Another lift install and welding area

[kderacing]

So I have finally gotten around to making some improvements to my space after a long winter. First up was revising the mid-rise lift setup. As you can see from the first picture I had to use ramps and this was a pain when trying to use the space for general parking. So like many others I had a pit put in to place he lift in there. I didn't do fully recessed like others have since I didn't want to lose any height of the lift. Still waiting for the concrete to cure, but in another 2 weeks I'll be able to test it out. After this weekend I can place the lift itself down in there and test it out without a car on it.

The other improvement I made was creating a welding booth in the corner of the garage. As you can see there isn't drywall up yet. So I used steel piping to create slides from the ceiling then shower curtain clips to hang welding blankets. It makes a nice three sided welding enclosure. Originally I was hoping to be able to use this space in the winter but I need to get ventilation figured out before I can do that. So it's a start. I'll get some more pictures posted after the lift is in place and some shots of how the pump is mounted to the wall in between the garage doors.

 

[kderacing]

Here are the pictures of the welding area.

 

[Xporter]

Looks good.

 

[WhoWhatNow]

Very nice. I love the F355.

Are those welding curtains from Harbor Freight?

 

[kderacing]

The welding curtains are from Harbor Freight

 

[mr overdunne]

Years ago I cleaned out an electrical/pipe fitting company. I sold the damn welding curtains and to this day I regret it. Looks sharp.

 

[MrV]

looks good. What is the L shaped concrete cut for?
dean

 

[Cougar]

looks good. What is the L shaped concrete cut for?
dean

Conduit for electric?

 

[kderacing]

The L cut is PVC for the hydraulic hose to run to the lift. The pump will get mounted on the wall in between the garage doors. This will allow for rolling around the entire car on a stool possible.

 

[Vvmvbb]

Yeah, the lift is gonna be much nicer to use with the ramps and hose out of the way once and for all.
Like getting a new lift all over again.
Nice work!

 

[kderacing]

Ok, so the concrete cured enough to put the lift in place. I used our Kubota tractor with the backhoe on there. After placing the backhoe so the arm would have enough range surrounding the pit I attached a chain to the eyelet on the front of the lift and then to the bucket of the backhoe and clamped it between the bucket and the thumb. This allowed to simply lift the front of the lift and wheel it around on the rear wheels. Then I used the ramp pieces that were cut to angles to make ramps down into the pit. Simply positioned it rolled it down in, then moved it forward enough to remove the wooden ramps and then position it to the back of the pit and lowered. Everything went smooth and the opening is DEAD ON. I have 1/2" extra on the sides and about 1/4" extra in front of the lift to allow the eyelet room as it rotates. All in all I'm really pleased now I can't wait until 2 more weeks have passed and I can start lifting cars again.

In the meantime here are some pics with the lift in place, the hydraulic line run and the pump mounted. I did at least get to pull cars in and out of the garage for parking and that is definitely easy now that it's recessed. Plus all of my cars can park over the top of it now without any need for ramps. I'll probably setup something to quickly attach a tarp over the top to keep snow and debris from going down into the pit while parking over the top of it. But this is definitely how these lifts should be installed.

 

[R6 Racer]

Looks good!
I hope to do a similar lift down the road a bit. I like the way the controls are out of the way like that.

Steve