Best Place to Block up a '67 Caravel

[Dingo Girl]

Hi,
I would like to know where would be the best place to put blocks under my 67 Caravel. It will sit this way for about a year.
The plan is axles, brakes shocks and tires.
Does any of the belly pan have to come off to do the axle job?? Seems I read some where it did. I'd like to know since I dont want to get it up in the air and then have to take it down.
Thanks

[Stefrobrts]

The 'official' jacking point (as I understand it) is just behind the axle. You want the weight to be on the frame, at the next crossmember towards the rear. It was marked on my trailer, I don't know if yours still has the markings.

We had a local mechanic do our axle, and they did not remove the bellypan to do it except a very small section right around the axle. But it might depend on the condition of your frame, if you find it is very rusty and needs some work, you might end up removing more of the pan to get to it.

I did my frame work from above when I replaced the floor, and we found several places where welds had broken and needed to be spot welded. Then we cleaned it up and treated it with rust-proof paint and sealed everything back up without touching the belly pan. I don't know about your year, but for my 68 the bellypan edges come up and wrap over the c-channel, so they would have been impossible to remove without removing the inner panels to get to the c-channel anyway.

Hope that helps!

[cojer]

when i replaced the axle on my '66 i jacked it up under the flange that the axle bolts onto and did not remove any bellypan

[Melody Ranch]

Just curious....Why? Why would you put it on blocks for a year? If you plan to change the axle...leave it alone till you have the new axle..etc. It you have the new axle...change it in less than a day then let the Caravel sit on its new "feet" while you do other things. A blocked up unit...or car..is nothing but a problem...for many reasons.

[cojer]

true dat...melody ranch brings up a very good point!

[Dingo Girl]

Guess you both let me know how little I know.

[cojer]

i got my axle from colin hyde, you can find him here on the forums. i had to drill some new holes because the holes on the mounting plate that came on the axle didn't match the old ones and i had to knock the old shock mounts off and weld on some new ones. the axle came complete with brakes and colin was very helpful in the whole process. but even with all that it only took me a day...dig around on the forums here and you can find all sorts of help on the process which is not rocket surgery if you're even half way good with your hands and a few tools. if you order an axle go get yourself some good penetrating oil first and crawl under there and spray those old nuts and bolts once a day 'til the axle arrives. it helps

[Dingo Girl]

cojer,
I am good with my hands and can weld too! That is just the boost of confidence I needed.
Can I ask what it ran for the parts? Just an approximate is fine.

Thanks

[cojer]

i paid 680 total for the axle which included everything to get her rolling except for the rims, tires, and shocks.the shocks were about 40 bucks apiece which i ordered from an auto parts store locally...i had to order them because where i live is a geographical oddity...2 weeks from anywhere and 20 years behind. but colin was even able to tell me which shocks to get.

[Action]

Know that the shocks for 1967 were the first year of horizontal mounted shocks. ("66 was the last year for vertical shocks) Horizontal mounted shocks are a dealer only item.

>>>>>Action

[Dingo Girl]

I've been under the Caravel and it appears that my shocks go nearly straight up in to the wheel well. Is it possible that this changed mid year?
I am going to call Andy at Inland when I order to make sure I get exactly what I need.
Mine is a 67, it came with all the original paperwork and the numbers on the trailer match the papers.
Thanks everyone for all the tips and pointers.

[cojer]

go get 'em! this won't take long did it?