Chassis Rotisserie

[astroracer]

I had been thinking about a rotisserie for the '49 frame. I got serious about it when I found 1000lb engine stands on sale at NAPA for $35.00 ea. I couldn't build the stands for that kind of money so I bought two and made a couple of mods to make them into chassis stands.
I didn't get any pics before I started cutting up the stands but you can see what I ended up with. I made new, taller necks to support the rotation part of the stands. This also got the frame high enough to work on AND still rotate (I left the running board brackets on it) over the lower tie bar.

I also replaced the lower tube with a longer one to increase the track width of the wheels.

All welded up and painted safety orange. I put solid 10" casters on one end and swivels at the other. It drives fine.


*****Continued in next post******

[astroracer]

I made a couple of bars that bolt to the rotisserie head with some adapter brackets that bolt to the rails and are held on with 2" x 2" U bolts. This worked very well.

Here is a shot with the '49 frame installed.

Rotated verticle.

A couple of weekends of cleaning and grinding and it was ready for paint!

This rig made it a breeze cleaning and painting the frame. Actually enjoyable, if you know what I mean.
******* Continued in next post *******

[astroracer]

It also adapted nicely to the frame I built for my Bad Ast astro van

Thanks for looking
Mark

[Jon]

Thanks -- once again, a detailed build with lots of good photos. Added this to our Rotisseries category, and of course to your tool page: astroracer's homemade tools. Your receipt:

Chassis Rotisserie Conversion by astroracer

tags: rotisserie

[astroracer]

Thanks Jon, I've got a few things to post. I'll get them up here shortly.
Mark

[67mustangal]

Nice work with coverting the engine stands. I saw another post on the Hotrodders site where engine stands were used and the standard distance between the two rear wheels was kept . I commented that the whole thing may flip over when a car was attached so i am glad to see you widened yours.
A guy where i used to work made an engine stand to save a few bucks and the spacing between the two rear wheels was too narrow. I had a ford 6 block on it and went to rotate it. It flipped and the block hit the concrete floor missing my toes by a whisker.
Yours looks really safe . Top job.
Al.

[astroracer]

Thanks Al,
There really wasn't much left from the original engine stands... The rotisserie is very stable and spins nicely. I wouldn't put a body on it but that's not what I built it for.
Mark