66 safari shell off help

[RevandDoc]

Alright boys and girls we need some help.

After a long hiatus because of illness we are back at it.

Interior panels are off, bottom exterior rivets out.

When we started to lift the shell off today we ran into trouble.

Our initial thought was that the C channel would stay with the frame and we would have the shell. But somewhere we are missing something. Some of the ribs seem to be attached to the c channel and other not. The one that are we can't really determine how.

Sooooo any thought or ideas on how to get this thing off. I should say that the back, which is basically rotted out and will be getting new frame work is lifting easy.

[markdoane]

Check for some hidden rivets that are behind the shell at the corners. You may need to slip a putty knife between the outside body sheet and the belly skin to break them loose.

[dcole]

I ran into this same issue today. I finally got my shell off! I found a single buck rivet that was under the skin and attaching the belly pan to a rib. I was able to drill it out of the rib from the inside. I used a center punch and drilled out the bucked material. I found a metal putty knife really handy on the inside also to break loose all the black tar-like stuff. Also, watch out for those hidden elevator bolts. I found the ones where the wheel well meets the wall especially hard to reach.
-good luck