omahamoparguy
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- Joined
- Feb 19, 2010
- Messages
- 756
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I have come into the somewhat temporary aquisition of a body rotissere (spelling?). I was told by my bud that I can use the rotissere for at least a year at which time he will be mounting his 66 fairlane on it. He got the thing in a car deal in which the rotissere was thrown in for $500. From looking at the thing it seems like it would be easy to fab one up for myself. In other words, it is not one of the best ones you can buy, but it does seem fairly sturdy. It was made by a guy out in DeMoines IA from what I was told.
Anyway, I managed to mount the 67 Barracuda on it, sans engine, suspension, rear axle, interior, hood, trunk, doors, fenders etc. Basically stripped down pretty good. The only things I have left on the car was the rear springs and the gas tank and the steering column. What surprised me was that the mounting points of the bumpers, same place you would mount the rotissere brackets, are pretty much the location of the center of gravity for these cars. when I started to adjust the bar for the center of gravity to spin the car over, I thought I was going to run out of adjustment. The rotation point on the bar is almost the same location as the the pivot point on the upright. So, that tells me thatthe bumber mounts are almost the same height as the canter of gravity on a stripped down body. I guess if I removed the LEAF SPRINGS, it would help me adjustment wise, thuus raising the c/g. BTW, this is a fastback with the glass removed ('cept fot those darn rear windows, I wasn't goin' to mess with them things!).
One thing I found is that you have to have the car up fairly high if you want to flip the car totally over. The top of these cars are actually pretty tall. (compared to the C/G).
Now for the bad part, once I flipped her on her side, I notuced alot of nasty stuff that I didnt see before, like the reardriver side frame rail is way "crunchier" than I thought. Oh well, just though I.d share. Any advice or comments welcome. (I found out the hard way that anti sieze should be used on the lock-down bolts if you have them on your rotissere, otherwise you could "gall" the threads and they will sieze at the most inoportune time). It also pays NOT to paint the rotatong parts that come incontact, like the two tubes, one inside the other that form the actual pivot. A little grease in nice too in vaarious spots. also make sure the pnuematic tires can hold airpressure. I am not sure if I used the easiest method for mounting the body. Bascically, I assembled the machine under the car while it was up on jack stands.
Anyway, I managed to mount the 67 Barracuda on it, sans engine, suspension, rear axle, interior, hood, trunk, doors, fenders etc. Basically stripped down pretty good. The only things I have left on the car was the rear springs and the gas tank and the steering column. What surprised me was that the mounting points of the bumpers, same place you would mount the rotissere brackets, are pretty much the location of the center of gravity for these cars. when I started to adjust the bar for the center of gravity to spin the car over, I thought I was going to run out of adjustment. The rotation point on the bar is almost the same location as the the pivot point on the upright. So, that tells me thatthe bumber mounts are almost the same height as the canter of gravity on a stripped down body. I guess if I removed the LEAF SPRINGS, it would help me adjustment wise, thuus raising the c/g. BTW, this is a fastback with the glass removed ('cept fot those darn rear windows, I wasn't goin' to mess with them things!).
One thing I found is that you have to have the car up fairly high if you want to flip the car totally over. The top of these cars are actually pretty tall. (compared to the C/G).
Now for the bad part, once I flipped her on her side, I notuced alot of nasty stuff that I didnt see before, like the reardriver side frame rail is way "crunchier" than I thought. Oh well, just though I.d share. Any advice or comments welcome. (I found out the hard way that anti sieze should be used on the lock-down bolts if you have them on your rotissere, otherwise you could "gall" the threads and they will sieze at the most inoportune time). It also pays NOT to paint the rotatong parts that come incontact, like the two tubes, one inside the other that form the actual pivot. A little grease in nice too in vaarious spots. also make sure the pnuematic tires can hold airpressure. I am not sure if I used the easiest method for mounting the body. Bascically, I assembled the machine under the car while it was up on jack stands.
