nomoneyz

iTrader: (15)

Been looking around and cheapest I saw was about 8-900 bucks not including shipping charges. Browsed around for some schematics and found some. It really doesn't look hard at all to do. I really want to do this mostly to save time on cleaning and prepping the undercarraige of my 65 skylark that I'm building and various other projects to come.
Has anyone built their own? And how do you like it, was it worth it?

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

I built one with some friends and we share it. Having done it once, there were some things I would do much differently but ours is very simple, serves our purposes and functional.

When we built ours metal prices were high and I think we had less than $250 in it. To be honest it took a lot of time to get things right and we already had large casters and some of the metal for free or leftover from other projects.

The first time we put a body on it and gave her a twirl was a little scary but the satisfaction that it worked was beyond words.

nomoneyz

iTrader: (15)

Good to know. I was thinking of something along the lines of two engine stands with a fabricated piece to bolt to the body mounts under the car. I don't need to put it all the way upside down just need to go about 45-60 degrees so I can do the underside.

metalmilitia606

iTrader: (8)

I saw this thread and thought you were talking about the ones you use to cook with I was like man, that would be sweet. I could make some oven roasted chicken. Ha ha.

Mike52

iTrader: (1)

Two things to think about, plan ahead for safety and the 'what if'. You may think you don't need it to go high enough to flip the body all the way upside down but 'what if' the body turned while on your short rotisserie and the roof or a body panel made contact with the ground. Sounds like an expensive lesson to me. JMO

Something else to think about, almost all engine stands have the uprights built leaned back at an angle, they would have to be modified to achieve a 90º in order for the 2 seperate stands to rotate evenly.

Build-it-Break-it

iTrader: (9)

I priced it out and ended up buying a used "roto2000" for $550 bucks. Its better and easier to buy a properly built one. I had originally ordered one from " greg smith equipment" and it was pure chinese junk. Wheels didn't line up with mounting holes, parts were bent, welds were very poor, bolt holes were bent. I returned it but had trouble dealing with them as they wanted to keep my $1200 bucks and send me a bunch of more chinese replacement parts for the unit. I refused and had to call them 5 different times and days until finally getting my money back. That said, don't buy a rotisserie from greg smith out of Arizona location. Best price and bet is the Summit Racing brand one. another company makes it for them here in the USA and its the best price and quality i've found. Its around $1100 shipped with hydraulic rams. Believe me, DONT BUILD ONE!!!

nomoneyz

iTrader: (15)

If I could find a nice used one in that 500 price range, I'd be all over it. I just cant justify 1000+ for one. For that much, I'll do it on my back.

Build-it-Break-it

iTrader: (9)

Once your done with it you can 1. rent it out 2. sell it 3. restore another car. It really makes doing anything from floor pans to roof work super easy. If i didn't find one for $550 i would of payed the $1000 anyways. Another option is a 2 post car lift if at all possible. Used they're around $800 and new $1400 or so. Then you could justify it because you could do most any other car repairs. Down side is you cant spin the car around 360* which sometime is needed. Hope the info helps.

PontiacPOWA

me and my dad did. built with steel laying around and the pivot point with stuff from the local steel yard. basically a pipe within a pipe. it was kind of a half *** build, but it didnt matter. the guy that ended up doing all the body work (quarters, floors, rockers, trunk pan, etc...) ended up re working it anyway. the attached pic is actually a 1969 gto convertible upside down. my dad carefully measured it so it wouldn't hit the ceiling of the shop and so it would not hit the floor/ cross braces of the rotisserie. had about 100-200 bucks into it

Abrasive Trader

These things are cool and give you so much unrestricted access. If you have the steel, casters, etc its not too bad to build one. But the bearings are suspect unless they are USA and there is a lot of cost buried in the adjustments and attachment plates, screws, etc.

There are some really good ones that are $1400 but they have all the bells & whistles and adjustment pins. More for commercial use but really handy if your putting different cars on it.

If you build one I would recomend one thing if your putting the hydraulic pumps on it. Make the pump levers face out so you don't have to get under the vehicle while pumping.

Bjorn20

My thoughts as well. You were not alone, haha.

tta656

iTrader: (5)

Check local Craigs-List...how many times do folks use one,I know a guy that bought his used,did his car and then resold it on CL just like the guy he bought it from...

leon phelps

I did it with two engine stands and the square tubing used to put up stop signs. drove around for weeks pickup up signs that were knocked down.

Held my 65 Impala up for 5 years until I was ready to put it down.

I never did try to flip it over, no *****.