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Bought a floor jack tonight...

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justanengineer

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Alright I admit it, Im a bit of a sucker when it comes to the art deco look of early 20th century tools. Tonight I overspent by quite a bit at $50, but I finally have the perfect floor jack for my future retro garage. Its not hydraulic, its mechanical...
DSCN3637.jpg

For those curious its basically a giant ratchet...
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Made by the Elite Mfg Co of Ashland OH, unlike new tools there is no argument about this being genuinely made in USA
DSCN3636.jpg

Every bit as beautiful as it is functional. A google search revealed several patents for jacks they had in the 20's and 30's, with the most recent bit of info being from 1935. Any information about this company anybody could contribute would be very appreciated.

What is normally a speed pumping pedal on a hydraulic jack actually reverses the ratchet mechanism and allows it to be "jacked" down. It needs a new spring or two, and possibly a small piece of linkage, but I will address these issues as they come up. Now as to the color....Im thinking either black or "royal" something...green, blue, maroon maybe?

And as usually happens when I go acquire a new tool or toy in my truck (open bed), it poured rain the whole way home.
 
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jabberwoki

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Duuuuuuuuuuuuude Thats way cool! my neighbor has one kind of like that except you steer the back wheels. He wants $100 i`ll get it one day
 
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wrenchr

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Can you say pinch point in regards to that thing!!! That is what makes it so cool, you can loose a finger real easy!!! :) never seen one of those before.
 
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porphyre

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That thing is fantastic. I want one.

Polish the wheels and gear faces. Paint the rest satin black. Gray lettering or nothing.
 
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justanengineer

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Thanks guys. I honestly dont know the capacity and havent taken the time to look it over too carefully since Ive been working (and wasting time on here) all night otherwise. Its a long frame, so hopefully thats a good sign capacity-wise, but it is mechanical so maybe not. Regarding price, it was $50 total, which was my limit on value for a good 10 ton hydraulic jack (which is what I wanted originally). I had originally thought this was hydraulic from the tiny Craigslist pic, but once I saw it I had to own it. Ive always preferred the look and feel of early 20th century tools and have quite a few, but had previously only personally seen a few mechanical floor jacks. At the seller's house I took a few minutes to make sure none of the castings were broken and it appeared complete, then spent about 20 minutes drooling over his small collection of Model A's and talking car clubs before heading home in the rain. I guess you could say tonight was win-win for me. I gained a cool tool, a new friend, and possibly a new car club all at once.
 
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justanengineer

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wrenchr said:
Can you say pinch point in regards to that thing!!! That is what makes it so cool, you can loose a finger real easy!!! :) never seen one of those before.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:Shhh....Ive had enough problems with OSHA in the past, I dont want anybody calling the Nazis again on me for doing what is necessary with my own safety to get a job done.
 
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dan1120

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Get it back to operational state, use it, then report to us how well it works. Its a hell of a cool looking piece. Good score.
 
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wrenchr

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What is funny is this jack is old school cool and it can meat grind your hand off.
A jap **** jack is not cool because it can fail and drop the car on you with out warning.
 
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-Brent-

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I love mechanical items like that. If you have buyer's remorse, PM me, I'll help you turn a profit on it.
 
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justanengineer

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I tore into the jack tonight and its starting to fight me, but thats to be expected from a ~80 year old tool. The ratcheting lift mechanism itself moves freely as it should, but unfortunately the joint pins are all original iron pins, not steel, and a few are solidly rusted into the main iron side castings. Others, though free, have quite a few cotter pins in them that are likely original and also solidly rusted in. I managed to drill a few of the cotter pins out tonight, and will continue to do so tomorrow in hopes of getting more of it disassembled enough for painting within a few days. Once its painted, the real fun begins as I need to source a few springs for the ratchet mechanism and get it working. One of the POs replaced the springs with the correct length but wrong tension, which didnt allow the ratchet pawls to release correctly. No wonder it didnt operate properly. :lol_hitti
On to the pics...
DSCN3651.jpg

A few parts I painted today. I found a tiny bit of the remains of a single layer of red paint, so Im planning a classic red/white 30's hot rod paint style.
DSCN3652.jpg

The main body upside down...still fighting the tear down and drilling out cotter pins.
 
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justanengineer

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Thought some on here would appreciate seeing what I have done thus far with the jack. I decided not to tear it completely apart for now, though I plan on doing so again at a later date. To do so, I would basically have to bore out the solid axle and a few of the joint pins on the Bridgeport, then fab new parts. At this point in time I was more curious to see if I could make it work, so I tore into it as far as possible, did a bit of derust and shot some paint at it. I finished reassembling it tonight, then spent an hour adjusting spring tensions and it seems to work on the bench. Tomorrow I will test it on the truck and may make a video of the mechanism since someone requested one. Its actually rather neat seeing it ratchet up and down, kinda reminds me of a come-along.

downsized_0718012252a.jpg


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Please ignore the paint wear on the gears. I got it working at 11 pm tonight and havent had time to clean it up completely or check everything yet.
 
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