[camjoe63]

I am going to throw this out there for those who are interested in plans for a body jig. I work for a design house and have access to everything I would need to generate actual C size drafting plans. What this means is a do it yourself jig with all of the material requirements and photos of the jig under construction. After looking at the post from Carl B ( 68 VT ) I thought I would put a feeler out for all of those that are doing a frame off build. I have a copy of the Fisher book and dimensional drawings of where the mount points needs to be. If another member is already doing this and wants to share design ideas then P/M me and will talk. I want to make this clear that I am not trying to make a business out of this or make claims that I can not deliver on. I am in this for the love of the hobby and what a Camaro means to me...
If I get enough interest in this jig I will pursue it till the end and post back with the results.

Joe

[jimjrrussell]

I would definitely be interested. Any "ball park" ideas of the costs involved building one?

[camjoe63]

Using the post that got me started on this Carl spent $300 for the steel. My plans are for a base jig that you would add the floor pan,firewall,,frame rails,,trunk pan. Then a front jig that you add for the inner cowl and pillars so you can mate the top section to the pan. this is what I have been seeing on the jigs that I have looked at. Once I get this on paper I will give it to the design group I work with. They can figure out how much metal it will take to create both jigs.

Believe it or not it was funny talking to the design group about this when our current project has to do with outer space. I guess you would have to know the people I work with to get it.

[TJS69]

A jig would be an excellent idea. The only thing I would add, is to make it adjustable so other makes or brands like chevelles etc. could also be used on it I have AutoCad and pro-e here at home so let me know if you need assistance.

[1969ss]

This is pretty interesting, and I don't even have a camaro. You mentioned $300 for steel.

Heres some things I'm thinking about, and I am not trying to be critical.

As far as the initial base for the jig, if you build it wherever, how much flex if any will it have, for instance taking your jig, then moving it to another building with an irregular out of level floor, I would think the base would have to have a lot of thought put into it.

Then the other thing to look at, if you build it to factory dimensions, once you build the body, will it matter if you put a small or big block in it as far as weight, and also the weight of the transmission, and type of body support donuts, what effect will it have on the panel gaps, in particular the door gaps.

Maybe this won't really matter that much, just throwing a few things out there.

Something else to think about.

This is not directly related to what your proposing to do, but thought I should throw this out to think about.

Back when the cars were new, a lot of them were driven in the winter, and we put snow tires on them and sometimes put extra weight in the trunk.

Every once in a while you would see a car that had a problem with the paint cracking around the area where the quarter panel met the roof, I wonder if this was part of the problem.

I also wonder about full body floors with the rockers and everything in one piece, what does this do to the body, will it have less flex, does it matter, I don't have a clue.

I could be wrong here, but my line of thinking, if you build a body jig, it should be made adjustable, so you can take the preloaded car as it sets, then adjust the jig to fit that stance, like several legs on the jig, to raise it up or down. If you make the jig so it can be dissasembled, then it could be transported to different areas.

If you build a body off a specific jig, then bolt it on a frame, say maybe poly body mounts, then you put an expensive paint job on it, what will happen when you drive this car over uneven railroad tracks or whatever, will cracks in the paint start showing up, maybe not. I don't know if the original thicker body supports and thinner floor pans have any effect on any of this.

I have brought up a lot of hypothetical situations here, that might not mean anything, but once the body is made and torqued down to the frame, what is going to happen after it flexes itself into a kind of natural weight.

there is quite a bit of weight in all the glass in a car, keep that in mind.

I guess after all these what ifs I just put down, some suggestions should also be in order.

Build your jig so it can dissasembled and slid under the car, use several legs that have height adjustment, get accurate measurements of the height of each body mount from the floor, then mark locations on the floor where the jig will set. Then you have duplicated the way the car sets pre-loaded, then unbolt the body and build it to those heights.

Anyway, just trying to help out here.

Rob

[alanrw]

It would seem you are best off with a dedicated jig for just Camaros that is welded solid and braced. If you make it adjustable, guaranteed there will be some drift at the anchor points and it won't take much to throw the whole thing off.

It would seem that the main design requirement aside from everything being in the correct position in space is that there is no drift in the jig itself.

alan

[Arai]

i'm interested....

[gn69z28]

I am also very interested in having one..but I also agree that it should NOT be adjustible for anything else..Camaro Only......

[yellow69RS]

Originally Posted by camjoe63

Believe it or not it was funny talking to the design group about this when our current project has to do with outer space. I guess you would have to know the people I work with to get it.

Rocket Scientests! Great Idea, my car is past the need but I'm sure it would help others. Please remember that steel costs vary across the nation.

Jeff

[68rs396ss]

I'm interested as well. I have a 68 convert. that needs floors and trunk, so a jig would be a great thing to have.

[1969ss]

If these rocket scientists will take this project on, it will be a great opportunity for us to learn a lot.

Rob

[rodent4]

How acurate must these things be I made 2 of these last weekend.

[Arai]

Originally Posted by rodent4

How acurate must these things be I made 2 of these last weekend.

No....you made a rotisserie.......we are talking about a jig to build the car from ground up starting with just framerails, then a floorpan, then the trunkpan, then the firewall, and then mating the upper portion of the old shell with the new section. In a rotisserie, you have to cut out 1 piece at a time of those and replace them.


**BTW though........I like your construction there!!

[camjoe63]

I am glad to see this project taking on some legs. Just to sum up for those that want to do a ground up build using a jig. My intent is to create one that is durable enough so the jig will not twist. Also have the ability to be mobile with level adjusters. Here is the kicker that i threw at the design group,,,all materials used must be simple enough that only require 30 to 45 degree cuts on the steel. The adjustable leveler design must be a simple one with no need for any special order parts. In laymens terms build a jig with materials that anyone can get at there local Home Depot/Metal supply house.

Joe

[mb302rs]

I'm interested, I don't have a need for a jig a present, but I can see it coming.