So, yeah, brace the door openings. :D
 
I'm going to go the other way. Leave it on. He needs his first build laying on his back, barking knuckles and wiping rust specks out of his eyes.

On the NEXT build he should see the light and pull the body.:D


























Or, just do it the easy way the first time.
 
Pretty clear that the community is for removing the body. I really appreciate all of the inputs. I don't have a lot of rot (CA Blazer). In fact, none is visible. I am sure if I started really looking I would find plenty though. So, bracing........

I've searched a lot, and found some, but not a lot. Virtually no rot, seems best to me to leave top off (heavy double wall) and just bolt some crossbraces in using holes for top, and to leave doors in. I'm not getting body sandblasted or anything, just taking it off to make other work easier.

So, my thoughts: front clip off, top off, doors in, braces across top holes, four guys, lift. Thoughts?
 
The big thing is to not turn the tub into a taco while removing it.

I know a lot of guys, me included said that there was very little rot in their 1st gen. The more everyone got into them, the more they were surprised on how wrong they were. My rust free CA rig from Weed, CA took about a year to de-rustify once I got into her. :doah:

The big thing is to keep that windshield frame where it's suppose to be. It's 100% up to you, but I would remove the top and the doors. Build a Y brace out of some 1" square or tube and weld it on to the hinges and the door striker. That way you are guaranteed that the WS frame stays in place.......and you just did the first step in rust removal. :D

We had one guy finish a build some 5 years ago that pretty much did a 100% frame off without bracing, paint and all. It all looked really nice till he tried to put the doors back on.


From that point on, all we can tell anyone that has not done it is...

BRACE THE DOORS

BRACE THE DOORS

BRACE THE DOORS.
 
NorCal69 said:
The big thing is to not turn the tub into a taco while removing it.

I know a lot of guys, me included said that there was very little rot in their 1st gen. The more everyone got into them, the more they were surprised on how wrong they were. My rust free CA rig from Weed, CA took about a year to de-rustify once I got into her. :doah:

The big thing is to keep that windshield frame where it's suppose to be. It's 100% up to you, but I would remove the top and the doors. Build a Y brace out of some 1" square or tube and weld it on to the hinges and the door striker. That way you are guaranteed that the WS frame stays in place.......and you just did the first step in rust removal. :D

We had one guy finish a build some 5 years ago that pretty much did a 100% frame off without bracing, paint and all. It all looked really nice till he tried to put the doors back on.


From that point on, all we can tell anyone that has not done it is...

BRACE THE DOORS

BRACE THE DOORS

BRACE THE DOORS.
Click to expand...


Man I remember that - I felt so bad for that guy! :doah:
 
I pulled my body off the frame almost 9 years ago - it's still not back together. If you are able to drive it and enjoy it I would highly recommend doing that.

I started building my shop 2.5 years ago - and have been consumed with that. That is for the most part finished now - still need to finish wiring and insulation / heat though...

Then two months ago I bought a boat - sure would be nice to have a running Blazer...

Life has a tendency of reprioritizing your activities...
 
I would hope that with a beautiful new workshop you will be inspired to finish the Blazer?


-G
 
I really appreciate all of the input. I am leaning (heavily) towards pulling the body. This weekend I set up the 'welding section' of the shop and went to a steel place to pick up some practice pieces. I priced out what I need to build a decent size (4'x6') welding table, and plan to build one. I figure step one is getting my welding skills up to par.

I have about zero welding experience. Bought a decent welder at the beginning of the year, took a class (worthless) and then paid a guy for an entire day of one-on-one instruction (dude certifies people for LA county). I left there very confident that I could weld.......that was about 4 months ago, I have not touched the welder since. So step one is to build some confidence welding so that I can build braces for the doors and front window. I probably have another month of getting the shop 'set up' correctly and about a month (all of this around normal 'life' stuff like trips with the family (this weekend), weddings, etc.) of practicing welding/planning out the body removal. I am a proponent of making a plan (knowing it will change) and knowing where you want to end up before you begin...or, as one of my friends says all the time, "You are one anal F$*k!"

Thanks again for all of the input.
 
One good thing about leaving the body on/keeping it drivable is you can enjoy driving it while you work on it. It's too easy for a rig to get stuck in "project jail" and loose interest in it.

I've got a Z28 that I've been working on for the last 10 years, had I kept it drivable and just knocked out modifications one at a time...it'd probably have been done a few years ago. But it just sits there while I work on the trucks....that I can use after I get done with each task.
 
Pull it off, simple and your finish product is simpler in the end
 
Replacing drive train parts is so nice without a body in the way. I'm not sure what the weights compare between the 1st gen and square body full verts are but the body wasn't as heavy as I expected it to be. We were able to move it easily with 6 guys probably could have gotten by with 4 and a struggle.
 
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