Got me a new rotisserie!

[green69rt]

Got a new toy last week and have been spending my time setting it up.   I tried to find a used rotisserie but didn't get any bites so ended up buying one from Dereck Weaver  (Dallas, TX.)

Came in a huge box, weighed 580 lbs.  Only way to get it into the garage was to have the freight Co. load it into the back of my pickup and then unbox while it was still in the bed.

Seems like a nice setup to a newbe like me.    Came with parts that other people offer as option.  Included where a set of casters,  2 hydraulic cylinders to lift the car and a set of adapters for attaching to the car.   It also included a gear operated rotating unit that was not included in the description.  What it didn't include was a set of useful instructions on how to put it together.

Pic #1 shows it as it arrived.

After getting it put together I had to figure out how to mount the car.  Front was pretty easy, just drilled tow sets of holes in the front adapter arms, buy some 3" x 1/2" bolts and bolt it up to the front bumper mounting bracket holes.  Pic #2.

The rear was a little harder.  I ended up modifing the adapters that came with the unit.  Pic #3 shows what happened.  On the left is the part I adapted as it came originally.  I cut it to a narrow piece (right) so that it would fit against the bumper mounting holes on the back of the charger.   Then got a piece of 3/16" stock from Lowe's (center) and drilled holes to match the bumper mounting holes.  Welded the stock to the adapter and done!

Pic #4 shows the car up and tilted!!  Much easier to get to the bottom now and even to get into the trunk!

[green69rt]

Couple of more pics to show the gear operator and extra adapters. 

[Troy]

So much easier! I swear I accomplished more in the first three weeks I had a rotisserie than the previous three years before.

If the thing is balanced right the gear mechanism will be way slower then just spinning the car by hand.

Troy

[green69rt]

So much easier! I swear I accomplished more in the first three weeks I had a rotisserie than the previous three years before.

If the thing is balanced right the gear mechanism will be way slower then just spinning the car by hand.

Troy

Yeah, it is slow but moves it ok.   However, it does make it really hard to balance since the gear locks the mechanism in place.  I got it pretty close.

[1965gp]

Very cool- would definitely like to get one some day.

[pandamarie]

Nice rotisserie. I just got my 69daytona clone up and running, had it on the rotisserie for a year getting all the body work and paint done, had to move it three times and had it come apart twice, first time no big deal second time came within an inch of smashing the top on the ground. If you have to move it tack weld all the connections so it doesn't happen to you. Scared the crap out of me..

[fy469rtse]

Mitch , how is the rears connected ? ,
Mine I altered the rear to pic up the bumper bolts and then extended arms under chassis to bolt up as well on those captured nuts in rear of chassis that are used for exhaust hanger Brkts ,
What's the plan , US car tool chassis connectors , torque boxes, radiator support
Paint the underside your self and you can stand there and fit all your brake lines , fuel lines and such,

[green69rt]

Mitch , how is the rears connected ? ,
Mine I altered the rear to pic up the bumper bolts and then extended arms under chassis to bolt up as well on those captured nuts in rear of chassis that are used for exhaust hanger Brkts ,
What's the plan , US car tool chassis connectors , torque boxes, radiator support
Paint the underside your self and you can stand there and fit all your brake lines , fuel lines and such,

I need to finish up a bunch of little stuff under the car.  Various metal screw holes that I made to hold the floors down till they were welded in, finish welding up the frame rail connectors (they're just stitch welded in now.)  Then any thing else I see.  Then clean it all up and shoot it with primer.   Then I need to flip the car so I can do a little filler on the leading edge of the roof (looks like rock had hit it and put little grooves in the metal.)

When it looks good then it;s time to think about paint for the bottom, trunk, engine bay and pass compartment.  That's probably a ways off given how slow I am.

The rear is only connected at the bumper bolts (pic #1.)   see the pic.  nothing is wiggling around or bending.   Actually bolts thru the bumber support brackets inside the trunk.  I had to turn the brackets so the locking bolts would clear the lip on the back of the tail light panel.  (pic #2.)

[fy469rtse]

Looks great Mitch , will make everything a lot easier to work on ,
And your not slow , just thorough , car looks really good   

[twodko]

Beauty rotis for sure but I want to know what the coating is on the floor.
Does it always look that great? Is the floor coating new? Looks like it was
applied over an older surface, what's the skinny here?
Man, that's a nice surface to have in any shop/garage.

Tom

[green69rt]

Beauty rotis for sure but I want to know what the coating is on the floor.
Does it always look that great? Is the floor coating new? Looks like it was
applied over an older surface, what's the skinny here?
Man, that's a nice surface to have in any shop/garage.

Tom

Got it done about a year ago while the car was gone to the first restoration shop (too expensive!!)   While my garage was empty I hired some professional folks to do it.  It's applied over the old concrete.  Two coats.  Before it was put down they ground the whole floor with a diamond wheel on a floor polisher machine,  you know those big round things that you can rent?  Then they went over the floor and filled all the tiny cracks (from stress or the concrete drying   ) with epoxy putty,  then they applied two coats of this epoxy paint.  I didn't add any of their optional color chips because I wanted to be able to see anything that dropped on the floor.   Plenty of traction without the chips, not slick at all so far, haven't tried poring oil on it but water does not make it slick.  Don't know the brand they used.  The high gloss finish does wear off with traffic but still looks good in general.

Took two days to complete the job, but they didn't use any acid.  I didn't want them splashing acid around, that's why I used this company.

