As I understand it,one of the old school hot rodder tricks for getting a car in the weeds was to channel it. As I understand it, this means dropping the body down over the frame via lower body mounts and clearanced floor pans, which then have channels welded into them to keep the rain out. Is that the gist of it? Anybody ever done this? Any tips and tricks you have to offer?
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Feb. 21, 2010 11:36 p.m. DILYSI Dave SuperDork
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Feb. 21, 2010 11:43 p.m. modernbeat HalfDork
I've done it to a '28 Ford roadster pickup. It really reduced the passenger space in an already tiny car.
FWIW, it's still performed today by the mini-truck guys. They call it a "body drop".
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Feb. 21, 2010 11:46 p.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork
BTDT.
Bosses project where I used to work.
Drop a 1952 Chevy panel van onto an Escalade chassis.
In order to do the job and get the ride height right we had to channel the body.
We braced the Chevy body with square tubing and then cut the floor out. We took it out all the way from the back door to the kick-up in the toeboards and right to the inner rockers on each side.
The body was then brought down over the Escalade chassis (wheelbase was very close to where it needed to be, all we had to do was adjust the inner fenders) to the height we wanted with the shop lift.
Then backets were made from square tubing to tie the Chevrolet body to the frame mounts of the Escalade frame and a new floor was fabricated from sheet stock.
This resulted in the floor being about 2" higher than the original floor so it did reduce interior space but it got the body quite low on the frame.
You would do the same if you were keeping the original body and frame together. Simply cut the floor out and move it up into the body farther than it was orginally.
It's a lot of work but if it's done well it can be hard to tell it was done at all.
Shawn
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Feb. 22, 2010 6:00 a.m. Woody SuperDork
You can also do it and preserve the interior space, but you need to start with a bare frame.
Remove the front crossmember, cut some small holes at the firewall and rear of the cab and slide the frame through. Then reattach the crossmember and secure the body to the frame, which is now inside the cabin.
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Feb. 22, 2010 8:34 a.m. Chris_V SuperDork
I'm channeling my '63 Comet down over a custom frame. A little harder since it's a unibody car...
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Feb. 22, 2010 8:49 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork
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Feb. 22, 2010 9:54 a.m. Gearheadotaku HalfDork
I thought channeling was removing a section from the middle of the body, making the body shorter top to bottom. Popular on early 50's Chevys. Normally combined with a chop and drop.
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Feb. 22, 2010 9:58 a.m. Wally SuperDork
That's sectioning when you take a piece out of the middle.
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Feb. 22, 2010 10:29 a.m. orphancars New Reader
Doing this now on my TVR project......
I built a new frame for the car. Old frame was 1.5" round and square tubing. Went with 2x3 and 2x4 tubing for the new frame. The old frame allowed the tub to sit on top of the frame -- with the taller tubing, I'm cutting and reforming the tub so that it now sits "around" the frame.......also allows the car to be a tad bit lower. Luckily the frame runs under the doors/rockers and around the driveline -- I'm not loosing too much interior room in what is a car with almost clown-car like proportions
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Feb. 22, 2010 11:45 a.m. Gearheadotaku HalfDork
sectioning, ok, now I got it.
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Feb. 22, 2010 12:05 p.m. GameboyRMH SuperDork
All these techniques might come back into fashion in the future. A "sectioned" Lancer would look frickin' awesome.
Imagine this without all the height:
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Feb. 22, 2010 12:12 p.m. alex Dork
What do you have up your sleeve, Dave?
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Feb. 22, 2010 5:57 p.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork
alex wrote:
What do you have up your sleeve, Dave?
a big friggin' arm...
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Feb. 22, 2010 6:39 p.m. John Brown SuperDork
AngryCorvair wrote:
alex wrote:
What do you have up your sleeve, Dave?
a big friggin' arm...
Awesome P, simply awesome.
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Feb. 22, 2010 6:52 p.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork
the question reminded me of pulling into the parking at MIR (budds creek) in my friend's '71 malibu. mild SBC with a great exhaust system. we jump out and a couple locals say "Hey man, what's under the hood?" without missing a beat, mark says "a big chain and a padlock."
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Feb. 22, 2010 7:34 p.m. bamalama Reader
GameboyRMH wrote:
All these techniques might come back into fashion in the future. A "sectioned" Lancer would look frickin' awesome.
Imagine this without all the height:
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Feb. 22, 2010 7:41 p.m. DeadSkunk Reader
That's pretty cool. The mountain is sectioned !
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Feb. 22, 2010 7:46 p.m. Carson Dork
They sectioned the whole rear end off this one:
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Feb. 23, 2010 5:52 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork
Carson wrote:
They sectioned the whole rear end off this one:
That thing looks angry.
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Feb. 23, 2010 6:37 a.m. Gearheadotaku HalfDork
good photochoppin' guys.
I'd like to see more modern cars sectioned. The Challenger and Camaro are at the top of my list for that!
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Feb. 23, 2010 6:42 a.m. John Brown SuperDork
From CARS
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Feb. 23, 2010 7:03 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork
So how long do you think that pretty boy would be on his feet if he was a Corrections Officer? (see shoulder patch)
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Feb. 24, 2010 9:17 p.m. wheels777 HalfDork
AngryCorvair wrote: the question reminded me of pulling into the parking at MIR (budds creek) in my friend's '71 malibu. mild SBC with a great exhaust system. we jump out and a couple locals say "Hey man, what's under the hood?" without missing a beat, mark says "a big chain and a padlock."
Nishe!
