Hi all

I'm about to begin the restoration of my 140FHC and I was wondering if there is any need to stabilize the body before lifting it off the chassis? I thought about removing the doors and then welding two square profiles in lieu of the doors on each side to stiffen the body.
Or is that not needed with the FHC roof? The body is healthy and has no significant corrosion, and the workshop manual does not mention anything either.

Any ideas welcome
Thanks
Chris

 

I would as a precaution. Be safe not sorry.

 

You need to take alot of measurements before you mount and for what you are getting ready to do i would definitly weld in bracing . It can be easy to tweek a body just from sitting underits own weight mounted to different areas other than sitting on a frame. Gotta watch a lot of resto and they all hae bracing welded in and take measurements. Whats looks good to the eye often is not to a tape measure.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I will follow the advice and take measurements and put in bracing.

Cheers
Chris

 

Hi,

Here's what we did...

 

We also made a dolly to support it with mounting points to match the frame. Notice the adjustable height on the uprights to make sure everything is even in all directions. Yes, the floor pan has been removed and there are no rocker panels in this pic, but with the supporting custom bracing it didn't move.

 

wow, that's pretty impressing. and a lot of work ahead!
Thanks for sharing
Chris

 

Could you please tell me what size tube you used on this XK140 ?

 

For a FHC not needed, I did 2 FHC. During restauration I left the body on a rolling frame.
After restauration I lifted the body on a wooden frame, to restore the Chassis.

 

Would only need frame support if full rockers removed. Hard top is itself stable when rockers are not removed. Stabilize e-types because yo do not know what the internal rockers look like.