I want to remove the body from the pan on the kit I bought. Anyone know how much do the body's weigh?
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@Alan Merklin would probably have the answer to that question as he has had a lot of Speedster bodies off of their pans.
About 550-600 lbs A hand operated come a' long will work...IF you have something strong enough to hang it from . I used 4 chains w/ two hooked into the heat holes in the kick panel 2 x 4 steel. I then cut a hole on either side where the rear seat base is to attach the other two chains to the heat inlet pipes ..this balances the body. I stand on the chassis inside the car while operating the come a' long. But, be overly careful doing this.
I did the same thing as Alan, so I guess we’re both as crazy.
My garage during my second build had exposed rafters so I laid a 10’ X 4” X 4” across a bunch of them and wrapped a chain around that then secured the chain to a Harbor Freight electric winch I borrowed. I used the same attach points on the body as Alan and used chains there, too, so it could be adjusted to more-or-less level and then just lifted it up. Made things a lot easier later on when the pan was done to lower the body down, check the fit, lift it up, mess with things to make it fit better and repeat until it’s “right”, all done solo.
I might put the weight lower than 500 lbs. because on my first car, I “volunteered” three computer geeks from work to help and the four of us lifted the body and placed it on the pan and it wasn’t too much for us. Getting it up and over the shock towers was the hardest part. Just encourage your volunteers with Pizza and Beer.
Thank you for the replys men. Guess I will be building an impromptu hoist of some kind. I have the parts from my old boat lift I may be able to bolt together, will post a pic in the next couple months.
A bare body shell is about 300 lbs, plus the weight of the square tube subframe.
I sure wish I had installed gauges and wiring while the fiberglass bod/subframe was not mounted to the chassis! Would have been a whole lot easier. I would not try to separate the subframe from the body --- just the whole body from the pan (and only if the pans are rotted away - or pan pieces badly rusted).
@WOLFGANG posted:I sure wish I had installed gauges and wiring while the fiberglass bod/subframe was not mounted to the chassis! Would have been a whole lot easier.
I have HD 42" tall and 55" across saw horses and do whatever I can before bolting to a chassis... I have a small rolling office chair that makes life much easier.
" Food for thought" .....Sometimes I was able to schedule 3 friends for 1st Say AM, lift on or off takes a few minutes then I took them out for breakfast and BS'd for an hour or so and got them back home for their honey do lists :!)
Wolfgang, Thanks again for the great advice. I'm really only wanting to put new floor pans in it and plan on only unbolting the whole body from the pan. I could salvage the drivers pan, passenger is 1/2 gone. Yes, body from subframe is a huge NoNo ;-)
@LI-Rick - that is way cool. Do you still have it?
@Stan Galat, no, that car is long gone. I sold it to a guy in the UK, he got divorced and had to sell it 2 years later. I think it wound up in Belgium. That is the only car I've ever regretted selling. LowLight Ghia's are getting really expensive now!
What did it look like finished!
Sweet!
@Stan Galat, if only they made a fiberglass replica of an early Ghia!
@LI-Rick posted:@Stan Galat, if only they made a fiberglass replica of an early Ghia!
Agreed 100%. I'd love one.
Neighbor around the way just painted his Ghia last week. He did the body work himself. Installed FI on a 1776 for it. 
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On my CMC I attached chains to the heat outlets in front. In the rear, I drilled holes through the frame behind the seats. I attached the chains to eyebolts through the holes. Later, I used the holes to attach seat belts. For the inner seat belts, I attached them to reinforced holes in the tunnel.
The frame/tunnel seat belt attachments seemed more secure than floor pan attachment.
@Misteplic looking forward to watching your progress on your Speedster project. Best of Luck! 
@Misteplic posted:Ahi colgado hace 3 años ya
Es hora de bajarlo y empezar a trabajar en él.