Casey's Garage

[Casey]

So today I went and looked at a garage that was advertised on Craigslist.  It used to be a commercial garage back in the day (way back, as in the 50's and earlier), but is no longer commercial.  It has 3 bay doors, a big compressor in the attic (nice as you can barely hear it when it's running) with two take off-points on self-retracting wheels, a hydraulic lift, an oil-burning heater, and room for probably around 8 cars.  I get to begin renting it on the 15th of November, and the rent cost is the same as the room I'm renting to live in.

This is really ideal because in a couple more weeks, my Mercedes count will be up to 6, with at least one more coming in the near future.  I only intend on holding on to two of them long-term (a W116 for pleasure and a W123 for daily driving), and hopefully selling the rest after they're reconditioned (and then buying more to fix, *grin*).

This will give me plenty of room to work, a way to keep cars sheltered from the elements, ability to take on long-term projects like tearing down and rebuilding, space to store spare parts and tools comfortably, etc.  The lift will be very nice to have indeed.  Hopefully with enough junk yard perusing I can keep my investment costs lower than the price difference between purchase and resale.  For now I'll just be spending weekend time there, but eventually, I'd love to be able to just work on classic Mercedes' full-time.  Maybe a lofty ambition, and I've got tons to learn, but gotta start somewhere!  I'm quite looking forward to being able to learn to do body repair and painting.

[Big_Richard]

one would hope that hydraulic lift has been serviced since the 1950's 

[Adrianl]

Long term dream is to have a garage. When I'm finally settled that's gonna be my first goal! Your setup sounds like the 'things dreams are made of.'

[Casey]

one would hope that hydraulic lift has been serviced since the 1950's 

I asked them about this, and they weren't sure about it.  They said the last guy to rent  the garage was afraid to use it, but that they've lifted their van up on it to work on it, and the landlord said, "it's well lubricated".  Mightn't be a bad idea to get somebody to come inspect it, at least.  But if a lift were to fail, wouldn't it come down quite slowly, just as when you intentionally lower it?  The round parts that come up out of the floor are a good 10 inches or so wide.

[Big_Richard]

depends how it works, i dont know if a device made in the 50s would have any kind of safety measures built in. The worse case scenario is that if it fails catastrophically and drops the car instantly to the ground - you really dont want to be under it.

I'd most certainly get a professional inspection and opinion before risking your life by using it.

[Casey]

I'd most certainly get a professional inspection and opinion before risking your life by using it.

I think that's a good idea.  Wonder what sort of business I'd look for to do this service...

[1980sdga]

Is it a single post lift with the big round post and 4 articulating arms? 

Congrats on the garage!

[Casey]

Is it a single post lift with the big round post and 4 articulating arms? 

No, two posts, and no arms like that, just two metal planks that slide on to the lift plates  I'm not really sure how it works  as it doesn't seem too adjustable, but I'll figure it out.  Maybe you can get different attachments to add the articulating arms?  I think it's just older-school than those.

Speaking of which, where are the safe lift points on a W116?

[jbrasile]

Casey, having a place like that with a lift is every car nut dream!!!

PLEASE DO NOT USE THE LIFT UNTIL IT IS THOROUGHLY CHECKED AND SERVICED. Try to find out who the manufacturer is, there should be an ID plate somewhere. Contact them or a company that services lifts, I am sure you can find someone local.

As an additional safety measure, I would buy 4 lock posts and use them under the lift arms once the car is in the air, I believe these used to be a safety accessory that you could buy when these old lifts were new.

The lift points on a 116 are;

Front: Chassis legs right under the fire wall
Rear: The large bolts that hold the radius arms to the floor

Don't use the sills to lift the car as a lot of shops do, you will end up with damaged sills. Also, use rubber pads or wooden blocks on the lift arms so the car doesn't get damaged by the lift's metal legs.

