At 06:59 PM 2/7/99 -0500, Kevin Richards wrote:
>.... does anyone have any measurements/plans for a dolly to rest the body
of the A on whilst it is removed from the chassis? ....
I do not have the exact measurements, didn't take any pictures of it, and
it has been a long time since I did it, but I can tell you that it is
really simple to do. All it takes is a light set of casters (500 pounds
total capacity is enough), a small hand full of wood screws, and two pieces
of 2x4 lumber about four feet long (or maybe an inch or two more). There
should be two places to mount the boards, but I can't recall which way I
did it.
Location 1.) Cut the boards the right length to fit between the sills
where the body sits on the frame. Position the boards under the horizontal
flange of the sill at points near the front and rear door posts. Install
screws downward through that flange into the boards.
Location 2.) At points just ahead of the front door post and just behind
the rear door post there are heavy sheet metal angle flanges (at four
points) where the body accepts single large bolts that screw into the
frame. Place the boards here and fasten with lag screws and flat washers.
I think I like this better because these points are a bit lower and will
thereby hold the body a little higher off the floor, but maybe the rear
points are not the same height as the front ones.
Most casters will attach to the bottom side of the boards with four wood
screws each. Position the casters a little inboad so you don't
accidentally run over you foot when moving things around in close quarters.
When you want to work on the body you can set it up with the dolly boards
resting on a pair of saw horses for convenient working height and free
access all around.
I think the bare body tub weighs about 160 pounds (estimate) and can be
very easily moved about on the dolly. If you tip it up on its side it
stands up straight and sits on the sides of the structural sill and pillar
assemblies around the door openings. In this position it is less than 30
inches wide from sills to cowl, good for getting it out of the way while
you work on the chassis.
I also made a pair of small dollies from 3/4" plywood about 12 x 15 inches
and using even smaller casters. You can put these under the pillars when
the body is on its side to keep it off the floor and move it around easily
without dragging it. And to this day I still use one of these as an engine
dolly (and occasionally for moving heavy furniture), really handy gadgets.
Now that I have a web site, I wish I had taken pictures of the body dolly.
If anyone has such pictures I would like a copy to post on-line. And I
might even drive some substantial distance from Chicago to help someone
build the dolly and take the pictures.
The best picture that I didn't get was when I took things to Redi-Strip for
processing in 1978. I had the MGA body piggy-backed on a 1974 Datsun Lil
Hustler short bed pickup truck with the MGA nose sticking out beyond the
top of the tail gate and the MGA tail parked above the cab of the truck.
There were two 2x4 boards about six feet long lag screwed across the
underside of the MGA body and tied down to the hooks on the load bed of the
truck. One of those boards sat on the drip rail on top at the back of the
truck cab, the other board was on top of the load box near the back.
Fenders, doors, wheels and all other sheet metal parts of the car were
tucked into the load box underneath the MGA body tub. I think the only
thing left in the garage was the MGA rolling chassis.
Ah, thank you for such fond memories.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
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