Hanging the Body

[sph427]

Hi All. I'm scheduled to pick up my MkIV this weekend and, I'll admit, I'm getting a little nervous/overwhelmed at what I'm about to get into! I am still excited, though.

Question for you: I'm trying to figure out what to do with the body once I get it home. Being limited on ground real estate one idea I'd like to investigate is hanging the body from my garage ceiling. Has anyone else done something like this? Also, will I need a body buck in order to pick up my kit?

Thanks!!
Shannon

[edwardb]

Hi All. I'm scheduled to pick up my MkIV this weekend and, I'll admit, I'm getting a little nervous/overwhelmed at what I'm about to get into! I am still excited, though.

Question for you: I'm trying to figure out what to do with the body once I get it home. Being limited on ground real estate one idea I'd like to investigate is hanging the body from my garage ceiling. Has anyone else done something like this? Also, will I need a body buck in order to pick up my kit? Thanks!! Shannon

No, you don't need a body buck to pick up your kit. The body is temporarily mounted to the frame along with a number of the larger aluminum panels. The balance is a number of boxes. You will need a way to rest the frame rails on whatever vehicle or trailer you're using. If you got the powder coated frame, you'll want it to be padded so you don't scratch up your beautiful new frame.

Lots of guys have hung the body while working on the chassis. Most make a body buck type frame, and hang that with the body resting on it. Another choice is an elevated body buck on rollers that rolls over your chassis. I've done that with both of my builds. I don't have enough height in my garage to hang the body. With the elevated body buck I was able to keep the builds (mostly...) in one bay of my two bay garage.

Good luck with your build! Take it a step at a time. Ask for help when needed. Oh and make sure to post pictures. We love pictures.

[CraigS]

Search here and on the other forum. There are many threads showing this.

[smithbks]

You can look at my Build thread - Brian's Virginia Build to see how I hung mine, which largely borrowed from searching others' threads. Simply build the body buck and add 2x4 cross members to attach pulleys to and you can hoist it to the ceiling. Search for Laser Stan's modified buck for the MKIV as well. It fits the end better. I haven't had any problems at all since I hoisted it up and tied it off. I think the parts may have cost me an additional $30 or so.

[Gmcole92]

sph - I took a different approach than most. I didn't want to build a wooden monstrosity (buck) to either put on the ground or hang from the ceiling. I saw one really cool solution where someone hung a buck from the ceiling but I'm not thrilled about hanging several hundred pounds of wood and fiberglass from my crappy pressboard joists.

I built a very light platform from 2 x4's and very thin plywood. I then used Harken http://www.hoister.com/productdetail...6161&taxid=648 hoists to lift the platform and body to my 12 foot ceilings. The body is sitting flat on the platform but I have 24 inch braces under the windshield mount holes as recommended by FFR.

I'm traveling but will try to post pictures when I'm back home next week.

[sph427]

Thanks very much, everyone.

Gmcole92 - I look forward to seeing those pics. Thanks!

[68GT500MAN]

sph,
Another option is to build a raised buck on rollers. Roll it forward then working on the car, back for storage.
Doug

[KolonelKraig]

I see several photos of a wooden rolling cart or hoist mounted wooden frame that supports the body until you are ready to mount it on the "go-cart". Does the kit come with this wooden structure or do you have to build it? If you do, does anyone have access to templates for the under body support plywood structures?

[edwardb]

I see several photos of a wooden rolling cart or hoist mounted wooden frame that supports the body until you are ready to mount it on the "go-cart". Does the kit come with this wooden structure or do you have to build it? If you do, does anyone have access to templates for the under body support plywood structures?

No, the kit doesn't come with any of that. It's all DIY.

Here's a link for body bucks, with additional embedded links for templates, an elevated version, etc: http://www.ffcars.com/FAQ/bodybuck.html.

Those all work OK for a Mk4, although another forum member updated the rear template to make it fit the Mk4 even better: http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...-body-buck.pdf

Here is my Mk4 elevated body buck made using above plans and templates. Some of the same pieces can easily be used to make a frame for hanging.

[KolonelKraig]

No, the kit doesn't come with any of that. It's all DIY.

Here's a link for body bucks, with additional embedded links for templates, an elevated version, etc: http://www.ffcars.com/FAQ/bodybuck.html.