Tks,

Joe

[Casey]

As an additional safety measure, I would buy 4 lock posts and use them under the lift arms once the car is in the air, I believe these used to be a safety accessory that you could buy when these old lifts were new.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking - shouldn't be hard to wedge something between the tops of the lift and the floor.  I'd prefer to do that even if somebody said it was in perfect serviced shape.  I'll search online for lock posts.

Don't use the sills to lift the car as a lot of shops do, you will end up with damaged sills

I learned this the hard way on my coupe.  I didn't have much choice though - I had it jacked up in the rear and was swapping tires between cars using the Bilstein jack, and the car fell damaging the plate behind the rear rotor.  Amazingly, the rotor didn't seem to be damaged.  To get it off the floor I used a floor jack under the sill to get it back up; or maybe I just started to enough to notice that it was mangling the sill and ended up doing something else...  Need to fix that broken parking brake, eh?

Nice thing about learning lessons the hard way is that you don't quickly forget.

Also, use rubber pads or wooden blocks on the lift arms so the car doesn't get damaged by the lift's metal legs.

The legs have rubber pads on them already, I think.  Carpet glued onto some plywood would probably do nicely as well.

[Nutz]

Real men scoff at being weary of walking under 60 year old lifts with a load.

[Casey]

I'm honestly getting pretty tired of working on problematic cars.  Seems like right now every car I've got has issues that I don't have the time or money to deal with.  And I just don't have passion for the W123's that I bought thinking I could turn a profit on them.  The 200D will be nice once it's actually in top shape, but right now it's just another set of issues to deal with.  The garage will be a much-needed space to store the cars for the winter, and assuming I manage to keep my job, I'll be able to get them all straight one by one.  I think in the end things will work out nicely - I'll at least gain a lot of experience and tools working on them and hopefully at least not lose too much money selling them.  I've got two currently parked in my work parking lot, and really

I had my hopes set to get a 450SEL, which would fulfill a long-standing LWB W116 wish (plus it was in the right color, with the options I dream of), and even after investing in the 300D and 200D, I had enough to manage it comfortably.  Then a good friend of mine told me they were in a financial bind and I decided I'd be better off helping them than pursuing selfish interest.  I know if I was in their shoes I'd wish somebody would do the same for me.

Life's not *all* about the cars, after all...

So I'm kinda bummed, but am still going to get the garage in a couple weeks.  Then I'll get my cars moved there, and probably just be lazy and rest up and save money for a month or two...maybe do some junkyard harvesting (though I don't imagine this is the greatest fun in wintertime), and keep a spare driver ready to go in case I need it.  I'm going to wait until I've got some spare cash in the bank before doing too much work though - I'd like to get the W123 300's and the 300SD completely fixed up nicely, and sold.  Don't really want to just tinker around investing a little work and then have lingering issues to get back to later.  After that's done I'll be on the lookout for a LWB W108/W116 in good shape for sure, to become my primary love.

I guess sometimes true love is worth the wait, eh?

[Casey]

Heh, this guy's garage "used to be a Wal-Mart":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw-YUlpMVxU

[Casey]

I'm honestly getting pretty tired of working on problematic cars.  Seems like right now every car I've got has issues that I don't have the time or money to deal with.

I had my hopes set to get a 450SEL, which would fulfill a long-standing LWB W116 wish

Well, my friend already managed to borrow money from other friends before I offered, so it looks like I'm putting off spare funds to get working on the existing cars to buy the 450SEL after all.  Not much going on for the moment.  Once I've got the garage and 450SEL, I should be able to get rolling with repairs within a few weeks.  The SEL may be a big project that I take on right away, or I may (more likely) put it off until after dealing with some of the others.  Really depends on what I think of it once it's in my possession.

[TJ 450]

I have grown to like having multiple projects, so long as things don't get out of control in terms of having car parts everywhere. Whoops, too late.

If you have storage, and you prioritize, it isn't a problem.

Tim