Darrin body cradle/dolly

[njpatera]

Greetings!...in the stages of acquiring parts for my Darrin... while in the planning stages of a body off, I'm looking for some pictures of any body cradles/dolly used to hold/suspend the body, and secure points for reinforcement while lifted. (Words of wisdom are humbly welcome :-)
Regards!

[pjkaiser]

I have had my Darrin reinforced with three layers of Fiberglass while on its top, then I built a cradle w/wheels to support the body at 8 points.   I will get pictures to you so you can see what I did.  My body is very solid now.  WHere are you located?

[njpatera]

Excellent! I appreciate it!...I'm in NE Ohio.

[pjkaiser]

I was in Ohio on my way to the Nationals last summer!!!  Went right through Cleveland to U of Akron for research on my Darrin Jr.

Both the front and rear of the Darrin had molds make of them (see previous posts of #81) and were replaced before the whole bottom was redone.  I believe my car was raced since it was worn out and the whole right side had a lot of repaired damage.   I just laid the body on its top and shimmed up the metal frame that made up the base (i had the passenger compartment braced when I took it off the frame, see other posts of #81).   I used Dustless Blasting to clean the whole bottom,  they did a great job and when they were done the fiberglass was prepped for work (see previous #81 posts).   I wish I had done the top first, using them.   I used 14' 2 x 10's as the base, used corner braces for rigidity and cut to fit to support at the mounting holes in the body.   I built the frame while the top was down on another rolling bar then turned it over with the help of 6 guys.  I did not need the braces any more, since it is so rigid with the extra fiberglass.  The body only weighs about 400#'s (300 with the original body and we added over 100#s of fiberglass and resin, so it's easy to move around.

Email me: pjmiata@hotmail.com

[njpatera]

Thank you! Great pics and info I was looking for!
Regards,
Noah

[pjkaiser]

Glad to be of help, email me when you get closer to starting.   You should be close to our President, in NE Ohio!!

[njpatera]

I'll definitely email you! Thank you again.