Finally got my ramp, and not a minute too soon.
Discussion
I have been thinking about it for ages now, how much easier and cheaper life would be with a proper car ramp in my garage, to do my repairs, servicing and waxoiling etc myself. I have looked at all the options, from digging a pit,to those restoration ramps or a two or four post car lift.
After weighing up the pros and cons of each I eventually started looking on ebay for a 240 volt 2 post lift. unfortunately most were 3 phase, and when the 240 volt lift came up for sale they fetched a lot more, and they always seemed to be on the other side of the country, but as luck would have it,I was having my bike mot done at a local garage, the garage owner had a spare ramp for sale, which after a short discussion, the deal was done, it was loaded into my transit, and I now have it up and running at home.
I spent today getting it ready for its mot this week and was quite surprised at the amount of rust that had sprouted up since I last looked underneath during the last mot, considering its only done a couple of thousand miles in mainly dry weather and is always garaged. Most of the white powder coating on the outriggers and areas running alongside the sills has come loose or fallen off, and if anything it is actually making things worse by trapping the moisture in.
This powder coating appears to pretty crap, it this down to the chassis not being properly prepared before coating or is powder coating not ideally suited for this purpose, and if not couldnt TVR have galvanised there steelwork, as its not that expensive and it would never deteriorate.Sorry about my moans but there must be a lot of proud owners out there happily polishing there gleeming pride and joy, blissfully unaware of what may be lurking underneath.
Another thing I spotted was the steel plate welded to the rear lower wishbone which the anti rollbar drop link bolts to had actually snapped in the middle, not due to rust, but more of a stress fracture, has anyone on here suffered this as well, or am I just unlucky.
Anyway, after removing the drop link and welding up the plate I notice the knocking on the rear end which I had put down to noisey shocks has gone. Brill my ramps already paid for itself.
Next step is to completely remove any unsound coating, treat with a good rust converter, paint and waxoil.
If anyone here struggles with ramps and axle stands and has a garage with a reasonably tall roof I can honestly say the addition of a good ramp can almost make Tvr maintainance enjoyable,and could save you a lot of cash over a couple of services and if you cant find one second hand, they are supprisingly reasonable to buy new
After weighing up the pros and cons of each I eventually started looking on ebay for a 240 volt 2 post lift. unfortunately most were 3 phase, and when the 240 volt lift came up for sale they fetched a lot more, and they always seemed to be on the other side of the country, but as luck would have it,I was having my bike mot done at a local garage, the garage owner had a spare ramp for sale, which after a short discussion, the deal was done, it was loaded into my transit, and I now have it up and running at home.
I spent today getting it ready for its mot this week and was quite surprised at the amount of rust that had sprouted up since I last looked underneath during the last mot, considering its only done a couple of thousand miles in mainly dry weather and is always garaged. Most of the white powder coating on the outriggers and areas running alongside the sills has come loose or fallen off, and if anything it is actually making things worse by trapping the moisture in.
This powder coating appears to pretty crap, it this down to the chassis not being properly prepared before coating or is powder coating not ideally suited for this purpose, and if not couldnt TVR have galvanised there steelwork, as its not that expensive and it would never deteriorate.Sorry about my moans but there must be a lot of proud owners out there happily polishing there gleeming pride and joy, blissfully unaware of what may be lurking underneath.
Another thing I spotted was the steel plate welded to the rear lower wishbone which the anti rollbar drop link bolts to had actually snapped in the middle, not due to rust, but more of a stress fracture, has anyone on here suffered this as well, or am I just unlucky.
Anyway, after removing the drop link and welding up the plate I notice the knocking on the rear end which I had put down to noisey shocks has gone. Brill my ramps already paid for itself.
Next step is to completely remove any unsound coating, treat with a good rust converter, paint and waxoil.
If anyone here struggles with ramps and axle stands and has a garage with a reasonably tall roof I can honestly say the addition of a good ramp can almost make Tvr maintainance enjoyable,and could save you a lot of cash over a couple of services and if you cant find one second hand, they are supprisingly reasonable to buy new
Just read your post and your obviously on the same wavelength as myself. I too have been trawling e-bay looking for a ramp and other garage equipment in the attempt to undertake my own maintainance. I also find that all the bargains seem to be in Oban or Anglia with buyer collect. Having looked at your profile I notice were both in South Wales so congratulations on your achievement and good luck with your future maintenance.
monkey boy said:Hi Brian,I notice you are in Blackwood,when I was contemplating a new ramp, I went on the website of Oakmain Ltd, a company based just up the road from you in crumlim. they offered me a new single phase 2 post ramp for £1995 plus vat fitted, and the chap I spoke to also mentioned that they do get used ramps which they sell from time to time, so it might be worth giving them a call.
Just read your post and your obviously on the same wavelength as myself. I too have been trawling e-bay looking for a ramp and other garage equipment in the attempt to undertake my own maintainance. I also find that all the bargains seem to be in Oban or Anglia with buyer collect. Having looked at your profile I notice were both in South Wales so congratulations on your achievement and good luck with your future maintenance.
Thanks Peter, will give them a call I don't mind a 3 phase as I've got a single phase motor ready to convert it. Is yours a two post and if so is it easy to pick up on the chassis.
P.S. The look on my fathers face when he comes home and finds it installed on his hard standing "priceless" (no room at my house).
P.S. The look on my fathers face when he comes home and finds it installed on his hard standing "priceless" (no room at my house).
monkey boy said:
Thanks Peter, will give them a call I don't mind a 3 phase as I've got a single phase motor ready to convert it. Is yours a two post and if so is it easy to pick up on the chassis.
P.S. The look on my fathers face when he comes home and finds it installed on his hard standing "priceless" (no room at my house).
IIRC all motors start life as 3-phase units. If a correctly sized capacitor is installed (Cant remember how its wired in) then thats all you need to convert it to single phase.
monkey boy said:
Thanks Peter, will give them a call I don't mind a 3 phase as I've got a single phase motor ready to convert it. Is yours a two post and if so is it easy to pick up on the chassis.
P.S. The look on my fathers face when he comes home and finds it installed on his hard standing "priceless" (no room at my house).
Hi Brian, yes it is a 2 post ramp that I have and I did have a small problem to overcome before I could use it. The Tvr is very low to the gound and the top of the lifting pads need to be 6 inches or less from the floor to go under the jacking points, also the problem I encountered was the arms of the lift were hitting the sill before the pads got to the lifting point, but I overcame this with a few 3 x 2 concrete slabs and created a run up for each side to raise the car a few inches which allowed the arms to swing under without obstruction, and made sure to leave a 3ft gap between the slabs to keep the working height under the car.
I hope you can understand what I am trying to explain, if not let me know and I will try to forward you some pictures
Regards Peter.
monkey boy said:
Thanks Peter, will give them a call I don't mind a 3 phase as I've got a single phase motor ready to convert it. Is yours a two post and if so is it easy to pick up on the chassis.
P.S. The look on my fathers face when he comes home and finds it installed on his hard standing "priceless" (no room at my house).
Hi Brian, yes it is a 2 post ramp that I have and I did have a small problem to overcome before I could use it. The Tvr is very low to the gound and the top of the lifting pads need to be 6 inches or less from the floor to go under the jacking points, also the problem I encountered was the arms of the lift were hitting the sill before the pads got to the lifting point, but I overcame this with a few 3 x 2 concrete slabs and created a run up for each side to raise the car a few inches which allowed the arms to swing under without obstruction, and made sure to leave a 3ft gap between the slabs to keep the working height under the car.
I hope you can understand what I am trying to explain, if not let me know and I will try to forward you some pictures
Regards Peter.
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff