Castered cart for bare body

Stevesmith · #1 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 08:00 AM

Hi,

I'm about to start towards the Dark Side and begin restoration of a '66 GT body shell. It's a one owner car with only slight body damage on the left fender. All mechanical parts will be removed so it can be bead blasted before paint.
I want to build a rack or cart with casters so I can roll the shell from place to place and not have to keep suspension bits and the rear end on the car during the process. Has anyone built a rack like this? How was it done? From what materials? What does a bare GT shell weigh?

Thanks for your help!

Steve Smith

Alfajay · #2 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 08:07 AM

Steve:

I built a cart for my Sprint GT using 2X6 wood from Home Depot, and 4 large casters. I designed it so that the casters were directly below the load points, so that the wood wasn't bearing any weight.

The wood attaches to the body at the front using two tabs that are built into the front crossmember (see top photo below). Nothing attaches to these in the completed car, and Alfa removed them from later models - probably they were used at the factory for a similar purpose - securing the body to tooling. You can see how I stacked two 2X6 pieces as the front crosspiece - the upper 2X6 had an arc cut out of it to accommodate the shape of the crossmember.

At the rear, two steel angle brackets connected the wood to the trailing arm mounts.

Don't know how much the stripped shell weighs, but it isn't very much. I loaded the shell + dolly onto a tilt-bed truck for several trips back and forth to the body shop and upholsterer (installed the headliner before starting mechanical reassembly). None of the tow drivers were concerned about the integrity of the dolly, and it was easy to load-unload. Of course, the tie-down chains from the tow truck attached to the body and not to the dolly.

Only problem with this design was that the caster bearings got pretty messed up by the media - the bodyshop cleaned them up somewhat with carb cleaner, but they were never quite the same.

Here are some photos. Sorry, I didn't take any dimensions.

kpc655 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 12:14 PM

you can do it for under 75 bucks. i used the jacking points for mine..but if you need to do significant repair work (to the floors) it may be in the way sometimes.

Alfajay · #4 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpc655

you can do it for under 75 bucks.

peglegtom · #5 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 05:48 PM

for his Duetto. Looks like you are all on the same page. You just need something that can support the car and be able to move it on/off the trailer or other transport device without "falling off."

kpc655 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 02:18 PM

yeah, i did mine such that i can work on it for the next few months.

i bought some metal strapping and ran it through the jack points and then screwed it to the 4x4. seems to work well, it hasn't fallen off yet!

Rich · #7 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 03:07 PM

Hi,

I made mine out of steel, with all lockable wheels. The front wheels are fixed, the rear wheel swivel. if you going to build one made of wood, make sure it is hardwood for structural beams, with nuts and bolts. Also make sure the wheels are rated for at least 200kg each and installed under the jack points like you see in the pictures above, so that the wheel take all the load of the car.

I know what i did is a bit over the top, but i spent a lot of time under that car, cleaning all the oil of, installing new brake lines, new metal brackets, installing MC's for clutch and brakes, all alone with nobody at home, so if the falls on me I would be under it for a few hours before my wife comes home or tell she woke up the next morning.

If i had to make another, i would make it so that the car would sit higher like in the pictures above, this help when you pulling the front springs of the car. I used an original Alfa tool to remove the front springs and you need double the length of the front springs to attach the tool.

Rich

Stevesmith · #8 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 06:12 AM

Thanks to all of you!
I like the Idea of locking casters. I think I'll go with fixed ones at one end with swivels at the other. Too often large appliances seemed to have had a mind of thier own when pushed around on four swivelling casters.
I want to have the underside of the body sprayed with Rhino lining so I plan to have the body relatively high on the dolly for access.
Looking at the photos it appears that there is a lot of weight behind the rear casters if the body rests on the jacking points. Any tipping problems to relate?

Steve

cuorealfa · #9 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 11:43 AM

i wish i had all the know how i have a 74gtv that needs some work its amazing how u guys tackle the projects with ease .good luck to all of you.

Rich · #10 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 03:00 PM

No tipping problems, I have done about 10km pushing it in and out of the garage for the past 5 years. Putting the swivels wheels or swivel casters at the back helps to steer the car, just make sure they are all lockable, you don't want the car to move while you are under it. Your safety is more important then any car. Get some one to help you when attaching the dolly to the car.
Rich