Need a rotisserie....have questions.

I suppose $55. isn't the end of the world.

I got a whirly jig pro model, we picked it up at the nats back in 92 and it still looks and works like the day we bought it. No doubt in my mind they are the best out there I also got the wheels and hitch kit to roll it off road, nice for moving on my dirt/gravel driveway.

You won't regret the Whirly-Jig. I bought one used here on Moparts, and love it!

Whirly-Jig here.

Okay it's all y'alls fault.....

Cool deal! and you got a dog house out of the deal too.

Okay now that I have the rotissire......I feel really dumb! I probably have more questions now than I had before I bought one! I have seen a lot of cars mounted up, I have had the Duster mounted up on one.....and still have no idea if we are doing it right!

First I am not mechanically gifted as many here are. We have measured, re measured, and re measured.....checked, re checked, and re checked again. Just can't get the concept of how to balance before we spin it over. We have made sure the front and rear crossbars are the same distance from the floor. The car is still top heavy. We looked at the instructions for using the balance that came with the kit. Still have yet to figure out how that is going to work......??? Yep I feel really dumb now!

Okay. We were going off the instructions on where to mount. Right now this is just mocked up and still sitting on jack stands.

Front....

Where you have it mounted will work fine but on e-bodies I always use mounts that use the rear spring hanger hole. Leave it, you'll be fine.

To balance the car:

Put a spirit level on your floor - take a reading. Put the level on the door sill and adjust the car to match to the floor (close is good). This is done with the threaded rod on each end - adjust one up or down as necessary. The crossbars at either end will not necessarily be at the same height since the front and rear mounting points on the car are likely not at the same height.

So now that its level, you want to balance it.

Pull the locking pin out of the sprocket an loosen the lock bolts so the car can spin. Hopefully you haven't already got it too high but that's unlikely). Try to spin the car - push it a foot or so and then let go. If it wants to drop back to its original position then its too low. Adjust the threaded rods at each end equally to raise the car. Repeat trying to spin the car and adjusting till the car doesn't want to drop back to its original position. It should also get easier to spin as it gets closer to balanced.

Depending on what you still have on the car you may not get it balanced at all - i.e. if the rear end and front suspension are still in place then forget it, there is just too much bottom end weight.

Just re-read your post and looked closely at your photos. You have the crossbars cranked up to the max - that's why the car is "top heavy". You have to lower the car with the threaded rods at each end.

You use the threaded rods to adjust "balance" ONLY. The working height is adjusted using the hydraulic jacks and the pivot heights at each end MUST be the same. When adjusting working height, imagine the car spun on its side ... the pivot height will be the driveshaft tunnel height.

Your fine mounted in the manner you show, did mine to the same locations without issue, though my mounting was a bit different in the structure.

The real choice you face is limitation of mounting position;

As shown, you'll need to touch up paint if you leave it on the jig, but it's horribly convenient when mounting your pre-assembled rear axle/spring combo and checking fitment of the rear valance.

Mounting to the spring perch makes for better paint access but makes for a pain while trying to remove and reinstall rear axle/spring combo. This location also eliminates you from checking the fitment of the rear valance unless you intend to temporarily take it off the jig.

As for balancing, use the whirly jig instructions, the base concept is that as the car is raised relative to the rotation center point, a balance position will be realized. This location may change if you mount the car with anything on it (perhaps glass still in doors, front suspension components, ect, ect)

Working on the jig is a real saver, the benefits far out weigh the inconvenience of time to mount the car.

Whirly Jig recommends using round bar stock running the length of the system in each of the lower outboard positions, for several reasons I chose instead to use square tube steel sections with an oversized coupling in the center to join the lengths, this now gives me better flexibility to have correct length tubing runs based on the cars actual length with minimal excess tubing protruding from beyond the jig. This approach also makes it easier to transport should you decide to move the jig less a car.

What I do is rent mine for minimal money, gets free storage and helps pay for itself. If I need it in the future it's available for reclaim, though I admit I rent only to trustworthy friends.

Good luck whatever you decide for mounting position and setup.

Okay. This morning we rewatched the video. We did as mentioned above and raised the yoke. That got us balanced!! Now we are trying to decide how to brace the back to the frame rail or leaf spring hanger. If we use a leaf spring hanger the rubber bushing will flex. So.....

So anyone have good close up pics of ebody mounting? We were thinking of attaching an angle iron plate to the frame rail and the rear brace.

Whirley Jig sells the pieces you need . I made my own. It bolts where the bumper brace goes.

The 2 green pieces.

Heres a pic of how I set mine up, a bit unconventional by what many would do, note you can see the tube steel supports I spoke of below. . . . front is standard.

How does this look?

That should do it.

Here are the front and rear e-body mounts I sell with my rotisseries. Rear uses the spring hanger. What you're doing is fine and shouldn't have needed any additional bracing (just more stuff you have to work around).

What type of bushing or fitting do you use in the eyelet the frame rail?


I think I will order US Car Tool subframe connectors tomorrow. Then tack them in place (multiple places), while the car is on jack stands. That way I should not have to worry about the body flexing when we roll it over on its side or top for the first time.

bushings ... anything that will fit, even blocks of hardwood.

Tack them on jack stands and finish welding on the rotisserie. Overhead welding is not for the faint of heart!

The owners manual calls for ROUND (not square) 2" ID black water pipe. We chose to get galvanized so that it would not rust. Cheap.....not exactly! 42 feet was $126. Schedule 40 is pretty thick and it is pretty heavy.