jclars

Not even the sound of ripping fibers. How boring. I got most major cutting done on the Plymouth, with several lifts by my chicken farmer gantry hoist. Last major cut is to remove the rotten sills/rockers. That will be next week at the earliest, as I am going in for cataract surgery in the morning and will be restricted on heavy lifting. Whatever that means. All I know is that I collected a box full of rust and rusty dirt and it weighed in at over 20 lb. The floor and trunk pans weighed 175 lb, so the carcass is getting lighter as I go. The week set back is tolerable, as I have a list of light duty jobs to complete, including fine tuning trim lines to both the Plymouth and Lexus for cutting when I get back to it. Also figure to replace the fuel pump and regulator on the Lexus as I got a CEL reporting a fault in that system before parking it. All in all, I am satisfied with my progress and with my overall physical stamina, which had concerned me going into this type project. I think the heavy stuff is almost over and I survived it! Now if they just cooperate and fit together!

Plymouthy - That looks way to stable for any excitement. Gone is the thrill of ripping wood fibers turning into creaks and groans as the load is lifted and the pending doom turns to silence... Stay tuned!

Finished the hoisting frame today. I went with 14' long joist doublers. They rest on the plate of one wall and are supported 6' out for the first post, then 8'-9 to the next post creating a workable vehicle bay. The electric hoist is mounted on a 5' long uni-strut rail to allow a bit of adjustment. The Lexus will be on wheel dollies to position it underneath. The beam consists of a 4x4 sandwiched by two 2x6's. It is anchored to the joist with some L-brackets. Nothing fell down. Yet.

I thought you might choke on that!

It's been done before. But I promised myself I would not change the body to fit the donor car. Only trim inside where it can't be seen. Major item will be the firewall. Unless it's customization like flared fenders? Na. How about some big honkin" "Keep on Truckin'" mudflaps? Hoist frame falling together nicely, and I think it meats the intent of my stamped drawing. John

Determined that a good starting point to establish body position would be to fit the front fenders. I was amazed to find they slipped over the Lexus front frame and I only had to notch the fender flange at the windshield post. I tied the front together with the stock radiator bar and the bottom is spaced to stock dimensions for the grille. At the windshield it is close to the proper hood width. All good signs as many body swaps stall at this point with major surgery required. Still a bit of massaging required, but appears very doable. One negative is the wheel track protrudes slightly, which I knew was the case before I started. Also, AC lines interfere with the grille, but they can be rerouted. Off to buy lumber for the lifting frame! John

I knew the sills were rotten, but I finally got the seat and rubber floor mat out to find the floors are also not restorable. Total replacement would be necessary. More reason to try to utilize the Lexus structure. Preliminary measurements give me hope that the structural sills of the Lexus will line up to catch some or all of the Plymouth sill/rocker area. I removed the front clip and will probably pull a fender to help determine firewall alignment and trimming. I positioned the Plymouth shell close to where I want to work on it and without the front end, I can place it squarely and still get my Volvo into the shop. I will probably start the lift frame next week! Way ahead of my self given schedule. Didn't think the cutting would go so fast. But with the right tools, and small bites, my old body has kept up! (And I said this would be my last project!)

Most of the outerbody panels have been removed, along with door and roof frames. I was pleased to find a structural steel shape inside the door frames attaching to a continuous beam along the sill. I disabled the air bags by simply unplugging the air bag control module located under the console. After that, I removed the headliner and found that the bulk of the airbags were hidden up by the roof frame. Another couple were in the rear and front quarters of the door openings. So all except steering wheel and dash air bags were removed before chopping began. Next up - chopping the floor pan out of the Plymouth before lowering it (numerous times) for a trim fit. Plymouth now sits in position to build the lifting frame discussed above. After all that, the Lexus is still moving under electric power.

In other words, the FUN stuff!!

You shouldn't call your secretary a "Stamp Pad"! But I'll run with it! John

Two doors like that will allow you to push one car into the yard for temporary use of the garage for a second car. Maybe even a future car port in the back for extended overload situations (like friends wanting to use your lift - ask me how I know!) Although my wife has a rule about cars as yard art. I can have as many as I want as long as she doesn't see them in the yard. Of course there is the occasional overflow situation! But the rule helps guide me into not being too much like a hoarder. If I want any more projects, a finished one has to go! Of course that helps fund the next one, so a happy balance for both of us!

Thanks RNR - A fellow rodder just dropped by and made the same recommendation (double up the joists) and that was before I opened your response. So hopefully I am not scaring anyone moving forward! Uh, would you mind stamping your post-it pad in case I get inspected?

Sorry for the upside down sketch. I couldn't get it to post otherwise! Another challenge!

