Poor man's rotisserie

I'm about to lift my tub off the frame. Originally I was going to set it on homemade (elephant proof) saw horses in the garage. I want to do some blasting to the bottom, though, so it got me to thinking about portability. Now I've come up with an idea to build a frame out of wood 2x4s that would bolt to the roll bar holes, flip the tub upside down, then mount the whole assembly to the top of my rolling work bench. My bench is about 4'x6', 36" high and has 5" castors. I built it myself and have had in excess of 1000# stack on top of it before without any problems. What do you guys think?

Got any pics of home brew rotisseries?

 

seems to me that someone here built one and posted pics. i'll try to check a search.

 

Well now that's odd - I only see three pages of fabricator's forum when I view and only goes back to mid December, but when I search I see this from May:
http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29260&highlight=rotisserie

Sorry. I just didn't bother to search because there were only three pages showing.

 

If you are going to work on the tub upside down, I think your table idea works the best. I always try to put in some temporary braces to hold the shape of the tub while the old floor is being removed and the new floor is going back in. It is also really easy to use a large piece of cardboard to make a template of everything before you cut the floor out.(that is if there is enough of the floor left to make a template with).

 

I made mine out of two engine stands

they were too low so I had to make the rotary part higher, some 3inch pipe and some square stock solved that part.

Jay

 

its really funny to see you guys doing the same thing i did. Go to harbor freight, buy 2 on sale engine stands, weld to jeep body. It was cheaper for me to buy the stands complete than to buy he steel and rod to fab my own. The only thing i did different was to add caster wheels to mine so can roll it sideways in my basement. Id add a pic, but it looks exactally like the one above, with the exception of the extention.

 

"imitation is the highest form of flattery" I already had an old engine stand and a lot of scrap channel laying around, so all I had to do was buy another one. It works great, I too got those little 3 wheel caster dollys for moving the body around. I like turning the body on it's side and pushing it over to the side to get more working room, when working on the frame.

Jay

 

When I did mine I found it easier to have it laying on its side or on the top. I knew I was going to refinish the sides, so I didn't care if the sides got all scratched up. I even was able to store it on the back panal to free up space in the garage.

 

Come on guys, I've seen Tommy B's rotisserie in person a couple of times, and it can't be beat! Got the complete instructions here too.... http://earlycj5.com/tech/body/rotisserie/index.shtml

And there's a lot to be said for being able to roll it out of the way when you need to.

 

yep. that's the one.

the engine stand idea is a nice one too.

 

i KNEW i'd seen a how to on that rig.

 

Where are you guys getting the caster dollys?

 

saw em yesterday at harbor freight

 

I didn't find them on the HF Web site. Guess it's time for a drive across town to the store.

 

I bought mine from Amazon.com. I think I paid $7 or $8 a piece

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_g...words=ace+super-tri+dolly&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go

 

Northern Tool also has them if you don't find what you want at HF. I upgraded my rotisserie from 4" wheels with brakes ($4 ea.) to 6" wheels with brakes (< $6 ea.) from NT. FWIW.

tommy b

 

Here's how I ended up doing mine. I am almost done with primer, and it has served me very well.

I used an old rolling work bench that I made years ago. It has 4" or 5" castors underneath it, and has held in excess of 1000# before on its top. The bench is very handy to have in the garage, and it normally serves as an assembly/finishing table for my woodworking projects. On top of that, I made a 2x4 frame. I built it similar to how you might frame a house. Super sturdy, and I can use a short step ladder to crawl right up on top and sand/grind/weld. I really like the motor stand idea, and if I had a shop big enough I would have done that idea. This worked for me because it didn't actually take up any additional room during the resto. You basically the bottom, firewall, and exterior, then flip it back on the frame to finish the interior. Anway, another option to throw in the pile:

 

Sorry to revive an old thread, just wanted to point out an updated link for Howard's WhirlyJig as the old link is broken. Thought this might help someone else.

http://www.tantel.ca/WhirlyJig.html