Body turn/roll

[zeroaxe]

So to you out there that have done it before... I need advice. How would one go about turning/rolling a Beetle body that has been stripped clean and taken off the chassis? I have seen a few pics on the net of a Beetle 'on it's head' on those workhorse thingys, but how did they go about it? Bear in mind that I dont have an army to my disposal to help, it would probably only be me and one other person...

Thanks in advance!

[yetibone]

I'd seen this done most often with two engine stands, and pine 2"x8"s, or two engine stands and some fab work using 1" square pipe.

We set up a rotisserie to work on a friends race car this way (with the 2"x8"s) and it worked Ok, but wasn't what I'd call a sturdy structure. It did keep the uni-body off the ground, and with 4 people, we could flip the body upside down.

Attachment points on a Beetle would be the issue though. Maybe with a 16 foot joint of schedule 40 pipe passing through the windshield opening, back through the rear window opening, and braced into place with some 2"x4" truss work in both the front, and rear window openings, and an engine stand on both ends would be suitable. I'd never tried it like that, but that's 'bout the best home-grown VW rotisserie aparatus I can visualize.

[wrenchnride247]

Here's one type of "rotisserie" for car's (I know Zero it's me again ) I'm building one in the next few month's starting with two engine stands (body is on "saw horses" right now) will look like the one in this link.

http://www.autobodytoolmart.net/p-11...otisserie.aspx

Another I've seen (no link's or pic's) is a type that is two "hoops" that fit around the car, and basically make it into a giant hamster wheel. I'll see if I can find some pic's. I think I saw a pic of one on here last year sometime.

[zeroaxe]

Well, I got a dolly similar to this one

I use it for the chassis. When I first made it and got the chassis up there, the steel plate I used squealed under the weight of the chassis as soon as I turned it upside down. So after some extra bracing in place, it doesnt bend as much as before. Although it works for the chassis now, it wont work straight 'out of the box' with a body. The body will hit the upright posts like the pic above. I need it to go the full 180°.

wrenchnride247, although those hoops(I ahve seen them before too, and they seem great) will work, I dont have the space to roll the body over. Plus, it is not as 'portable' as a dolly, unless you somehow rig some wheels to it to push it around once it is rolled over.

yetibone, I am with you on this one. The only way to safely turn the body over without ripping the dolly supports(that attaches to the body) or mounting points on the body itself, is to rig up some extra bracing through the body itself, and then some triangulation on the dolly supports to spread the load. Thing is, this needs carefull planning, as the triangulation braces might hit the ground or the horisontal bar between the legs



Hmmmmm......

[wrenchnride247]

You got the right idea Zero :agree: . Another thing to think about is the center of gravity for the body. What I mean is, the balance point for the body when you "flip" the body around to get to the bottom. So the body doesn't "flip" to fast and uncontrollable, and cause body flex also. The point where the rotisserie pivots, needs to be as close to the center of gravity of the body as possible. Hope this makes sense (I'm confused now )

[zeroaxe]

I agree, but I think if you want to get to the lateral(?) or horizontal line through the body where it will turn only on 'demand', you will have to go through panels. if you put a horizontal bar through the windows, the bottom would be too heavy compared to the top. The way I see it is the only way to turn the body safely beyond the point where it 'falls over' in the direction of the turning, will have to be some kind of braking/friction system.... Am I close?

[yetibone]

Originally Posted by zeroaxe

I agree, but I think if you want to get to the lateral(?) or horizontal line through the body where it will turn only on 'demand', you will have to go through panels. if you put a horizontal bar through the windows, the bottom would be too heavy compared to the top. The way I see it is the only way to turn the body safely beyond the point where it 'falls over' in the direction of the turning, will have to be some kind of braking/friction system.... Am I close?

You are correct. If you make the point of rotation at the bottom of the front and rear window openings, the body will be bottom heavy. If you build a rotis like the one pictured a couple of posts above, the body will be top heavy.

If you drill through the rotis' pipe in 45 degree spaces, you can lock the whole assembly from rotating at 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270, 315, and back to 0 degrees from level. Most all engine stands have holes drilled through the receiver for it's engine attachment mount to lock the engine block from rotating. Some have one set of holes, some have two sets 90 degrees apart.

You'll likely not be able to make this work effortlessly by going through the front and rear windows. Unless you find the body's longitudinal center and make holes through it for the rotis, it may be more than a two handed job to rotate the body.

[wrenchnride247]

Yeti, having holes in the pivot is a must to keep body where you want it, but you guy's need to think "outside the bug" . It doesn't matter were you mount the body as long as the center of gravity is close to pivot point of rotisserie. I've drawn a "manual cad" version (don't have new auto cad '07 loaded at house yet). The dotted line is the pivot point. You just have to find the "sweet spot" to balance the body. The tubes that attach to the pivot have holes to help "find" the center point. Pictures are better than words IMO.

[yetibone]

We're on the same page... . I was only sacrificing ease of use for simplicity's sake.

What you have depicted in the manual CAD program ( ) looks perfect for the job. It could even be easily strengthened by incorperating the stock bumper mounts... :agree:

[zeroaxe]

Hmmm.... interesting indeed!! Gad I picked the brains of you folks. Seems that this is exactly what I was after! Ijust need to get the right materials that can handle the load without bending Thanks for the input and the hard work for the "Manual CAD" version :agree:


**please ignore the "thumbs down" icon in the topic line, dont know how I managed to get that in there!!!?**

[wrenchnride247]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add how to find the center of balance. When you have the body on the rotisserie. Try and get it to balance on it's side (as close as possible anyway). What your doing is trying to counter balance the mounting arms with the bodies position to the pivot point of rotisserie.

If you can wait about two month's (got 4 Harley's to paint for some people first) I can show pic's of mine, and give you a material's list + dimension's (will build as cheap as possible).

Oh yeah! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[AusSuper]

hmm, that would be better than my setup, and looks very good aswell, easily done with some minor fab work, id be interested to know how people go with making their own.

[zeroaxe]

wrenchnride247, I was thinking among the exact same line. With help from one other person, the balance point can be determined, and the 'arms' can be marked accordingly for easy mounting next time round if it is needed again. Funny that you should say "if you can wait two months", because the way my luck goes, something else will probably come up that needs my immediate attention

AusSuper, what exactly are you after? Dimentions of the rotisserie/dolly? I can give you some dimentions of mine if you want. I should have some photos on my other PC of the build too...(I can only get to it tomorrow though)

[wrenchnride247]

Hey guy's, I finally remembered the site were I first thought about using a rotisserie! This site will show you some key features to think about if you buy, or build one. Oh yeah, they are only about an hour away from my house (still building my own though ) Check it out.

http://accessiblesystems.com/bul/bul.php

[zeroaxe]

Puuuurrrrrfect! Cheers!:agree: