Art & Inspiration What’s your 1 pain in the butt working on your rides ?

Since I got out of the automotive side of things and working on forklifts and the like , the one thing that gets me , grinds my gears , first world problems, I huff and puff like a 5 year old who’s mom won’t buy him candy at the grocery store is ….. a hoist

any time I need to jack my car up , put it on stands , shake it and make sure it’s stable then crawl under it on my creeper or sheet of card board I get so pissed off !!
Even doing brakes or tires all hunched over gets on my bag .


I was spoiled in automotive , bring it to the shop , put it on the hoist and do whatever it is I needed to do .

I’ve been looking recently at those low profile portable hoist that raise the car 4-5 feet .

but with my one car garage and my drive way on a slope not sure if I can do it safely .


Anyways rant over , off my soap box !

 

Like these guys pretty cheap new and come up for sale used also .

 

As you can see this is my expansive empire



and here’s my drive way , I think kinda shady using a hoist on it .

 

My thing is when I'm working on my coupe , a neighbor always has to come by with a friend in tow and talk like he knows everything about my coupe but gets most of it wrong.

 

While I've been on the hamb some mighty good looking builds have come out of garages the size of yours.
When I was in the city and wanted a bigger shop I expanded out into the back yard and accessed it through the regular garage.

Phil

 

Nice 'Vette.
Low rise lifts are better than floor jacks! The one I have is great for anything that doesn't require getting under the car. 2 post in the service bay for anything else. P.I.A.? So many projects in the shop, I ended up changing the work truck's oil in the driveway! Just easier than moving non running cars.

 

LOL even if I could get a car into my 30x40 garage/shop/barn it has a gravel floor.

My peeve for the day is that I have not managed to get set up in my new digs, too much junk left over from 2 moms and a granddaughter. Hopefully most of it will be gone this summer. OK getting back to it someplace I have a couple boxes of distributers and parts. At least 3 good distributers for my current project. Can I find them? HE double Hockey Sticks no!!! But I will if it kills me.

 

Positioning my 6' 6" body in unnatural positions to work underneath/behind dashboards.
More things aggravated me when I was young, and had to fix whatever was broken to get to work/school in the morning...these days, I just walk away, and come back another day with a much better attitude.

 

I got this repo snapon lift over 20 years ago. Best $1100 I ever spent.
Can lift the car 42”.
A company called Wheel Tronic makes em.

Perfect body work height.
The large truck stands are holding the car on its suspension while I fit and weld.

 

I do this at work all the time , amazing what a coffee and 10-15 minutes away from whatever / whoever was driving you nuts can do !!!!

 

I want to built a set of these wheel stands

 

I friend of mine bought one just like mine off marketplace

 

Any task that makes me get down on my knees. That's not the problem. The problem is getting back up! Yeah I know, a lift would minimize the body pain. But it wouldn't minimize the wallet pain...

 

That’s what I’m looking for , would you use that on my drive way ?

or would I have to block or shim the back end of it so the hoist sits level ?


And the stands your looking for are forklift stands , look for ‘em a lot of the dealerships and union shops once the engineering tag falls off they deem them “ unsafe “ and you can buy them for not too much .

 

I would trust this lift on a driveway.
I guess as long as you know the thickness of concrete.
I would shim it for level definitely.
I guess if the driveway thickness was in question, a 3x7x1/4 piece of plate would help distribute the weight.

 

A loaded up this lift and used it under a car at a friends house.
He ended up buying one for himself.
He has a 2 post lift. Great for mechanic work, not so much for body work.

 

Driveway is 8” of fibreglass reinforced concrete with rebar .

I’m Italian i know my “Cemento “


I’m gonna run a string and a level across my driveway and see how much it sloped and if I can make it work by shimming up the back end of the hoist I would be golden !!!
First world problems

 

The side to side level would be more important than a slight slope front to back

 

Have always considered a lift but never did it. Built many many cars(13-14 40's and a few others) in garage on jackstands with extra blocks etc. getting ready to do another 40 (a woodie) the same way but not as easy at 80. Getting up and down is tough!! Might be good for 1 more.

 

Interior work! I just got finished de-mousing the interior of my new to me Riviera. While I had it apart, I painted the console and got everything looking great. I spent about a day putting everything back together. My knees and elbows are sore as hell because I am 6'2" and 69 years old. Working inside a car is just painful.

To top it all off, when i got done, the PS quarter window wouldn't roll back up! Now, I have to remove the rear seat and have another go at it. It was time to walk away.

 

I would also love a lift! I use homemade wooden wheel stands or jack stands or both. Getting down on the floor and sliding underneath on some cardboard isn’t a problem. The problem is getting back up… also, working under the dashboard sucks!

 

Anywhere tight that I have to stick my hands and arms in to reach something. I reckon I’ve got “ old man skin” anymore, just the least scrape I get huge bruises and or cuts that bleed. I bought some cut resistant Kevlar welding sleeves I try to wear, but gloves sometimes get in the way, so the back of my hands end up exposed. Under the hood, under the dash, underneath the car, it’s all the same. No lift, but I have a set of good steel ramps that I put 2” thick LVL beams on, think 2” thick plywood, and I can get underneath pretty good. Still hard working on my back on cardboard over concrete.

 

I like that second one, and may have space for it.

 

What grinds my gears is TIME! We don't have enough it it and when you find it, You forget what you were doing.
I gotta quit buy more part and making projects on the list. Even the reg maintenance takes time.

 

What's my number one pain in the butt working on my cars???
Some of you have delicately skirted around the edge of it. I'm just gonna come out and say it.
GETTING OLD !!!

 

And I thought I was cramped for room.

 

Age. Not near as flexible and don't have the strength like I use to.

 

Well...I have to say that my lift is the nicest tool I have ever bought myself. Not sure what I would do without it now.

My main pain is lack of time...

 

I’m in the lift camp as well. I have a two post at work and it definitely spoils you. If I can ever get the concrete floor installed in my other 36’x40’ building, Little Truckdoctor and I will certainly have one. The lift is about the only thing I have at work that I don’t have at home, other than the flywheel grinder, but I can haul flywheels to work.

 

I did a complete makeover on a Chevelle for my brother in exchange for a 2 post lift. That was 6 years ago. I don't think I can ever go back. Turbo 400's don't get any lighter as the years go by, but with the lift and trans jack, it is drama free. The crawling around on the floor way always beat me up.