Body Mounting

[MikeC]

This morning I am going to my painter with my chassis to mount my 39 Chevy body to the chassis for final painting.  I am looking for suggestions for the right way to mount it so that it will fit squarely.  I need to get all the door gaps right and final before the paint because it is going to be two-tone paint job.  I have pop rivited some woven welting to the frame rails and crossmember at the suggestion of a shop here in town.  Any other input would be really helpful as I have never sone this before.

[Scrap Fe]

This morning I am going to my painter with my chassis to mount my 39 Chevy body to the chassis for final painting.  I am looking for suggestions for the right way to mount it so that it will fit squarely.  I need to get all the door gaps right and final before the paint because it is going to be two-tone paint job.  I have pop rivited some woven welting to the frame rails and crossmember at the suggestion of a shop here in town.  Any other input would be really helpful as I have never sone this before.

Mike,

The body has limited places it touches the frame rails so the woven welting will not do you much good.  The body only touches the frame rails at the firewall and at the holes in the frame for the body bolts.  Underneath the body there are body mounts that rest on the frame.   There is a body mount kit that consists of approximately 8 pieces of approximately 5/16" x 1.5" x 2.5" rubber with a 5/8" hole that is placed on all body mount surfaces on the frame.  There is also an "L" shaped piece that is used at the firewall.  I bought mine from * Moffits Chevy Parts in Springfield, Ohio.  I think they cost around $45.  You could also make your own is you have any access to any conveyor belting or rubber sheet.  There are also small steel channel pieces that locate on the bottom side of the frame rails where the body bolts pass through the frame.  These channels are approximately 1.5"wide x 2.5" long.  They are used to spread out the load when tightening the body bolts so the frame rail doesn't collapse.  This is a stock Chevy part.

You will probably need to shim the body at the body mount locations to get your belt line lined up perfectly.  I use front end alignment shims (a horse shoe shaped shim) to shim the body.  These shims come in a variety of thicknesses.  They work well for shimming the body because you do not have to completely remove the body bolt to add shims.  You can get these at NAPA or other part stores.  Shimming the body takes patience.  I usually place the shims between the rubber body shim and the body mount.  Tighten all the body bolts and see where your belt line lines up and do your shimming accordingly.  It is difficult to describe the process and where to place the shims to get the body parts to align up but you can do it.  It took me 3 nights to get one side of my body aligned and 30 minutes to get the opposite side.  It is trial and error with a lot of patience.

Good Luck