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I hope to pick up my new baby from Greg soon. Part of the reason for getting a Speedster is my ability to work on, upgrade, fix and fettle myself. How many of you have the ability to raise your care other than jack stands? Curious to know, should I invest in some kind of lift? Will it make my hobby more enjoyable or should I invest elsewhere? Advice would be appreciated. Cheers.

Richard

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I worked on hobby cars the first 15 years rolling around on my back under Jack stands and then looked into a lift which was the absolute best investment I ever made. In my case because I have a high ceiling garage the lift acts as a place to store a car while another can be parked under. I love my lift. They really don't cost all that much, I think about $2000.00 20 years ago. I have used my lift to pull and install plenty a VW engines. I either raise or lower the car down too or up and away from the engine sitting on a rolling table. The lift also makes detailing your car a snap, no bending over to clean the wheels and lower parts of the car. If you consider yourself a car guy/gal consider a lift. I promise you won't regret it. My lift even has wheels and can be moved around the garage if needed. I have moved twice and the lift came with me. They are easy to move without disassembly. You pull a flat car trailer under the lift and lower it down until the lift rails come down on to the trailer. The hydraulic pressure raises the 4 support post up and off the ground. Unplug the cord for the hydraulic motor and drive off with the lift on the trailer,  easy peasy.

Speedster and MG Midget Jims Garage.Speedster Fuchs 9v8 beetle 15

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  • Speedster and MG Midget Jims Garage.
  • Speedster  Fuchs 9
  • v8 beetle 15

I have the Harbor Freight 6000 pound capacity scissor lift. Absolutely no installation, you just need a concrete floor and a 220v outlet. I built a 2" high wooden drive-on platform as my Spyder is so low.

The lift raises the car 48" of awesome, I use a creeper type seat and get under it easily. All the way up is too high for wheel/tire/brake/suspension work, but it has plenty of safety-stops to get the right working height. I even put the lift up 18" or so to work under dash.

It would probably work even better on a Speedster due to the rear engine rather than my Spyder's mid-engine. The above lift and a motorcycle/ATV jack would work great for motor-pulling in a Speedy.

The lift has two hydraulic rams connected with one hose to the pump. Totally trouble-free so far.

I've had it for 3 years now.

Last edited by DannyP

I have both a BendPak 2-post and a Steel Valley 4-post lift. If you want to work on a car, the 2-post is vastly better. A 4-post can be made to work, but commercial shops all have 2-post lifts.

4-post lifts require nothing special for power or floor strength, but you probably wouldn't want to put a 2-post lift in a garage unless you've got at least 12-1/2 ft clear inside and have at least a 6" floor with re-bar.

Last edited by Stan Galat

My buddy was installing a four poster in his new house/garage today. He mostly did it for parking space, but he told me it has jack adapters on the inside of each rail so you can use the jack points and take off the wheels as well, which is my only problem with a 4 post rail lift.

image

The school surpluses their lifts from time to time. Some of their older ones are a big, flat scissor lift, which would be perfect for the flat-bottomed Spyder. Last ones they got rid of went for $300.  

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Last edited by dlearl476

I looked at lots of lifts and all have advantages and disadvantages.  I settled on quickjack because it leaves the center clear it is specific for length so get the right model for your car.  I have the original 3500lbs and a 5000lbs EX I believe,

The scissor jack is similar but occupies the center, sometime placement is important for balance on these things.

As Stan has said he has two, one allows pretty much everything to be worked on from underneath and a 4 poster for parking and convenience.

Lots of choices.  Someone on here has MaxJacks as well, I think it is West Coast Bruce.  

I would get a 4 post for storage if I had a ceiling higher than 9 foot in my garage but for most things I do the quickjack is awesome and the perfect height for detailing and brake work, etc.  I don't plan on doing an engine removal but I think it could be done with it and you could add some height if you needed to very easily with a wooden platform on it.

Last edited by IaM-Ray
@R Thorpe posted:

Great stuff guys my dream would be a 4 poster but I don’t have the room,my house and garage were built in 1932. I’m tending toward a scissor lift like the one fromHarbor Freight. Thank for the advice.

Richard

I've got 7' high ceiling in the garage, so I hear that. I can't go all the way up because the garage door mechanism is in the way.

Most Speedsters that aren't slammed to the floor will clear the lift when driving over it.

Last edited by DannyP
@IaM-Ray posted:

The scissor jack is similar but occupies the center, sometime placement is important for balance on these things.



The scissor lift weighs 950 pounds all by itself. I wouldn't use it on any floor other than smooth concrete. If the back of the lift is at the beginning of the engine compartment, balance won't be an issue.

Have you actually used one? Or are we just playing devil's advocate based on a guess?

I have the Quickjack 3500, same as someone up above.  It fits the once you figure out where to position the two sides to get the right place for balancing the car once raised.  

