Floor Leveler

jaybee · October 15, 2013, 10:32:55 PM

After several years of real life situations too numerous to go into here I'm about to dive back into the '57 Chevy wagon. Job 1 will be floor and rocker panel replacement. I could use some advice on body bracing.

The doors open and close as they should with proper gaps all around. Leveling the frame side to side and shooting the car with a laser level the firewall, B Pillar, and tailgate area are all level.

The A pillar is a different story. The passenger side floors are in much better shape than the drivers side. On that side of the car the floor, crossmembers/rocker panel braces, and A pillar to rocker panel brace have all found comfortable relationships with available Oxygen atoms and run off to live elsewhere. As a result the A pillar is about 1 1/2" lower on the drivers side than the passenger side. Everything from roof to rocker panel has settled that far over the frame.

I'm already working on my door opening bracing and I'm comfortable with it. My question involves bracing across the body. If I brace everything up well including cross and diagonal bracing then raise the A pillar area I'm concerned that it will distort the door openings because it appears the whole area dropped pretty much straight down. If that's the case I think it could be better to brace the door openings, lift the A pillar back into proper position, then weld in my diagonal braces. Thoughts?

wayne petty · October 16, 2013, 12:54:23 AM

i think on one of the tri five sites...

there are body and frame dimensions diagrams...

this might be a question for Idrivejunk..

i have been looking at pinch weld frame clamp devices for a while..

wishing i had a pair on a set of screw type adjustable jack stands with pinch weld clamps on them...

so i could hook onto the pinch welds and level the car..

IDJ and i were talking about using some of the wheeled HF trailer nose jacks in 4 corners as a support for bodies.. that could be raised and lowered for access..

-----------_________----------|
o o o o o o o o

with additional material to go on the bottom to attach in your jack stand bases with the plunger out.. or pinched to the top of the plunger..

what ever that part would be called on a jack stand..

if one made them with cross holes.. they could slide tubes thru to lock them in place...

i was even thinking of using a large bolt or all thread section and a nut. in a configuration like a cressent wrench or pipe wrench to raise or lower it..

BFS57 · October 16, 2013, 06:19:11 AM

Hello;
Well, you are treading on some subjects that I don't have that much experience in. But, I know where to send inquisitive minds!
As I own a 32 Ford and a 57 Chevy I belong to this site as well as Chevy Talk!
On chevy talk, the site is laid out according to the year of the car. Find that, in your case 55-57 Chevy "stock" and ask that same question, bet you get lots of answers!

Bruce

rumrumm · October 16, 2013, 10:08:48 AM

Chevytalk has a couple of Tri-5 forums. In addition to the RRT, I have found the Chevytalk forums some of the most helpful and informative forums on the net.

www.chevytalk.org

papastoyss · October 16, 2013, 02:27:45 PM

www.trifive.com is a good source as it is tri five only. I'm currently doing the same to a '57 Handyman 2D wagon. There is a body mount that attaches to the inner rocker just behind the front door hinge post & mounts to the frame & continues in to the tunnel. I had to cut mine out to repair the inner rocker, I used a screw jack under the door post pinch weld & eyeballed it & welded the floor support/body mount back to the inner rocker. My body mounts/floor supports were good enough to reuse, I bought right & left full floor pans that seam together at the tunnel top. If your body mounts are rusted out a 1pc floor w/new body mounts already welded to the pan would be a better choice.

jaybee · October 16, 2013, 09:26:43 PM

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I have a login at Chevytalk and have browsed the forums extensively. I haven't posted there recently because they can be pretty critical if you're not building a car the way they think it should be built. There's a lot of good knowledge, though, and a number of posters who've shared very extensively of their projects. Another great site is at www.57rustbucket.com . The owner of that car also started with a project that was, um, in less than ideal condition.

Papastoyss, the absolute worst part of my car is that exact point you described. The box structure behind the kick panels that holds the A pillar on top and the hinges on the rear side is fine, but everything that holds it up is shot.

In terms of raising that area I can do it pretty easily with a ratchet strap from above. How about my temporary bracing, should I brace in all directions before raising that corner, or not diagonal brace before I get everything back level?

enjenjo · October 17, 2013, 12:42:43 AM

I would level and support the frame, then level and support the body separately, before any cross bracing is done. Square the door openings, brace them, then cross brace the body.

jaybee · October 17, 2013, 07:18:23 AM

Thanks Frank, I was leaning that way but really appreciate the confirmation.

wayne petty · October 21, 2013, 01:39:34 AM

416Ford · October 21, 2013, 01:11:45 PM

Quote from: "wayne petty"57 chevy frame diagram...

http://www.trifive.com/garage/57%20Chevy%20Assembly%20Manual/2-17.gif

you will want to save this image... and take it to a print shop and have it printed LARGE to hang on the wall of your shop.. to make it easier..

^^^^
That what I use when I worked on the Mustangs. That will get your frame to the correct spot and you will want to adjust your doors and gap and bracing after that.

jaybee · October 21, 2013, 10:19:25 PM

I took my initial measurements by locking in the suspension at the same weight on the wheels up on cribbing, suspension at even position side to side, then used a laser level to get the frame even at front and rear. After that I shot the laser level through the car front to rear and measured at the pillars on both sides to see where it's out of shape.

Wayne, thanks for all the diagrams. They're saved and will be just what I need.

Those body mount dimensions are going to make things a lot easier. If I had a big pile of money and a better car to start with I'd slide an Art Morrison Max G chassis under it http://www.artmorrison.com/55-57chev.php but that isn't going to happen. I'll go into it further as I go along, but the plan is to reinforce the stock frame in a manner similar to the Morrison chassis which will also some non-stock floorpans.