[twodko]

Mitch,

Thanks for the info. My house was built in 1961 and the attached two car garage
has a common floating slab floor that's seen its share of wear and tear with stress cracks as well.
The rest of my home I've upgraded over that last decade but the garage floor is an
eyesore. My Charger would very much appreciate being parked on a much nicer surface
...........might even give me better gas mileage. That'll happen right? 
At 60 I'd have to hire someone for the job too.
When these guys came in with that abrasive disk machine did it kick up a lot of dust?
I'm with you about the color chips, I've never been a fan. Would you share what
ballpark cost of the job was? Texas prices will be more reasonable than PRK costs but it
it would give me and idea. Thanks.

Tom

[green69rt]

Mitch,

Thanks for the info. My house was built in 1961 and the attached two car garage
has a common floating slab floor that's seen its share of wear and tear with stress cracks as well.
The rest of my home I've upgraded over that last decade but the garage floor is an
eyesore. My Charger would very much appreciate being parked on a much nicer surface
...........might even give me better gas mileage. That'll happen right? 
At 60 I'd have to hire someone for the job too.
When these guys came in with that abrasive disk machine did it kick up a lot of dust?
I'm with you about the color chips, I've never been a fan. Would you share what
ballpark cost of the job was? Texas prices will be more reasonable than PRK costs but it
it would give me and idea. Thanks.

Tom

Yes it did kick up a bunch of dust.  I just covered everything I could with plastic and ran a couple of box fans to pull the dust out the back door.   My garage is oversized.  They had a sale for a standard 2 car garage for $1495 for just the grind/paint.  By the time they added the extra grinding to clean up some epoxy primer I had spilled and the extra square feet of the garage it was $1618.

Just found the receipt,  the paint they used is called Tile Clad epoxy for the base at 5 mils then GP3745 at 8 mils.  They said the chips help to hide stains but I was more interested in finding dropped screws, etc.

[twodko]

Thanks for all the info and time you took to post it.
I'm calling a couple flooring places today to see whats what.
My garage is a standard two car one. I'm not sure how I'll deal with
the dust. I just had my Trane HVAC unit cleaned and repaired.
I guess I could wrap the main housing with a small tarp I have.
Water heater I'd just have to blow off.....air compressor lives
in my garage. It might make sense to rent a large
industrial stand mounted fan to use while they grind.
The rest I supposed I could tackle with my leaf blower. 

[FJ6N96]

Hey that's great!  I really like your shop!

FJ6N96

[SovereignZuul]

How much was the rotisserie?  I've been wondering if it's worth buying one myself for my resto but the $1,000+ price tag scares me away.  $1,000 is a bunch of new car parts or a big compressor that I need for blasting.

[Troy]

How much was the rotisserie?  I've been wondering if it's worth buying one myself for my resto but the $1,000+ price tag scares me away.  $1,000 is a bunch of new car parts or a big compressor that I need for blasting.

How much is your time worth? I'd say my giant compressor has saved more time than the rotisserie (so far) but the rotisserie has saved wear and tear on my body. My compressor was $1,100 and the rotisserie was $1,500 buuuuuut both can be sold when I'm finished and I have 5 cars to restore so I like to split the costs between them.

Troy

[green69rt]

The rotesserie was right at $1300 and that's with everything.  I looked at others that cost less than $1000 but then you had to buy the castors, jacks, adaptor kits and powder coating was extra so mine ended up cheaper.  Shipping was free but I paid an extra $35 to have it delivered to my door (recommended!!)

I do plan to use it then sell it when done.

No more crawling on my hands and knees, no more laying on my back while working underneath the car, no more climbing a ladder to get into the trunk for work!!!

[green69rt]

No reason to add this post other than it is really neat to see the car upside down.

[twodko]

Everything is far more doable and easier on the back and bones with a
rotisserie. These are the pix you'll love to look back on.

[72Charger-SE]

I have to completely agree on saving years of time by using a rotisserie.  I was 'stuck' and about ready to 'throw in the towel' and sell my project.  I decided to build a rotisserie (which I am now renting out to others) as I could not get to the necessary areas to do the proper repairs.  I am so glad I built one.  I mounted the car on the rotisserie in mid October 2013.  I finished rust bullet and undercoating in March of this year.  I would NOT be at the point I am now without a rotisserie.  Since March 2014 the rotisserie has been rented out.  I like renting it out as I may decided to do another project at some point in the future.  Also, the revenue from the rentals pays for Mo-Parts...     This most recent rental is paying for the engine build.      Great decision!!

[74charger07ram]

Where did you get the plans to build your rotisserie? I thought about building one but don't know where to start.

[72Charger-SE]

I was in the same boat...   No Idea what or how to build it.   So...  Google and I began finding existing rotisserie designs.  I looked at many online designs and created my own design after picking and choosing what I liked best of each of them.  I then purchased all the steel at a 60% discount through the manufacturing company I work for.  My brother-in-law is a certified welder and did all the welding for me.  I spent my time using the drill press and prepping the pieces of steel to be welded.  When it was all done this is what we had created...

[twodko]

That's an outstanding home fab rotis! Nice work.

[green69rt]

Where did you get the plans to build your rotisserie? I thought about building one but don't know where to start.

I had several choices on how to get mine, ended up buying just because it was the lazy way.   There are several plans on the internet and a DIY kit on several of the vendor sites (gears, wheels, jacks, etc along with plans.)  I had considered going to the local high school welding shop and asking them to build it ( they like that sort of thing as project for students. )