I have stripped my Mini down to a bare shell and it will soon be ready to cart off to the sandblaster. I have an engine crane at home I can use to load the shell onto the trailer but nothing at sandblasters to take it off.

A bit of a looky round reveals the a bare bodyshell is 310 lbs (140kg) which is seems heavy and potentially akward.

Can anyone advise on how easy it is to load a shell on/off a trailer and how many people it takes (to do it safely)? Or any hints on how to get on/off a trailer?

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

i used three people when i was moving mine, four people can lift it okay (two of those people being my mother and my sister )

at the moment it's sitting on my coffee table ( which is built over airport luggage trailer wheels and frame), pic below. at one point i simply suspended it from the ceiling.

Same here, have done it with three - I always get the heavy end

I'd recommend 4. Make sure you put timber under it when loading it onto the trailer.
Which sandblaster doesn't have a forklift?

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Too many cars, and too little time.

4 people can pick up and move and mini shell easy, so take a few mates with you to the sandblasters and you wont have a problem.

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Cheers Dan

FIRST COMES THE MONEY, THEN COMES THE POWER, THEN COMES THE WOMEN.!!

I'd ask the sandblaster if he has some way of moving it around, after all what's he going to do with it after you leave it with him? He will no doubt need to move it, if only to get other jobs in. If he doesn't suitable means (Forklift etc) then there is a risk he may damage it and then some bad words might get exchanged........

I've managed to lift my shell onto a trolley (2m x 1.5m x 400mm thing with a plywood top and castors I built) and lift it onto a rotisserie although it's awkward, obviously and probably not a tremendous idea. At least one more person would have been a huge help. Incidentally, hernia operations are reasonably interesting if it's your first time having surgery.

I know some guys just built little H frames which bolt on to the subframe mounting points at the back and something similar for the front. I'd probably add braces of some sort, but it would be collapsible (i.e. intentionally rather than catastrophic) and either store easily or shift them on eBay. You'd then have a way of single handedly moving a shell around your driveway or garage (and left the blasters do the whole shell pretty easily). Or you could have my trolley but the freight costs would be prohibitive.

Ive shifted my cooper shell about four times now and me and mate take an end each. its heavy but certainly can be done.

put a pallet under it with entry points at the doors so they can forklift it around. If they don't have a forklift I will be very surprised

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

I used a pallet with four tyres on top. Put caster wheels at each corner to making moving around easier. Ended up being a good height to be able to paint the body. Put some rope through the front of the pallet so I could pull it around. Even managed to get up the ramps and onto a car trailer:

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Dave K.
1979 Moke Californian + 1981 'Coke' Moke