Couple ???'s about my blazer project!!
 

I've got another bodyman now, I'm taking it to him in a week or so. We are talking about taking the whole body off and getting it blasted. Do we need to support the body so we don't spring it out of place?? I think I read that somewhere. Since I'm going to have the body off what would you guys do to the frame, rear and frontends, springs etc? Have them blasted to? Then paint or what is best? THANKS for the help!!!!! Randy

I Saw A Project On Here Back In Early 2004 When I Joined Were A Guy
Made Braces That Bolted To The Top Door Hinge Location And Went
Across To The Latch Plate, It Looked Like 1" Square Tubing With A
Plate On Each End For Easy Bolt Up, He Even Had One Were The Tail
Gate Was At The Upper Handle Release Points, If I Were Removing
The Body I Would Make Some Of These Or Just Leave The Doors On It
During Removal, Mine Had All Of The Above Done, Everything That U
Listed, If You Click My Bottom Link There Are Plenty Of Pic's ;)

body
 

Randy.

Keep the hard top on for all the structural work as that is what keeps everything lined up. Once the top comes off it will sag on each end and if it is welded back together like that the roof will never line up again. How rotton is it? If you want an idea of the strength of the roof, unbolt the top from the windshield header and box rails, lift it up and see how the doors open and close.
Darrell...

Randy, in the big GM assembly, it talks to shimming the mounting locations for door alignment etc. Taking the body off the frame will cause it to sag especially if the inner rocker boxes are weak. Keepin the top on will help prevent this but moving the body will be difficult as the top probably weights 400lbs+. I would tend to have any structual repair done before removal from frame. In fact if the frame is solid, it is necessary to remove the body?? You can sandblast or pressure wash the frame then shoot it with Eastwood rust prevent or Por15 then move on to replacing body mounts, shiming for alignment etc. Frame restoration if solid is easy enough as is outer diff cleanup. Critical issues are the inner rocker boxes, inner quarters, floor, firewall and windshield surround. Everything else is minor in comparison.

"Do we need to support the body so we don't spring it out of place?? I think I read that somewhere. "
For sure, I would just tac weld some 1" tubing in the door and tailgate openings. Just my .02

It all depends on how solid your body is, and the method you are using for lifting it off of the frame. Basically the rocker boxes will keep it from folding in half, so if they are solid you shoudn't have any worries.

make sure the body is aligned right before tacking in the braces. though. I'd put the top on before tacking the braces in place.

Thanks for all the info guys!!!!!!! Right now it still has top and doors on it, tailgate is off. No front clip on it now. The pass door is out of line a bit already. Thanks Randy

Randy Im getting ready to have my 69 blasted to get it ready to take of the frame we put the top on and alined all the door openings once it was all looking good we put a cross brace in front of the tale gate then be hined the door jam from left to right side we did this because when the top was off the tale gate would not line up the blazer tub would spred apart. we then removed the doors and braced the doors from door jam to fire wall we alos took a braces from floor to top of the bed rails to keep the body from twisting. you may not need to go this far but I needed to weld in rockers one rocker box and one floor pan and patch the floor pan on the drivers side. I had thought abought leaving the top on it its a single wall and I removed the hatch and all the windows to lighten it up but in the end we decided to remove the top. now will have to waight for my body guy to let me know when to bring it over to him. I may end up having some one else do the blasting If I can find some one local that can do it for me.

This is the way we did my son"s (orangeuavol):
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jason_burkhart/my_photos

Align you doors now if those are the ones you are going to use and drill to small 1/8" holes in the hinges caddy corner from each other. You should be able to stick the nail portion of a rivet in there. That way when you remove doors and all and reinstall them, they are lined up already. Definitely align your body before you disassemble it.

Thanks guys for ALL the info!!!! :D I appreciate it.