So it fits the Speedster and I have also used in on a Subaru Outback and Nissan Rogue but found that it was too short for a Porsche 996.  For that you'll need the longer QJ 5000.

@Alan Merklin had a really nice 48" scissors jack that came from an older SOC member who sold his Speedster.  It was a Bend Pack LR-60.  It was slightly higher quality overall than those from Harbor Freight and we all know how much Alan has used it on his builds with no issues.  Here's the SOC write-up for it:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...ges/articles-bendpak

Last edited by Gordon Nichols

The back story to that scissor lift is, Brain and I would message back and forth re: his beautiful IM  as seen in the link photos, the lift was in a beautiful large custom garage in Hilton Head SC. The sole purpose of the lift was so that he didn't have to bend over to wax the lower portion of the IM ...I got a message from Brian to call him, on the phone he asked about my then new home shop then, gifts... me the scissor lift ! Drove to SC the next AM arriving at the community gate house I was escorted to Brian's huge home Castle.  If took some time for me by myself to get the lift up onto my trailer w/o making a mark on his perfect garage floor all this while Brian observed while sipping on a goblet size martini. Before I left he asked if I wanted to se his new toy ... a huge boat lock to raise and lower his large boat with the tide.  That lift served me for 9 or so years from speedsters to an extend cab Ford F150 .  It has been in Bill Drayer's home shop for 3 years now.     

_________________________________________________________________________________________@Alan Merklin had a really nice 48" scissors jack that came from an older SOC member who sold his Speedster.  It was a Bend Pack LR-60.  It was slightly higher quality overall than those from Harbor Freight and we all know how much Alan has used it on his builds with no issues.  Here's the SOC write-up for it:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...ges/articles-bendpak

Last edited by Alan Merklin

On the web site there is a fitment scale for which Quickjackusa to use

it tells you the spread range then you can see if you can use the jacks  between the wheels or across the car sideways,

On top of this you can buy or  make extenders for longer cars and even get suv high blocks to lift higher

As Gordon says they came in an original 3500 Then in 3500xl and 5000 etc etc



here is the fitting link

https://www.quickjack.com/support/measuring-guide/

Last edited by IaM-Ray
@aircooled posted:

I use a MaxJack "portable". You can put it away when not in use. Ten bolts later its ready to use. You really do need a 6" thick slab to be secure though.........Bruce

Bruce, I remember you posting about it and considered it but in my garage I could not be sure how much the cement was in thickness in the middle so I went with the quick jack.  Sometimes I think of drilling a few holes with a hammer drill at the location  to see if there is enough cement there to hold them in place and I really like being able to remove and store them away.

I guess one could add or have a two post installed with a solid metal plate on the floor.

If you opt towards a QuickJack, my only suggestion, beyond getting the right length for your application, is to go with direct connections at the ramp end and the Quickjack quick disconnect fittings at the pump end.  

Why?

Because the quick disconnects leak more often than not so you'll only have to deal with the leaks at the pump, not way under the car.

You can get whatever fittings you need at most NAPA stores for under $20 each.

Maybe a different manufacturer for the fittings would work better, but I haven't tried that yet.

And to add to Alan's story, Brian started a manufacturing operation way back when to make electronic capacitors.  That's like saying you're gonna make a commodity like bread or tooth brushes, but he quickly built his business up over years and then sold it to a much larger company for lotsa bucks and had homes on Hilton Head Island and Palm Springs, along with his big yacht.  After he gave his lift to Alan he and his wife were planning on selling that big (55' I think) motor yachet and getting, as he put it, a "Rock Star RV" and touring the country for a few years because his wife got tired of only seeing the USA from the coasts on their boat.  

I haven't heard from him since, but as Alan pointed out, the guy had a YUGE! castle-like place on Hilton Head's Windmill Harbor next to the SC Yacht Club, which had a lock at the entrance to keep the yacht basin always at high tide level to allow larger boats to dock at their owner's houses.  There were some pretty big boats in there.

Last edited by Gordon Nichols

For the guys whose concrete floors aren't thick enough wouldn't it be fairly simple to cut out a large enough section, side drill for rebar attachment, and pour a new floor? Rent the saw, drill, and jackhammer from Home Depot and have a party. Hire the concrete guy to make sure it's done right or do it yourself. Nice thick floor.

@DannyP Raise the garage door rails all the way to the ceiling and install a jack screw.

@Robert M posted:

For the guys whose concrete floors aren't thick enough wouldn't it be fairly simple to cut out a large enough section, side drill for rebar attachment, and pour a new floor? Rent the saw, drill, and jackhammer from Home Depot and have a party. Hire the concrete guy to make sure it's done right or do it yourself. Nice thick floor.

@DannyP Raise the garage door rails all the way to the ceiling and install a jack screw.

The ceiling in my garage is 7 feet, the door and tracks aren't the issue. The door motor is BEHIND the windshield, so not in the way either. It's the actual ceiling, built by my Grandfather in 1950.

I'll get more height in my next garage.

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