mgb-v8
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RE: car lifts

To: Paul.Kile@Aerojet.com
Subject: RE: car lifts
From: DAN_GRAVES@hp-roseville-om3.om.hp.com
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 09:57:53 -0800
Cc: suchak@mediaone.net, DANMAS@aol.com, triumphs@Autox.Team.Net, spitfires@Autox.Team.Net, mgb-v8@Autox.Team.Net
In-reply-to: <EDA05BE5C3D2D011AB4B00A024E9B822C2B79E@apd-exch01.aerojetpd.co>
Reply-to: DAN_GRAVES@hp-roseville-om3.om.hp.com
Sender: owner-mgb-v8@Autox.Team.Net
     I agree.  I've been able to do any given task under my B by using a 
     jack and jack stands, which also store away nicely.  I've also found 
     that there's a "comfort zone" so to speak of either being fairly close 
     to the ground or standing straight up.  There's heights in-between 
     that are very awkward to work with.  I've gotten cars a little too 
     high on jack stands for comfortable working conditions.  Personal 
     opinion of course.  I'm assuming that this helper-lift thing lifts 
     from the sides of the car?  If so, it seems that it would interfere 
     with painting chassis'/cars, another thing I use jack stands for.
     
     Dan Graves
     '64 MGB-289
     
     (BTW, nice website Dan)


Subject: RE: car lifts
Author:  Non-HP-Paul.Kile (Paul.Kile@Aerojet.com) at HP-Roseville,mimegw4
Date:    10/29/98 9:08 AM


I would find this car lift an unnecessary expense.  For most "normal" jobs 
underneath my factory MGB-GT V-8, jack stands under the rear axle and the 
front box sections just behind the wheel wells do just fine. 
     
When I pulled the engine and trans a few months ago, I disconnected the 
front mounts and underside umbilicals (slave cyl, starter wiring, etc.) from 
underneath, then I lowered the front end onto its wheels, but jacked the 
rear end up about 2 feet onto stands.  This left lots of room for working on 
the tranny mount and driveshaft, and was perfect for engine removal (since 
there was lots of room in back for the tranny to tilt downward on removal.
     
One of those lifts that gives you walk-under clearance would be helpful, but 
only a 20" lift is not worth the money to me.
     
Cheers, 
Paul Kile
     
> ----------
> From:         DANMAS@aol.com[SMTP:DANMAS@aol.com] 
> Reply To:     DANMAS@aol.com
> Sent:         Wednesday, October 28, 1998 4:52 PM 
> To:   suchak@mediaone.net
> Cc:   triumphs@autox.team.net; spitfires@autox.team.net; 
> mgb-v8@autox.team.net
> Subject:      Re: car lifts
> 
> In a message dated 98-10-28 16:28:12 EST, suchak@mediaone.net writes: 
> 
> > Hey, here's a low tech alternative...    Pull the front end up on car 
> >  ramps and stick a floor jack under the rear.  Same net result, easier 
> to
> >  store and you get to keep your 900 bucks.  Easier to slide in and out 
> >  from the sides too.
> >  
> >  Am I missing something?
> 
> John,
> 
> What your proposal is missing is about 10 inches in height and a little
> convenience. Wheather or not that's worth $900 depends on the availabilty 
> of
> spare cash for "funsies" and/or how often you need to work under a car. 
> For
> me, $900 is rather hard to come by, but divided up among 8 other folks, 
> $100
> is do-able. Naturely, sharing it with others makes it a little less
> convenient, but it still beats working with only ten inches clearance. 
> 
> The typical ramp has a lift of around ten inches, and jacking up the rear 
> will
> usually require putting stands under each end of the axle, or in the case 
> of a
> TR6, under each of the trialing arms. It is certainly one way to do it, 
> and
> pretty much the way I do it now, but I can't help but think the kwiklift 
> would
> be much more convenient. That extra ten inches would be a great help for 
> many
> undercar tasks (on a TR6, ten inches of wheel clearance works out to about 
> 15
> inches chassis clearance).
> 
> For those folks on the mgb-v8 list, having one of these would be an 
> invaluable
> help in getting the engine installed. 
> 
> If you try to raise the ramps, then you have to increase their length, or 
> the
> car will scrape as you go up. If you increase the length enough to get 20 
> inches, you're going to be just about where you would be with the kwiklift 
> -
> almost as much cost but without the convenience. 
> 
> This is not the perfect answer, as there are some times when you want to 
> lift
> the frame and have the wheels free, just as there are times when you want 
> the
> car supported by the wheels, but it looks like a good compromise to me. I 
> have
> worked under cars by just pulling one side up on a curb and crawling 
> under.
> I've also hitch-hiked through Central America, sleeping on park benches or 
> on
> the ground. If I had to, I could do either one again, but I'd really 
> rather
> not. At my age, convenience and comfort are becoming more important than 
> they
> used to be.
> 
> Dan Masters,
> Alcoa, TN
> 
> '71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
> '71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - 
> see:
>                     http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/index.html 
> '74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 
> soon
> '68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74 
> 


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