Those all work OK for a Mk4, although another forum member updated the rear template to make it fit the Mk4 even better: http://www.ffcars.com/forums/attachm...-body-buck.pdf

Here is my Mk4 elevated body buck made using above plans and templates. Some of the same pieces can easily be used to make a frame for hanging.

Ya da man! THX!

[KolonelKraig]

About how much does a Mk IV body weigh?

[Bren]

About how much does a Mk IV body weigh?

100-150 lbs? Manageable for two people.

[Bren]

Hi All. I'm scheduled to pick up my MkIV this weekend and, I'll admit, I'm getting a little nervous/overwhelmed at what I'm about to get into! I am still excited, though.

Question for you: I'm trying to figure out what to do with the body once I get it home. Being limited on ground real estate one idea I'd like to investigate is hanging the body from my garage ceiling. Has anyone else done something like this? Also, will I need a body buck in order to pick up my kit?

Thanks!!
Shannon

I made the typical body buck, but eye bolts in the four corners, then eye bolts in the rafters of the garage. Add two lengths of rope and you've got a hanging body.

[edwardb]

About how much does a Mk IV body weigh?

I read somewhere it's in the 180 lb range, although I don't know if that includes the trunk, hood, and doors. Agree it's pretty manageable with two people, but with a couple caveats. Make a brace to fit between the rear cockpit wall and the dash opening. The instructions show this as I recall. Keeps it from flexing too much in the middle around the door openings. The Mk4 is much better than previous Mk's because of the wrap-around sill. But still best to keep from flexing it too far. Also when you're putting it on the chassis, especially after it's painted, you'll probably want more people to spread it around the center, keep from damaging anything, etc. One on each side (total 4) is pretty ideal. You'll also want to take the center brace out once it's painted. Another reason to have more people at that point.

[Bren]

I read somewhere it's in the 180 lb range, although I don't know if that includes the trunk, hood, and doors. Agree it's pretty manageable with two people, but with a couple caveats. Make a brace to fit between the rear cockpit wall and the dash opening. The instructions show this as I recall. Keeps it from flexing too much in the middle around the door openings. The Mk4 is much better than previous Mk's because of the wrap-around sill. But still best to keep from flexing it too far. Also when you're putting it on the chassis, especially after it's painted, you'll probably want more people to spread it around the center, keep from damaging anything, etc. One on each side (total 4) is pretty ideal. You'll also want to take the center brace out once it's painted. Another reason to have more people at that point.

Ah, yeah. Forgot about that. Two people can carry and maneuver the body around just fine. But getting the body on and off the chassis does require a couple extra hands to prevent scraping everything.

[sph427]

Thanks for the input, gang. One related question: Can someone tell me the length and width of the body? Sorry if this info should be obvious to me, but I've searched the forum for awhile and found nothing, and I also searched the assembly manual with no luck. I need to make sure I've got the storage space I'll need.

Shannon

[edwardb]

Thanks for the input, gang. One related question: Can someone tell me the length and width of the body? Sorry if this info should be obvious to me, but I've searched the forum for awhile and found nothing, and I also searched the assembly manual with no luck. I need to make sure I've got the storage space I'll need. Shannon

Just walked out and measured for you. The Mk4 body only is approx 13 ft long and 6 ft wide. And though you didn't ask, approx 32 inch high from sill to center of the dash. This is just the raw body, without bumpers, windshield, etc. Just eyeballed these with a tape measure, but should be pretty close. Hope that helps.

[sph427]

Edward - That's an awesome help. Thanks a ton for doing that!

Best,
Shannon

[fordboy]

I guess this is late, and dont know if it will come thru ..

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[sph427]

Very cool, fordboy...with the stripe measurements, even! Thanks!

[fordboy]

The neat thing about this forum is that between a handfull of guys that are very active in responding, myself not included in this list, there aint a question you can ask that will stump them. A couple of them will shoot you pictures or send you a link from their build that concern your question. Definitely a trump card for Factory Five.

[Laser Stan]

Shoot me an email ([email protected]), and I'll send you everything you need to hang the body from the ceiling. This funky site won't let me load much.

[d_gatorfan]

The price of the pulleys and hooks from the hardware store can add up. I used two bicycle hoist from amazon for $15 each, plus a better rope from harbor freight for $6. Each hoist has three pulleys, one set on the front and one on the back work great. I alternated between raising the front and back until it was all the way up.