Separation anxiety

The first thing I needed to do, once the car was emptied of it's contents, was to get the body off of the frame. It wouldn't be too difficult of a task, because it never was bolted back on when I moved it.

Ready to lift

Using the same technique we applied to Daniel's Mustang when we restored it, I suspended two come-alongs from the roof trusses of the shop. Using tow straps, chains and unistrut, it was a simple process to winch the body high enough to roll the frame out from underneath.
Having the car body dangling almost four feet off the ground is always a scary sight!
From there it was a matter of positioning the dolly so that the car would sit nice and balanced. Since the BelAir is almost a foot

Up, up and away

wider than the Mustang, I had to attach some 4x4 cross beams on the dolly to catch the rockers of the Chevy. This actually makes it sit even higher, which is good for working on the under side.
The body now rolls effortlessly across the shop floor.
I rolled the frame outside and gave it a god wash down. Once the dust was gone, I was surprised to see how poorly the chassis black paint had protected the metal over the past 16 years. Rust is poking through on every surface that faces up. Unfortunately, this means more work on the chassis that I had anticipated. The good news is that I've been using an epoxy chassis paint, Rust Seal, that should provide a long-lasting barrier.
I plan to focus on the frame for a while. First the rust mitigation, then installation of a new disc brake

Scary times....

setup that I purchased at the November Turkey Run here in Daytona Beach. When I did the suspension back in '99, my intention was to make the car as original as possible, so I installed a new set of drum brake components on all four corners. As well as a nod to safety and modern braking technology, the disc brake purchase was another way to prompt me to move forward with this project.

Back on solid ground. Whew!

All tucked in for the day.