Body removal

I am contemplating removing my 70 Commando body from the frame to perform some restoration work.I already got the front fenders,windshield frame,etc.off right now. I went through all 12 body mounting bolts removing them one at a time,wire wheeling them clean and replacing them back into there locations after a light coating of anti-seize compound. One of the mounts/hat channel like sheet metal is rusted away,I did manage to get that captured nut off and out of the remains of the channel.So here are the questions.1) Are there only 12 body mounting bolts or am I not seeing some others? 2)I figure that the following items will need to be either removed or disconnected ;clutch linkage,brake lines to the master cylinder,wiring to the engine,gas tank fill hose,fuel lines from gas tank to the engine(held on to the underside of thr body with clips)body to frame grounding wire,steering column connection at the rag joint,E-brake and speedo cable,heater hoses. Anything else I might be missing? 3)Has anyone here done this before?All opinions/comment welcome.Thanks in advance,OZ.

 

That sounds like pretty much everything. The shifter will have to come off so you'll need to remove the trans access cover and remove the complete assembly from the transmission, it's held on by 6 bolts. There's a junction block below the master cylinder that attaches to the body held on by a nut. There's a stud attached to the body. You can leave the lines from the master attached to that block once you remove them from the master.
There are 13 mounts, the 13th being the grille mount which you may already have off. Of course once the fenders are off the grille can stay on the frame if you wanted. I've removed quite a few bodies, some I've even put back on R).

 

You've got the right idea, and removing the body is the only way to be sure you have everything that needs to be addressed in a restoration. It's a hard process when things break, but it's worth it if your looking for a restoration. I'd advise people to avoid it if they are only looking for a quick and cheap body/paint fix.
One tip I wished I knew was to keep the doors and hard top on when removing the body. It makes it much heavier, but these parts make the body solid keeping the lines where they ought to be. Don't do any body work without these parts in or you risk having the door jams and body sides flex in and out making for a bad fit later. I've seen some use straps and wood frames to keep the body together.
-Nathan

 

Thanks for the responses. I probobly would have missed the brake line block. I think that I'll make a wooden support like mainejeepster described to help keep things firmly in place,and I'll keep the doors on too.
Pack Rat,being that you have removed them before do you believe that the body can be lifted by four men? With a wood support installed inside I thought that I could take the top off to lighten the weight and yet remove the body without distorting it ,but then again maybe I need to get more help when it comes to the lifting.By the way all the seats have been removed to cut down on the weight, but I have no clue as to how heavy the body will be.
OZ

 

Four should be able to handle it no problem. I've mostly done it by myself with a cherry picker and the top removed. I've also got them on and off myself without a cherry picker, it's all about leverage . I had also removed the vent windows from the doors, just in case .

 

Lets see then ...four of us to lift it off,thats only one case of beer to buy! Of course I'll be sure we get it off the frame before we crack open the spirits. Glad you mentioned the vent windows,I had not considered that.Are they very difficult to remove?

 

There is one hidden screw.
its under the rubber in the vent window frame.
If you open the wing it would be between the hinge pivot and the rear of the wing frame, it screws into the top of the door if thats makes it clear.

 

Another hidden fastener,these can sure give a guy fits when one does'nt know about them.Thanks for the info!

 

If this link works it'll explain why I removed the vent windows. HC Restore
I just realized the date I posted those pictures was back in November 2005, I've got to get back working on that thing .

 

The link worked and I see why you removed the windows,also the pictures gave me several ideas.Thanks for all the help!

 

Wow! nice work. I also looked at the photos. I would actually like to know if the person who you got the switch panel stick over from makes them or just happened to have them? My panel is so faded you cant hardly make out the functions.

 

The guy that made those switch overlays did a limited run a couple of years ago which is one of the reasons I went with the white because I already had the white face gauge overlays. The black overlays come up on eBay and there's also another guy that makes them, I'll see if I can dig up his information. If he's still selling them they were cheaper than the eBay ones. I have a couple of his too.
All this talk of body removal got me motivated to swap over the body from my Ross steering frame to my Saginaw frame which will be my snowplow again. Doing a cheapy 3" body lift, the last picture shows how I held the lift spacers in place. When I I lowered the body it just pushed the bolts back down through and the wire held the bolts in place. This is not the best way to lift the body with a cherry picker but this is just going to be a snowplow so I didn't take as much time rigging the lift as I would have on something I was building to drive.

 

Pack Rat,
Thanks for the additional pic's,as they say... a picture is worth a thousand words.
OZ

 

Well guys I thought I would give an update, I got the body off the Commandos this past weekend.Only had one glitch,a zip tie that was still holding a tail light wire onto the frame.So now I got one broken wire to fix too.
Now that the frame is exposed it will be much easier to work on it as well as the body(on a small trailer) can now be rolled into the pole barn for work out of the elements,it sleeted and snowed here today.

 

Pretty ambitious project you got going on there, how much beer did that cost ya?

 

Only one case of beer was bought that day .Woo Hoo, cheap labor! I had everything prepared (except the zip tie I missed) and it only took about 5 minutes total.
I also wanted to post up a picture of the bracing that I installed into the Commando in case anyone else wanted to copy it . I dont think that it was absolutely necessary but it was easy enough to build and I feel that it did add some rigidity as the body was being "man handled"

 

That looks like one of the convertible models, are you going to restore this back to stock?

 

Its a wagon style with the hardtop removed.I plan to "restify it",that is I dont plan on chopping the body or doing a significant change to the driveline but would like to lift it about 4" and upgrade the brakes and a few other things.