With the engine crane in position, I was ready to lift the rear of the car body up. I started jacking the thing up slowly, paying attention to how the front was reacting as well as how the rear was acting. The rear valance panel did distort under the concentrated force of the boom pushing up into it, but with the chains, the body didn't shift. I kept slowly lifting the body higher and higher, until I got the back high enough to be able to slide the board under the rear subframe and onto the drums. With the rear now suspended on the board and drums, I moved the crane around to the front. At first, I chained the boom under the lower portion of the radiator support frame with the hope of having the maximum amount of lift. I also planned on putting the board and drums under the rearmost portion of the front subframe, where some past patches were placed. This point is lower than the rest of the subframe rails that extend to the front so I would have to be able to get the most lift I can get on the front end. Upon attempting to lift the front, besides the rear starting to shift backwards, the front of the boom eventually slipped off from under the frame support. I ended up having to move the boom to the top part of the radiator support, removing the hood latch assembly in the process. With the boom previously at around a 45 degree angle, lifting the boom had the effect of pushing backwards as well as upwards, resulting in the rear of the car body trying to push back. When I relocated the boom, I lessened this effect, but I still had to actually hold onto the front of the body, pulling forward as I lifted the crane boom to prevent the rear of the body from trying to slide back some more. I eventually got the front of the car lifted up high enough that the body was no longer horizontal, with the front end being higher than the rear. Looking at the front subframes, I figured I could put the board under the portion of the frame rail, just behind the lower control arm mount. This point was higher than the rear portion of the subframe, allowing me to lower the car body down onto the board and have it as close to horizontal as I could get it with the setup we're working with. This portion of the subframe was also still intact enough to hold under the weight of the overall unibody, despite the subframe rust under the shock towers. I did have to move the engine crane back under the rear of the body to resituate the drums and board as one of the drums had a slight inward lean at the top. I wanted to get the drum back to as plumb as possible, making sure the board was on the strongest portion of the drum so it will hold and not cause the drum to distort enough that it could cause a problem later. After putting my hand on the body enough, it looked pretty sturdy, despite the overall sketchiness of the whole setup. The 2x6 boards have some bowing to them, but nothing so substantial that I should be concerned. I made sure the drums were spaced enough that the wheels of the truck frame will clear the drums when we roll the frame underneath. I did think about how I want to approach the next order of business on this build and figured after I get the oil pan replaced on the engine, we'll load up the whole powerplant and crane into the S10 and bring it down to the build site. We can get the truck frame partially staged under the car body on some preliminary fitting and get the powerplant on the ground in front of the frame. Installation will involve lifting the rig up and pulling the frame under the powerplant to lower it down and install it. This way we're not trying to drag the whole frame up to the garage as well as back down, with the powerplant in place. This way, with the powerplant already down at the build site, we can get most of the intricate work done, even while getting a sneak peak at how the body and frame will fit together with the powerplant in place. The way things are going, this build is progressing rather fast. The body is already in the air, the powerplant is almost ready for installation, the frame has a set of tires, and all the unnecessary hardware is gone from the body. I will have to get some angle iron and other iron stock to use for building up the body in order to get it set up to mount it on the frame. I'll have to reinforce the body at the different points around the rocker panels and old torque boxes as well as the floors and subframes. Some material will be cut out and some will be added in order to get the body situated the way I need it to be when its fully secured to the frame. I want to have the right amount of lift on the body relative to the frame so the body doesn't look like some redneck monster truck vehicle with the body being too high relative to the running gear on the frame. There will be some lift but I will try not to have too much so this thing doesn't look too goofy. Either way, this build is moving along fast.
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