04.22.08
We Have Lift Off!
This morning I disconnected what I thought were the last two bolts holding the body to the car. These bolts were the ones, which hold the steering column to the steering box. Once they were separated, I attempted to lift the body! I pulled on the lifting chain attached to the chain hoist that is suspended from my ceiling. Growwwl went the pulley as the chain hoist began to lift the aft end of the body. The lifting hook was connected to a chain that was wrapped around the rear bumper brackets as per instructions in the Bradley GT II Blue Print manual. I carefully pulled on the lifting chain; growwwl went the pulley raising the rear of the body. Slowly I continued. Growwwl, up, 2in clearance, growwwl I could see air between the body and the chassis, I continued growwwl 4in clearance, 5in, slowly, growwwl, I was beginning to feel as if I was about to accomplish the goal I set out to do for this day, growwwl then, slightly out of the ordinary, I heard three dissonant notes in perfect disharmony all at once; It sounded something like this…growwwl, crunch! Whooah! I stopped.
The “whooah!” came from Steve who had run to the front of the car as soon as the crunching noise was precieved. To which Steve completed the symphony when he joined in with his resounding “whoooah!” chorus. I lowered the body back down and surveyed the car. Oops! There were still eight bolts, not mentioned in the book, connected to a bracket, also not mentioned, at least not in the book, that I read. I realized that I would have to remove the headlight assembly in order to reach the bolts that hold the body onto the front bracket. I thought this would be a good time to cut out the front battery hatch, I carefully measured and masked off where I was going to cut. I decided the best way to cut it would be to use my Dremel with a cutting attachment. It turned out very good (see photo) but I will need to reinforce the hatch cover as it is pretty flimsy. While I was in the front, I decided that this would be a good time to get rid of the gas tank, which I did.
Once all of the remaining bolts were removed, we attempted the lift again. This time there was no discernable noise coming from the car when the body was lifted off the chassis.
Steve’s help was invaluable to me and as you can see, he was pretty pleased with the out come as well. That is him holding Pit Boss. Well done Steve! Thank you
