rotissorie for fiat body

[pope]

has anyone built a rotissorie to work on the body. I have a lot of work to do and donot want to work on my back on the ground. The body is stripped to bare metal, ( I mean that everything is taken off the car, no motor, no tires, no trans , no seats, no dash) so there is not much of a weight problem. That body cant weight more than 600 pounds bare. I can lift either side with some effort. Welding and sanding would be better off in a standing position.
Has anyone rig something like this before? Greatly appreciated.

Pope

[So Cal Mark]

many people have used two engine stands as a cheap rotisserie

[mdrburchette]

Here's from Fiatcenter of Curly's. Pretty easy design and works great:

http://fiatcenter.com/bbv2/bbBoard.cgi? ... ;gtid=2901

[pope]

now thats what Im talking about! perfect


Thanks Guys!

[racydave]

http://flickr.com/photos/wwwfiatspidercom/ Heres mine with my old Fiat, note the cross bracing in the doorways.

[mdrburchette]

Good idea, Dave. Do you think it was necessary? Why don't you bring that car to FFO?

[racydave]

Yes, Denise,Id love to bring it to a FFO, especially one close. Ive decided to keep workin on the Spider for now, as I still have much to do! If I get real motivated, the interior will be finished, and she might get a new paint job. I just cant put my finger on a color..., and I am leanin towards Burgandy for the Cabriolet, not both. Do I think it was necessary, yes, Im makin floor pans, and will sandblast the underside, and do alot of metal repair. Dad had re-worked the engine in his shop, so itll be solid, just need anything rubber...

[mdrburchette]

I meant is the bracing between the door openings necessary? Would the car naturally flex there or, if the pans were solid is it rigid enough without the extra bracing? Just geting an idea since we'll be making a rotisserie for the X later on. It's got solid pans but will have some fender panels cut and replaced due to rust.

[racydave]

With the doors off, and doing floor pans, its necessary. Id do it to keep the body gaps good, esp with doors out. And cauz we have no roof for support!

[pope]

RacyDave,
Thanks for the pics of the rotissorie. Did you make them yourself? They look strong enough to lift a Mack truck. My question is the door cross members, how are they attached, I cant see in the photo good enough. I measured the door openings on a spider and its about 40".

Thanks
Pope

[racydave]

Whatyado is to attach the cross bracing to the door hinge bolt holes across to the latch holes. Use two pieces and weld them together in place as to have a good location. Id do this while the car is level with the tires on as it wants to sit naturally. Is esp important cauz we have no roof for extra support! My body and frame friend made these long ago. I had to figger out how to attach them to the car. I used the sub-frame mount in front, and leaf spring bolt holes in the rear. Its probably overkill, as these weigh nothing when all stripped out. Now, Pope, bless me ive been bad.

[azygoustoyou]

Hi all. The Rotisserie looks great. I was wondering about how much would one of these cost to make? I don't have any motor stands. Would it be cheaper to buy the metal and weld this stuff up? Or should I just buy two stands?

[Curly]

If you buy a couple of stands you'll still have to extend their vertical height by about 8" - 10" to allow the bodyshell to sit vertical. It's also necessary to join the stands at floor level with a length of steel or wood to stop them spreading, and fit swivel castors all around so that it will move in any direction.
I already had an engine stand, so it was cheaper for me to buy and modify a cheap Chinese-made stand than build something from scratch. Over here we are being flooded by ridiculously cheap Chinese manufactured goods that cost less than even buying secondhand materials would cost. (So sad for our manufacturing industries )

In this picture you can see the green painted angle iron used to extended the height of the engine stand and the length of metal used to join the two stands together. It also shows the mounting arrangement utilising the rear bumper brackets.


Footnote: I didn't need to brace the door openings because the shell was quite sound; but if you are doing any work on the sills or transmission tunnel, I would recommend bracing the door openings to stop them closing up during your repair work.

[azygoustoyou]

Thanks Curly, Thats cool. I have to look into it. Thats a good pic.

[ch33kster]

Hi, My father came up with an idea and made a model with large matchsticks, elastic bands and a scale model of a Mercedes Pagoda (nearest model to hand).




The funny thing is that after alot of thought we just did this... and nobody was harmed, miracles do happen!