Originally Posted by mike572
Bruce,
And as for the cradle your were talking about, Should I make it out of thick plywood with 2x4's braced all along the bottom of the car this way there will be no brace bars in the way of the cage? Are you not supposed to have any brace bars running through the inside of the car? If I can fit a couple above the cage so I can easily take the body off should I only do that? Or just the plywood and 2x4's cradle along the bottom? Or do I have the wrong idea with a plywood base all together? The Front end is going to be a fiberglass clip so there will be no front fenders so that's one less thing to worry about. And should I have the doors off while i'm coming in and out of the car taking measurements and bends? Or leave them on and just open and close them waiting until the final body mounting to take them off? I'll also be sure to take all the measurments I can before cutting the floor out.
The body cradle I meant was like plywood frame as you figured, that the car body can sit on while waiting for a fit and holding the body at dimension if that is necessary. The doors are one more item in your way during cage fab but you just need to respect there space so they fit later. Your car body may be sturdier than you think when you gut it out and may not require any fixture to hold the rockers on dimension, just a wood parking spot to be kind to the rockers.
I have built cars inside the body once I complete the floor structure on My jig then the rest free standing in the body, and I have on some, had the benefit of being able to remove the body like you do and weld out in the open. You can do what ever you can work around and weld completely. You may leave the body on wood shims off the floor over the frame with a few pieces of pipe holding it in place temperarly in perfect reference to the lower frame height and center line for all your cage pipe layout, then once the top is determined and your fit and tacked you may choose to remove the body to make a gravy job out of welding the cage in. There is not a correct way to do it. It is a matter of what you can work around. I would recommend doing as much with the body mocked up over the frame as possible. This will allow you to get much closer to the body to make the most of your driver space. The body will need to be welded in several locations to the frame but the roof area will only need 4 spots, Over the A and B pillars in the roof corners or where there are area's of reinforcement are good locations. But again, there are other locations that you can use that are correct for your car, but two up front would be wise and at least 2 in the rear to hold the windows in is recommended. Don't over think the cradle, It was just a suggestion to hold your baby when her skeleton is being fabricated and kept on dimension to be handy if you happen to need to check a measurement while you are welding and laying out the cage. Your bender type will make it difficult to back up bends. Some times you need to transition bends or appose bends. You will be able to get the job done if you are efficient with your bender.
PS. A tremell is your best friend for squaring the body and rockers on the stands or fixture. It is a body guy tool used for checking frame squareness or a toe in checker if you are a drag car guy.
Bruce