Well, this has been a bit of a struggle but I finally have the body attached to the chassis and it fits reasonably well. When I first attempted to attach it, my 3/8″ x 16 coarse thread bolts would not fit the inserts in the chassis, neither would my fine thread versions. So I lifted the body back off the chassis and installed 3/8 x 16 helicoils in all of the inserts. I then ordered a set of convertible body mounts from Wescott Mfg. While waiting for the mounts, I installed the fuel system and also repositioned the rear suspension height sensors. 

I also bought a very nice heavy duty threaded insert install tool and a variety of different sized inserts which came in handy when I was doing the fuel lines.

After the mounts arrived my 1st pass at mounting the body was close. When I received the body and original frame they had installed about 3/16″ of shims between the cowl mount and the frame. I used that as a starting point and found out that I really didn’t need them at this point. After I took them out yesterday the body fit the chassis very well and after enlarging two more mounting holes I got the body bolted to the chassis.

With all of the raising and lowering of the body using my two post lift, there was bound to be a screw up, and there was. I had the front posts of my lift positioned on the bottom of the A pillars, and during one of the lowerings the body slipped off the post on the left side. The bottom of the fender caught on the lift arm and caused the fender to crease on the top. So now I get to beat on the fender to get it straight again. If that is all the grief I get I will consider myself to be a lucky guy.

Next up, lining up the inner fender panels to match both the body and the chassis. Then fit and tack in the firewall. Cut a hole for the steering column in the firewall and mount the column to the dash. Then I will be able to connect the steering column to the rack and pinion box. Then fit up the toeboards and transmission tunnel and install the new floor. It should keep my busy for the rest of the summer!

The Body Is Mounted!

I am pretty happy with the fit of the doors for a 1st attempt. I have some aligning to do but they are pretty close to being where they need to be. Even though the latches on both doors have a fair amount of wear, the seem to open and close well… time will tell!