Putting a S2 on stands

[Gary t]

I have not been able to find a good (for me) description of where to locate the stands so I can get under the car and also work on the suspension parts. I will also have to remove the front closing  plate.
I have four stands and a floor jack.

[dakazman]

Hi Gary,
     How high off the ground do you want to go ? I have my body completely off the frame so i can photo you some stronger resting points.
Along with the recommended jacking points.
Dakazman

[BDA]

I use a stand under each end of the 'T' in the front and I have a wooden stand made of 2 x 6s that holds up the rear hoop.

I just wish I had a lift and room for it!

[dakazman]

Gary and BdA! 
Wish i had certifieds lifts. Lol
dakazman

[Gary t]

I am hoping to not take the body off but?
I need to get underneath and be safe. I have the front up and plan to put the stands under the T ends with a wood block between the stand and the frame.
I'm a little concerned about stability with just one point at the back.

[BDA]

The wood stand I use for the rear is about a foot or so wide. JB has a really nice metal stand (maybe he'll see this and post a picture) but I don't know how to weld so I used wood (I can saw wood and hammer nails - usually). A single jack stand in the rear is asking for trouble.

See the picture of my incredibly simple rear stand.

[jbcollier]

I used a length of 1/8" wall 2x2 to make this:

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-PRTWCMN/A

Very stable and secure.

At the front I use conventional jack stands with wood at each end of the chassis's T section.

[Gary t]

Thanks John that looks doable but I will use wood because that is mostly what happens in my shop.

[Sherman Kaplan]

For jacking a TCS I found the following pictures on the web.  I don't know if they are from someone on the list.   Is this a good way to jack up and put jack stands under a TCS?  I also found the attached picture in the S2 part of the service manual so I think putting the jack stands on the frame is safe but I would like to hear comments.

Thanks,
Sherman

[BDA]

Putting stands under the frame in the rear requires you to extend the stands much too high for me. Also, the frame is relatively narrow behind the rear wheels so that is not my preferred support points.  I much prefer to support the rear at the rear hoop. Having three support points is inherently stable.

That's not to say that if you have tall enough stands that it wouldn't be safe. You're the guy under the car so ultimately you're the one who has to feel safe.

[Gary t]

Thanks all I have the front up, and plan to use a vertion of John's beam under the bow at the rear.
Still a little nervous about the stability but will give it a go.

[EuropaTC]

Hi Sherman,

I used to lift the rear of the car on the gearbox with a wooden load spreader on the jack, but no longer do so,  these days I lift off the rear hoop.  The reason I stopped doing so was because lifting that way puts the weight of the car on to the engine/gearbox mounts so I figured I was overloading them.  No idea if that's a valid concern or not, but it was enough for me to change my habits.

I do use the rear frame legs for the axle stands as in the photo but I have some very large axle stands, much longer & heavier than standard and designed for higher lifts than normal.  If you were using conventional stands I think you'd need to have them on some sort of platform support to get the height.

Having said that, supporting under the rear chassis legs makes for a very stable car with plenty of room to move about.

Brian

[Sherman Kaplan]

Brian and BDA.  My engine/gearbox are not in the car (it came that way).  For now I can lift the car by the rear hoop, but I'm thinking ahead to when everything is back in the car?   I can see lifting by the rear hoop on a 336 gearbox, but on the 352/365 is there enough room to get a jack under the hoop?  I saw the pictures that JB Collier made for the metal bracket/jack stands for the 336 gearbox.  Is there something that can be made for the 352/365 gearbox?

Thanks,
Sherman

[BDA]

You may be right, Sherman. It's been a long time mine had a 365 and of course if there is no tranny in the car, that presents a problem in jacking it up!

When you get your 352 in your car, you can see what works the best for you. I can understand Brian's reticence to jack the car up from the tranny since now that motor (and tranny) mounts are holding up the car and not just the motor. It's just too handy for me and I've gotten away with it so far. If you have competition style motor mounts, that's probably not a problem at all.

[jbcollier]

Lifting by the engine/tranny does stress the mounts.  On every other car I would say bad idea but the Europa weighs very little so it’s not as big a problem.