Ahhh, but the chicken poop was deep! Glad to have you willing to take a look a a sketch - thanks! Attached is my preferred "diagonal" layout, but I can square it up if necessary. I don't show ties to the roof beam 6 ft above the joists. Posts (columns) would need to be 10' long. Oh, and one minor correction - joists are actually 2x6, not 2x8! I remeasured, but I knew you liked a challenge. But not nominal - they are full 2" x 6". Thanks! John

Here is a pic of what I described rather poorly. The two joists were left from what had been the 2nd floor of this former chicken coop. I now realize that their spacing is probably more like 12 feet apart. However, I could add a sort of truss leg up to the roof brace seen up high. Eek, I hate climbing ladders anymore!! This would be in addition to the corner posts mentioned in the earlier post. I would also prefer the frame to sit diagonal in the shop to have space at the door end (from where the pic was taken) to park the smallish blue car seen in the foreground. This frame positioning would have the advantage of distributing the load on at least one adjacent exterior wall? Don't have calcs to prove this but recall something about a "cantilevered" load?

Fantastic! What type door for the front opening? Exciting times! Can't wait to see your project car in there! John

Thanks RNR - it wasn't necessarily a challenge, but glad you ran with it. The folks on here have more experience to draw on for a good estimate and you came through! I was in the throws of ordering a light duty electric chain hoist on a budget. I ended up with a single unit rated for 1100 lb, figuring I would drop the front end pieces as suggested. Also glad you brought it up Sniper, because my overhead joists are about 10' above floor level. I plan on putting 2X legs up at 4 corners with lateral bracing at two joist about 8-10' apart. Also 8-10' between the legs, but will keep this as narrow as possible. (The joists are full cut 2x8 old growth Doug Fir, which supposedly can support 500 lb dead load on a 10' spacing.) I will span the center of this with a doubled up 2x8 to enable lifting by straps from 4 locations on the body to get a balance point. Any engineer types out there are welcome to check my spacings and loads! The Lexus is still rolling, so I will want at least one end of the frame open to roll it out and allow the Plymouth body to be lowered to working level. John

Thanks Sniper. First time in shop since Sunday. Weather delay! -3 deg F in 30 mph NE artic blast. Might have only had today to get out there, as it appears more cold (w/o snow) coming again. Just ordered an 1100 lb electric hoist to lift the bare Plymouth body. Anyone have a weight estimate for the bare body?

The air bag controller was located under the front console and removed. Took at least 4-6 airbags out of the upper door frames and rear hip area before starting to cut. Then I cut the first part of the roof away. I wanted to take the whole thing at one time but there are some heavy steel reinforcing beams across the top of the door opening, front and back, and inside the B Pillars. Very impressive actually, but will cause more work than anticipated. The sun roof is a nice integral stand alone assembly. Came out whole and is in good shape - I think. I never bothered to try it out when the Lexus was operating. Anyone ever put a sunroof in their Plymouth coupe? I am not really inclined as the roof shape is my favorite part of the car!

Body swap underway! Easier to put he Lexus on the Plymouth frame, right?

Having now removed the front body panels from the Lexus, I was able to more accurately measure the distance between tires for track OD in the front. As it turns out, it exactly matches the Plymouth fender OD at 69". My next task is to disable the air bags as I start to peel away the rear and side body panels on the Lexus. So far, it appears there is substantially more frame on this car than most uni-body examples. Perhaps because of the electric motors in the center and battery pack in the rear.

The Plymouth is up on two carts now and very stable. Actually I used two carts from previous projects, one long one, catching the gas tank in the rear to the A-pillar support at the front, along with two supports in between. The square front cart I had used previously on a truck cab, catches the firewall supports and the radiator support. With the car off the chassis, I was able to more accurately measure clearance between fenders. I am happy that at the rear I am over 1" wider that the Lexus track OD. Up front, it is marginal, but doable. The track OD will be about 1" over width. This could possibly be remedied with slimmer tires up front. On the other hand, the fender opening provides a full diameter opening compared to the rear, plus the Lexus tires are smaller in diameter, so there will be clearance, but as a rule, I do not like tires that protrude beyond the fender well.

This is the subtle approach I will give to the Plymouth. Nothing apparent from the outside. Most people who see the "Electric" emblem think it's a fake. That its a joke of some sort. The Plymouth should look a bit more like a standard resto-mod under the hood. Not this guy!

Truth in advertising..Read the emblems first!

Two weeks later and my body is recovering from lifting and moving the chassis from under the car body. During the lift process, I found lots of rust in the rockers and sills to finally realize why the doors weren't closing properly. For an instant during the lift I had really nicely latching doors, so there is hope. I searched everywhere for specific anchor bolt locations. The four on each side were easy to locate. There was mention of an odd one penetrating the spare tire well. In addition there are two at the rear of the trunk going into the rear frame rail, then two at the radiator support. Some of mine were hidden by rust and had no ressemlance to hex head bolts. Surprisingly, most of my bolts came out easily which made it a success. Only one bolt head to chop off. I drug out a body dolly I have used multiple times and will now refit it to work on the Plymouth body.