I have been hearing alot about body flex while the car is on a rotisserie lately. My car has been on a rotisserie for about two years. I blasted the body, epoxy primed, and changed the trunk floor. Next i am installing new quarters and deck lid, which will be done as soon as it warms up here.(Probably April). The car is just a shell that is connected to the rotisserie from the bumper mount holes. Am I going to have trouble fitting quarters, doors, fenders, etc. when I take off rotisserie and mount "Car Rollers" to the spring hanger mounts and front bumper mounts and start assembly?
Thanks,
Mark

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Next i am installing new quarters and deck lid, which will be done as soon as it warms up here. Am I going to have trouble fitting quarters, doors, fenders, etc.

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I'm sure there will be alot of differing opinions on this but yes you may run into problems aligning the sheetmetal while the car is on a rotisere.

I am going to hang the sheet metal after the car is on "Car Rollers", not on the rotisserie.I am wondering if the car could have flexed after being on rotisserie for that long. I guess what I am asking is if the body flexed or sagged, would it go back to normal after removed from rotisserie?
Thanks again,
Mark

it's possible that it has sagged,hopefully you had door braces while the car was on rotisserie,any welded in bracing will help to keep the body from flexing and twisting, but once it's back on the ground,I'd hang doors,fenders,hood,deck lid before welding the quarters or any other sheetmetal, that way you can make sure all panels lign up prior to welding

What do you think about tack welding quartes in place, Then removing from rotisserie and fitting the rest of the body panels. After fitting, I could punch mark the panels for final fitting. Put the shell back on the rotisserie for final welding and paint?

bad idea, you will have a very hard time getting all panels to lign up,it will be a nigmare,you need the weight of the car back on the suspension mounting point or atleast on the pinchwelds of the rockers or frame rails,

Even to hang the quarters?

if you're doing full quarters, it will be a mess,only if you're changing lower halfs,it might be alright,since the old quarters are removed,the body will flex like a wet noodle on rotisserie,it's not that hard to get the car off and back on rotisserie,maybe an hour, if you have a buddy or two helping, it would even be faster, I know I wouldn't take that chance

If the structural components of a unibody shell are sound and undisturbed I don’t see how any body flex taking place from being mounted up on a rotisserie could become permanent over any length of time. If it were so weak as to permanently distort under its own weight these cars would have folded up long ago. With that said, full quarter panel skins are considered a structural component on these cars and should not removed or replaced mounted up on a rotisserie. IMO, short of having the shell secured to a frame table or jig, the only safe/accurate way to change the skins would be, as mentioned, having the body supported at suspension mounting points. Not just the forward spring hanger mounting but resting on mounted springs distributing the weight across both front and rear spring mounting points.

I see what you mean. If I put the car on the "car rollers" that are mounted to the front spring mounts and the front bumper mounts, do you think that would be proper support to hang the new quarters (full AMD) and fit all the body panels? After fitting all panels and welding quarters, removing deck lid, hood, doors, and fenders mounting back on rotisserie for paint?
Thanks,
Mark

Have a look at this article over at Mopar Muscle. May be of some help.

Thanks for the article. What do you think about modifying my rotisserie so that I can mount arms off of the base to ALL the suspension points on the car, therefore making it a rigid frame table on wheels, yet still being able to use it as a rotisserie when needed?

Dodge and Plymouth factory shop manuals show the correct way to shore and level a car for structural repair of the unibody unit. Some decent pictures information about what to use and so on.

regards,
doc

I don't know why I didn't think of that. I will look in the shop manual for info.

All I can find in the service manual is the body and frame alignment dimensions. What would be suggested to support and level the car?

I agree that the car would flex like a wet noodle and should have the weight distributed on the suspension mount points. What is the easiest way to do this? I don't want to put all the suspension back together at this point. What type of jig or whatever do you use?
Thanks,
Mark

If you put the car on the "rollers it should be fine.Be sure to mount the doors and if you plan on new or rebuilt door hinges you need to put those on as well before mounting the doors.Make sure the doors line up with the old quarters before cutting them off otherwise you may have trouble lining up afterwards. In other words, if you line up with the old door hinges and replace the qtr.,then replace the hinges the door may sit higher and not match the new qtr.I have seen that happen before and its not easy to fix. I guess that may be a little different with the AMD panels as it is an entire replacement but better safe than sorry IMO.

Thanks for the info. I allready have rebuilt door hinges so that won't be a problem. So as soon as I get some decent weather, the car will go back on the floor mount the doors and start the quarters. By the way, the car is a 70 Challenger R/T.

post your project Chally on c-c

Forgive my ignorance, but what is c-c?

Dave, thanks

Personally i would put the car on 4 even jackstands and do my work(brace then replace), after being on the rotisserie. It can be leveld pretty good that way.

Here is how my 70 GTX looks in the WORST possible position. Yes it flexed a LOT with the wheel cans removed but before the quarters and rockers were removed. We leveled the car on jack stands ,then removed the 1/4's, rockers, and pillar posts.
The replacement 1/4,rocker,pillar assemblys which were removed from a donor car went right on and fit with very minor effort. My next step will be to hang the doors from rebuilt hinges to make sure of alignment then I will finish welding all the holes. The pieces are welded and screwed (temporary) enough for clearance of doors at the moment.

Pic 2
Lots of work but it is at least looking like a car again!

The trunk lid lined up fine.

Another view

Sounds like a plan. Looks like your GTX is coming along nicely. Thanks for the pics, looks like it shouldn't be a problem.