How to Remove 1927 Coupe Body from Frame

[BLB27]

I would appreciate some guidance how to remove a 1927 coupe body from the frame. I want to remove it to be able to repaint the frame. The T has not been run for many years.

[jab35]

Bruce: The right and left firewall brackets attach to the frame at front of body. Two bolts either side front floorboard area pass thru body subframe to frame mounts on outside of frame rails. Two similar bolts at front of seat riser, two more similar bolts at rear of seat riser, under seat back cushion. bolts each side pass thru the 'ears' of rear frame crossmember just above rear axle near ends of rear spring. Looking at the underside you will see wood blocks supporting the body subframe at points of attachment. If you text a message to 6 zero 7-Five 9 2-four 8 8 two I'll respond with a pic. Best, jb

[Squirrel]

I did this recently, although I actually removed almost everything from the frame except the body, then supported the body, and removed the frame from underneath.

There are those two brackets at the firewall, and then 8 more bolts and nuts along the frame. They're pretty easy to find from the underside. You probably want to remove radiator, hood shelves, fenders, running boards, and aprons first. Along with the wiring, steering column, brake lever, etc.

Figuring out how to support the body is the fun part, of course. If you have 4 very strong and agile people you could just lift it off, but that's kind of scary....

Hopefully more folks who have done it, will chime in.

[Humblej]

Remove the body to frame bolts, and the steering column and hand brake so you do not have to lift the body over them, remove rear fenders and running boards so you can get in closer, remove the doors and anything else to lighten it, and four people can lift and move it.

[hah]

It seems question has been answered. Now does he have to call on 4 local 7 iron workers to lift the body? Body rickety? Top heavy? Does he have to worry about body folding like accordion when moved? Any other interesting bits of information?
These would be sample of couple my questions as I will be doing this soon.
Fyi could have made new thread. However, easy access is best.

[John kuehn]

Here’s what I did to remove the body of my 24 Coupe. It’s essentially the same for the later 25-27 T’s. This is the one man way to do it.
Find a location in you shop to set the body in place.
Remove the body to frame bolts and the exhaust pipe.
Remove the fenders, spare tire carrier and running boards and any wiring that’s connected to body.
Get 2 or 3 sawhorses and place them under the frame. Make sure the sawhorses are just narrow enough so they will be between the wheels Jack up the body just high enough and place a 2x4 across the sawhorses and lower the body down.

The body is now high enough so you can roll out the chassis from under it.

Now you can do what need to do on the body or chassis
Took me about 4 hrs to do it by myself.

[BLB27]

Thanks John. Why remove the fenders and running boards? Why remove the spare tire holder?

[John kuehn]

In my case I was restoring the car so I pulled of the fenders and running boards so I could straighten and repaint the fenders individually. I removed the spare tire carrier so I could roll out the chassis from under the body. The spare tire holder is attached to the frame and was to tall to clear the back of the body since I had to roll the chassis forward. Thinking back I might have been able to roll it backwards if I had more room in my garage.
When I had the chassis out in the open I stripped it down and pulled the engine and rebuilt it.
While I was doing that I repaired the frame here and there and had it sandblasted.

The frame looked pretty neat cleaned up and repainted. I wished later I would have took some pictures when I was rebuilding the different aspect of the car.
People have done it other ways but that’s the way I did it by myself.