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noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?

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Offline patrick

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noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« on: June 13, 2006, 02:15:21 PM »
been fixing my tracker little by little and i think that removing the body off the frame would make repairing the floors and quarters alot eisier, has anyone done this and if so how difficult is it? if you could let me know whats involved, mounting bolts etc...
thanks in advance!

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Offline patrick

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2006, 02:18:39 PM »
i should have mentioned that its a 1989 tracker 2 dr removable top. 5spd

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Offline Yoak

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2006, 03:33:01 PM »
I would imaged putting the body on and realigning it would be more difficult than it is worth.

Most people when reparing floorpans leave the car on its frame...sounds like you are making more work for yourself

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Offline beerman

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2006, 04:01:14 PM »
+1, exactly what i was thinking...........

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Offline patrick

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2006, 04:27:26 PM »
thats good to know, i really wasnt sure and taking it apart seemed like a lot of work. thanks.
i think then that i'll rip out the carpets and seats and stuff and start at it.

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Offline Yoak

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2006, 05:50:47 PM »
Take some pics show us how the work goes !

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Offline patrick

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2006, 08:16:14 PM »
ok so i probably wont but... still kinda curious what i do if i wanted to, like where the body mounts are and such, it seems the more i peal away the more spots im finding that need repair. it does seem like a lot of work but hey might be fun  :) thanks again!

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Offline ddevil

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2006, 08:23:35 PM »
there's one(on each side) behind the front wheel, one in front of the rear wheel, one behind the rear wheel,  and one right under each front headlight(need to take the bumper off, and the light housing out).....  they're pretty hard to miss but that's all of 'em

milk
'95 geo tracker 2dr 5spd soft top with 2" suspension lift

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Offline Jimiweld

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2006, 12:35:28 PM »
I'm still in process of welding in new bits of floor and firewall all over my tracker. I re did the back already, had to replace the rear wheel wells and the area where the seats bolt to the floor as well as the corners where the rear passangers feet would sit. This week I cut all the bad material out of the passanger side, the hole was huge I drove around for two days watching th passanger wheel and suspension work as I drove, it's my daily driver and I put 100kms on a day. It was rotted to the point that after I took all the insulation off of the firewall I could see my battery from inside the car. Last night I welded all new 16 gauge material in as well as some 1/8" plate in certain areas. It's very strong now and I shaped it to give lots of clearance for the 31" wheels.  It may not be pretty but it will keep the water out and stop the cops from pulling it off the road if I
  I would recommend taking all the carpet out and just targeting one area at a time. If you plan on doing a body lift do it first. I found the extra 3" of space made the repairs much easier (cables, tranny lines etc are out of the way of the cutting wheel on the grinder)
1990 Tracker - 3.5" body Lift, 1.5 coil spacers, 31" TRXUS tires, homemade front bumper, Automatic Tansmission, 5.12 diff gears. Rear is Locked

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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2006, 03:04:10 PM »
I've been contemplating the same thing - remove the body to either repair it, or replace it with a rust free one from aftermarket4x4....
There are 8 body mounts, gas filler neck, brake lines, steering rod, t-case shifter, manual/auto shifter, differential vent hoses, fuel canister under the hood..... just a bunch of stuff. You'd just have to go over everything twice, front to back.

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Offline patrick

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #10 on: June 19, 2006, 01:16:42 PM »
thanks for all the input so far, i saw this sidekick on cardomain where the guy took the body off, few detailed pictures, but the end result was pretty sweet.  The other night i finished removing?? more like tearing out the rotted carpet and seat belt mounts and started stabbing away with a screwdriver to find the soft spots, worst part is someone did a sheet metal, andgasket toeboard fix sometime before i got it. I'm looking at repairing ds and ps toeboards, rear quarters(after i get some 31's) along the seams right beside the seats, in both corners where the passengers put their feet and two smaller holes under the rear seats, and some minor repair by the rear tailights. Oh yeah first i gotta hammer out all the tar somebody sprayed inside! Ive got some old street signs lying around that i might form and use for the floor.  Still no pics sorry. soon....

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Offline patrick

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #11 on: June 19, 2006, 01:31:49 PM »
another question, please dont laugh! does the engine and tranny have to go first or can you lift the body right off . like i said never done this before... thanks

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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #12 on: June 19, 2006, 05:11:13 PM »
another question, please dont laugh! does the engine and tranny have to go first or can you lift the body right off . like i said never done this before... thanks
The engine and tranni can stay in, just make sure you unhook all hoses, lines that might be hooked to the body, and don't forget the take out the shifters for the t-case and tranni!!

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Offline patrick

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Re: noob question, how hard is it to remove the body?
« Reply #13 on: June 19, 2006, 08:30:13 PM »
thanks, wasnt sure, tonight i managed to take some more apart, snapped 14 of 15 bolts including the two front body mounts, pretty well all the fender bolts so not that bad, going back right away to remove the steering, gonna try to take it all in one piece seeings how i lost my wheel puller, that way i can get the dash off too. oh yeah i have decided that with the amount of rust taking it right off is the best idea, downside of course it will be even longer until i drive this thing|removethispart|@! thanks so far for everyones help.