Un channeling a car?

[cajunfirehawk]

So the gent that I bought my 36 from channeled it about 3-4" best I can tell and the car was bolted directly to the frame in 24 different places.
My question is: anyone lifted a body with polyurethane bushings which is basically what a lot of 4x4 trucks do these days? The reason I want to go back up with the body is I want to reinstall the running boards and F/R fenders since he kept all of the original parts without doing a lot of hot work.

Thoughts?
Front fender and running board mocked up, body is sitting on 2x4 blocks at 4 locations in this pic.

[tubman]

Some interior pictures would be nice so that we can see how "hacked up" it is. From what I can see, the body looks to be in pretty good shape (the one fender looks nice, too), so I think it would be a good idea to take a little time and do this right

[FlatheadTed]

You will have a gap around the rear wheel arches ,best to jack it up to its stock hight and weld in the missing sections ,it will take time but you won't regret it

[cajunfirehawk]

The majority of where you see empty holes is where it was bolted to the frame.

[RalphM]

I’ve seen many 32’s “ un channeled” and the best way is to get another complete floor and raise the body to match. A lot of work, but will be right when finished. ,

[tubman]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I hate to say this, but it looks like whoever channeled it did a pretty good job. What a waste of skills.

[1931 flamingo]

My thoughts are that unless all bushings are equally torqued you may have alignment/fitment issues with the doors, etc, providing they were good to start.
Paul in CT

[cajunfirehawk]

Originally Posted by tubman

I hate to say this, but it looks like whoever channeled it did a pretty good job. What a waste of skills.

A cool dude almost 70 who still works a 9-5 in an office gig in an engineering related field.

[FlatheadTed]

It looks like if you cut away the vertical filler piece between the floor and sill then lift the body and weld the floor back to the sill ,May be a place to start ,Re establishing correct body height alignment may be a challenge .this needs to be correct to insure hood alignment ,Ted

[JSeery]

If the raised floor didn't bother you and you are not interested in it being original, I would be tempted to just use spacers to raise the body. Cutting out the floor and installing a new one is the best solution, but it will be expensive and requires a fair amount of skill. Just one issue is keeping the body alinement while removing and installing the new flooring.

[cajunfirehawk]

Originally Posted by JSeery

If the raised floor didn't bother you and you are not interested in it being original, I would be tempted to just use spacers to raise the body.

Winner winner, Chicken Dinner! I used 20ea 4" polyurethane bushings w/5" grade 5 bolts, washers, and locknuts. Everything aligned fine, finishing up some minor details and wiring. Will post pics when done.