Rotary Lift Use With Modern Cars
Hard to believe the thread is still going strong after five years. It's been a blast to read and see what great adventure comes up next.
Russ
Well isn't that the truth Russ? I keep thinking you guys are going to politely ask me to cease and desist but it seems everyone here are gluttons for punishment soooooooo with that said....
My Rotary Lift, manufactured in 1928, was designed for cars with
much higher ground clearance than "modern" cars. Many of my cars are 50 years old but I still think of them as modern.
The Rotary Lift was used in a era of Model T's and Model A's. Cars of that time period had 10" (25 cm) or more of ground clearance. Those side rails that the yellow arrows are pointing to didn't cause any clearance problem with those type of cars. Those rails are about 3" (7.62 cm) tall and when a car with low ground clearance, say a 1966 Corvette, is driving onto the lift, there can be a spot or two that comes mighty close to those rails.
To avoid any potential problems I decided to fabricate some spacers that would ensure more clearance with those side rails.
Looking around the wood shop I found some 1/2"(1.27 cm) thick plywood that I cut in half lengthwise and screwed together to create a 1" (2.5 cm) thick piece, 8' (2.4 m) long. I also had some 3/4" (1.9 cm) thick walnut plywood that would work well and look good doing so.
In various places on the lift ramps are these large carriage head bolts.
The plywood would need to be relived in the areas where it would contact those bolt heads in order to lay flat on the ramp. Using a die grinder and a rounded bit, enough wood was removed so the bolt heads wouldn't interfere. Both of the ends of the boards were cut at a 45º angle to make it easier to drive on.
The fir plywood was stained and then both the fir and walnut plywood...
...were coated with clear polyurethane to help protect the wood, making it a little more durable.
Lastly a couple of aluminum angle pieces were attached to the bottom of the wood to keep the plywood in place when a car was driving up on the ramp. I wish I had enough walnut plywood for both sides, it really looks nice.
The only place there was a clearance problem was when the car was driving onto the lift and the front wheels were on the lift and rear wheels were on the ground. Once the rear wheels were up on the ramps there was plenty of room so the boards didn't have to extend the entire length of the ramps.
That little extra 3/4" and 1" thickness from the boards now gives just a little more clearance. The metal angle pieces on the ends hold the boards securely so they don't scoot away when a car is driven up on them. A pretty simple project that I used only scrap material on so it cost only my time. I use the spacers only with the Corvettes or other low clearance cars. Normally I remove those spacers and store them out of the way. It makes the old lift a little more user friendly now.
(BTW, how's BS 1.0 coming along?) Thanks everyone.
Thomas
