Manual 4 poster lift installed :-) [warning lotsa pics!]

Well, finally today I managed to get the golf up onto the manual 4 poster ramp I bought before Christmas   . It was reviewed in Practical Classics late last year and I contacted the guys that made it having seem one in action at the Classic Car show at the NEC.

Its basically an intermediate step between a proper 4 poster ramp and balancing things on some very big axle stands  :wink:  I can get the bottom of the wheels of the golf just over a metre off the ground which gives loads of room underneath to work on the car.

It has a few limitations in that the wheels have to be on the car to use it, but I am thinking of making up some supports that can be used instead of the drive on ramps allowing wheels off raising of the car.

As you can see from the pics space in my garage is EXTREMELY tight, but thank fully just enough to get out of the car once its in there without too much trouble.

Because I have to go back an forth between the front and back of the car by going around the outside of the garage it takes me about 15mins to raise the car and about the same to lower it. With two people I reckon you could do it in about 5 mins (one at each end).

Its a very sturdy piece of kit and I have been pleased with the level of access it gives me. Hopefully it will allow me to trace and fix and exhaust / manifold blow pretty easily. It cost me just over a grand all in, which is a lot, but I think with two cars to service and a fair bit of underbody work to be done on the golf it will be a worthwhile investment. Other big pluses are it requires no power and should I move I can just dismantle it an take it with me   .

Anyway, enough talk here are some piccies:

1. Lift before car goes on in lowered position:


2. Car carefully manouvered onto the ramp:


3. Car at about 1meter off the ground (from the bottom of the wheels):



4. Misc shots showing clearance etc:







Cheers,

Chris

Looks very good Chris, I want one…. a garage would also be nice. After spending yesterday crawling around on the ground working on my exhaust with the car up on axle stands that looks like a dream. Plus any underside bodywork is going to be vastly easier. Jacking up cars is a nasty job, you're quickly going to feel the benefit of your investment.

Cheers

Nice Shoes Chris     and the ramp good as well, i'll be around next week  

- yeah didn't get my toes out of shot quick enough there  :wink:

Well if anyone is around SE London way and wants to put their Mk1 on there to check something out they are more than welcome…. I'll be using it to do an oil change and maybe a brake system bleed in the next day or so, plus try and locate and fix the exhaust blow that is going on around the manifold / downpipe area.

I ain't as young and flexible as I used to be and if this prevents a bad case of backache then it will be more than worth it  8).

It enabled me to get a good look at the underside of my Campaign for the first time, and thankfully its pretty solid. Its been ziebarted from new so I think that has helped to keep things protected. When I finally get round to the full resto though I'll be stripping all that off and going for the body colour look I think.

Chris

Good move… get it all stripped back… it'll bust your chops but worth it - do it outside and in summer - sunny non humid day best - wee breeze… bare steel hates the moisture…

Great lift btw! :wink:

That looks extremely useful.  

Yeah - just used it for an oil change and its soooooo much easier that struggling under axle stands out on the driveway  8) .

About to tackle a camshaft change plus trying to locate an exhaust blow thats been bugging me for ages.

Just wish my garage was a tad wider, still I shouldn't complain as I know many folks don't even have the luxury of a garage  ops:

Chris