Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Chris, type in any of those key words in this forum and your head will spin with the amount of info there

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

Thanks Greg
It's amazing how much well organized information is out there on just about any subject

I spent a long time looking at affordable lifting solutions and concluded there weren't any. Besides, I'd rather spend the ?1.5k or so on the car.

So, I have a pair of stout 4x4 hardwood beams running front to back on either side of the car under the sills, sitting on axle stands, set in place with a trolley jack. Gives enough room to roll a creeper under the car and access the bits I need to get to. Obviously not as fast as one of these jacking solutions, but sure is cheaper. To get the car up, I first drive it onto a pair of ramps, then fit a beam and jack from the rear. Once at the maximum height the stand is put into place. Repeat for the front (lifts the front wheel off the ramp), go to the other side and repeat. Remove ramps, get to work. I was surprised that it takes only 10 minutes to do this, and it made a real difference to working under the car vs. the drive-on ramps alone.

Kind of like this fellow who documents his sill replacement here: http://www.haverstad.net/lotus/elan/sil ... cement.htm

..only my beams run front to back, not left to right, and they're much thicker / stronger than what he is using.

Picture on one of my other threads: http://images.lotuselan.net/lel/52181/0/img_4298.jpg

I know it looks as if the sill lip is bearing down on the beam but it isn't, because the bottom of the floor is at the same level behind the lip. It's a Plus2.

Hi Jon,
i used to do the same as you and it works very well with no problems.
Now i am lucky to have a car trailer Lider rated 1300 kgs.
It is a tilting trailer one axle and is hitched to a Tow ball fixed to the wall in the garage under my house.
I can roll the car onto it using the incorporated cable winch.
Just the right height to slide underneath to work on the Lotus or TVR in safety .
Alan

I had a new garage built that was completed earlier this year and have been waiting months for MaxJax to be back in UK stock, it's a nice solution if you have limited ceiling height ( the council wouldn't allow 3 metre high ceiling!) and garage floor is strong enough with a good depth of concrete.

So I was pleased to find a UK supplier of a fully CE compliant compact 2 post lift at around ?350 less than the out of stock (non CE compliant) MaxJax. There's nothing wrong with it being non CE compliant apart from the fact that this may be why it's out of stock and not available, after all if it's safe enough for the USA it's safe enough for anywhere!

This appears to be either the exact Maxjax under a different brand or a flagrant copy, but I'm very pleased with it. The picture shows the car at the lower recommended safe height of 600mm (2 feet) the higher recommended height is 1050mm (3 foot 6 inches), recommended in that a safety bar can be passed through both posts at this height to prevent the lift platforms from lowering if the hydraulics fail, it also has an automatic clackety clack safety lock on each post that engages every 100mm (4 inches) it may be this item that the Maxjax Lacks which is why it is non CE, perhaps an owner of a MaxJax can confirm?

Alan, I've been looking for something like that since I got my Plus 2. Like you, I do not have a 3 meter high garage, so the normal type of lift is not going to fit.

Can you share the supplier details and model, please?

By the way.. I think that's the first picture I have seen of your Elan. Looks lovely!

Hi Alan,
looks like what I'm after too, I'm busy with my Zetec +2 and a hoist be very useful but I too have a fairly standard garage roof, what's the overall height?

Thanks
Mike

Hi Jon,


It's available from Equipment for Garages https://www.garageequipment.co.uk/Vehic ... 27-Ton-1ph

You need to ensure that your garage floor is at least 250mm deep, or you will need to cut it up and lay a new slab where you are going to fix the posts using High Strength concrete.


An Elan from the Lotus Heretic Collection



Another Elan from the Heretic Collection (note the ride height)

mikealdren wrote:Hi Alan,
looks like what I'm after too, I'm busy with my Zetec +2 and a hoist be very useful but I too have a fairly standard garage roof, what's the overall height?

Thanks
Mike

Hi Mike,
My ceiling is 2300mm, the maximum lift is 1050mm at which point the top of the screen of my S4 is 75mm away from the ceiling. I find 600mm to be more than enough for most jobs, a real pleasure compared to jacks and axle stands that can only really go 450mm with a bit of a wobble

As a MaxJax owner I can confirm that it does not have the ratcheting safety on the posts that you mention on yours. Just the safety bars at the two heights. I?m in the US.

Spyder fan wrote:An Elan from the Lotus Heretic Collection

And you call yourself a heretic because...?

Anyway, thanks for the link. ?1800 is a bit too much for me right now. I've been putting off getting a new set of front shock absorbers for my +2 on the basis of cost, and they are a mere ?300 (ish).

Thanks Alan,
I'll measure up tomorrow, it may well be just what I need, not cheap but very useful.

Mike

One of the things I have found handy with the MaxJax, is to make some longer extension posts, if you have enough ceiling height. Just raising the car a few more inches, makes it much easier for me to roll around underneath the car on my Harbor Freight adjustable roll around. The longer extensions due require me to first raise the car, placing some blocks under the tires, then lowering the lift and inserting the longer extensions. Takes a bit longer, but I find it worth the chore.

Spyder fan wrote:

2018-09-06 09.57.52.jpg

Is that to keep the car dry during high spring tides in Pevensey?

my ceiling height is 2.58m and it allows for multi story Elan parking

Just saw this ad for Garage lifts with low ceilings.....