The Garage...

[katanaman]

  Hi, everyone!  After a long wait it seems that the county will issue its permission for the builders to begin my garage.  I stuck to my original requirement that the garage have a heated floor.  All of my friends in the car club here (remember this is a U.S. steel V-8 powered club, of course!) tell me that I am good insisting on this!  The lake 150' to the west froze for 3 days last winter, and with the heated floor my homebrew beer won't languish its processes until the floor heats up, like now.  All this will become important when I need help lifting the body off, advising me on frame work, etc.  I still don't know what its life along Southern California's coast has done for the car, but Southern Washington coast life clearly won't be an improvement!
  A question for now:  How essential is it to own a 2 post lift?  I'm thinking that for a 1400 pound (or so) car, a few jack stands will suffice for the project, but is the lift overkill?  I am beginning to think that although the stall I will restore the car in will be roughly 14' by 23', a lift in the middle, where the car will be, might become an annoyance...

[4129R]

My car has been suspended on two axle stands under the rear chassis, and one central wooden block just behind the steering rack under the steel chassis, for many weeks, and I have no problem working on any part of the car, even inside both sides where the seats are.

The only problem with any low car is getting it high enough in the first place to get a big strong hydraulic jack underneath. I use a manual crank up/scissor jack to raise the car on its suspension, high enough to get a big hydraulic jack underneath the steel chassis.

Just make sure you always jack or support the chassis, not the fibreglass body. 

A wheel free lift is not necessary. The car is very light once the engine and gearbox are out, I could hang it from my garage roof rafters (2x7s) if required.

 

[Grumblebuns]

While I agree that a lift is not essential in a garage, it sure makes working under your car so much easier. I currently have a four post lift strictly for storage. After working on my TCS flat on my back since last Sept,  I'm considering buying another lift. I have the TCS on ramps and wood blocks for under car work. While there is no job that can't be done with this setup, a lift will make general accessibility of the entire underside less of a pain in the ass.

The second question after you've decided to get a lift is two post or four. My next lift has to have a secondary purpose for storage when its not being used for maintenance. I'll probably go with another four post lift primarily for stability during storage. I live in earthquake country. If my car is going to fall off the lift, the entire lift has to fall over.

For a small garage with limited height where a full size lift won't fit, a solution is to get a MaxJax. The Garage Journal forum has a couple of hundred threads on car lifts and could probably answer any question you may have.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/index.php

 

 

[BDA]

A heated floor sounds like overkill - but then I don't live in WA. You can get floor coverings that would probably go a long way to insulating you from a cold floor. I got mine from Lowes.

In any event, good luck for the building! Please post some pictures when it's all done.

[cal44]

Garage building is one of my favorite subjects.   I spent many hours dreaming about my current garage we built 12 years ago.  Two two car and one one car.  One two car has a 9.6 ft. ceiling, the other others are 9.5 and 8.5..  Full insulation with dual steel insulated garage doors.

I thought long and hard about a lift, didn't pull the trigger.  I visited other car guys garages and came to realize the lifts take up room and are in the way for my liking.   

A little long winded but the answer is.....there is no answer as everybody likes somethin' different.


mike

[EuropaTC]

Whenever I've done any restoration work so far I've managed with a selection of axle stands or a timber framework if it's just the fibreglass body being held aloft.  I have one set of stands which could probably lift the car 30" or so off the ground, then two pairs of more conventional stands for general work.  To raise the cars I have 2 trolley jacks, one at either end of the workshop just to make life easier because they're never at the end I want to lift....   

In my current place I don't have the workshop height so I dug an old fashioned  pit instead and that's made life so much easier to do little jobs underneath, so I guess if I had the cash & space I would buy a lift now.

Brian

[Bainford]

A lift makes life easier, and best of all it will make you the envy of the gearheads in your neighbourhood. A lift is high on my list of wants, but not having one doesn't make any job on the Europa impossible.

There is something important to consider when lifting a Europa, however. The two post lift generally lifts on the vehicle frame work behind the front wheels and ahead of the rear wheels. Of course, the Europa doesn't have any frame there. Therefore, lifting a Europa with a two post hoist could mean lifting against the fiberglass floor. Given the thin nature of the fiberglass material this could be dangerous. Additionally, with the car supported in the air in this way, the entire chassis is then hanging from the fiberglass body by the few fasteners holding it there. Ground clearance may also be an issue with this type of lift. I would suggest that a four post, drive on hoist is most appropriate for a Europa.

Just a few thoughts. Cheers.