Winter storage on a scissor lift

[John Larkin]

I'm considering using a small scissor lift to store my Elan S3 over the winter months. The car would be lifted under the cills, leaving the four wheels to dangle. Is there a risk of damage to the suspension if left in full extension for 5-6 months continuously?

John Larkin

[elanfan1]

Would not have thought it would do your donuts any good, suspension isn't designed to be on full droop for extended periods but I don't know if it will actually cause damage. Can you not get some scaffold planks, put them on the lifting points and then pick the whole car?

[nebogipfel]

I'm considering using a small scissor lift to store my Elan S3 over the winter months. The car would be lifted under the cills, leaving the four wheels to dangle. Is there a risk of damage to the suspension if left in full extension for 5-6 months continuously?

John Larkin

Not sure what you are trying to achieve here John? Is it to save the tyres?

FWIW I never lift an Elan via the sill jacking points and wouldn't dream of doing it and leaving the car dangling long term. I also wonder what the drive couplings and suspension would think of it?

If you are worried about the tyres deforming, pump them up harder or better rotate them a couple of times depending on how long the car is laid up. That said, I don't think I have ever seen healthy tyres suffer from a winter layup.

The only tyres I have seen develop significant deformation had stood a loooooong time

[John Larkin]

I need to get two cars into my small garage over the winter, but I am short of 400mm in garage length. I can get the nose of the other car under the nose of the Lotus if I raise the Lotus high enough, and I can achieve that with the scissors lift.

I have Tony Thompson drive shafts, so no rotoflexes to worry about.

The scaffolding planks are a good idea!

[elanfan1]

All makes sense now John, just don't rely on the Elan handbrake to keep it on the planks. Also if it is to be long term storage I think I'd put some support under the lift too _ something like a vertical piece of two by four either end and lower the scissor lift on to them to take a bit of the weight.

[nebogipfel]

OK,

But I'm still doubtful about dangling an Elan via the sills or lifting via the shell at all.......

[John Larkin]

I'm not worried about the shell carrying the load of the chassis, engine, etc. I seem to recall reading somewhere trustworthy that each body bobbin has a design pull-out strength of a ton, and there are sixteen of them. The engine, chassis, drivetrain and suspension must weigh about 600kg maximum in total, so that would be spread over sixteen bolts. My car has also been lifted completely off the ground under the cills for up to fifteen minutes each time for its annual car test and there have been no problems. My main concern is the suspension being on full droop for six months.

[nebogipfel]

I'm not worried about the shell carrying the load of the chassis, engine, etc. I seem to recall reading somewhere trustworthy that each body bobbin has a design pull-out strength of a ton, and there are sixteen of them. The engine, chassis, drivetrain and suspension must weigh about 600kg maximum in total, so that would be spread over sixteen bolts. My car has also been lifted completely off the ground under the cills for up to fifteen minutes each time for its annual car test and there have been no problems. My main concern is the suspension being on full droop for six months.

I know Lotus advocated lifting the Elan by the sills by I never do. I don't expect the bobbins to pull out but I can just imagine the stresses going through the laminate and the possibility of cracks developing. It is your choice of course

Just to satisfy my curiosity, why do you call sills cills?

[John Larkin]

Just to satisfy my curiosity, why do you call sills cills?

Both spellings are correct. Here in Ireland the vernacular spelling is "sill" and this is the older form of the word; the construction/architectural spelling is "cill", and it hails from the 18th century. I've worked in construction all my life.

JL

[nebogipfel]

Just to satisfy my curiosity, why do you call sills cills?

Both spellings are correct. Here in Ireland the vernacular spelling is "sill" and this is the older form of the word; the construction/architectural spelling is "cill", and it hails from the 18th century. I've worked in construction all my life.

JL

OK, but until I install a bay window in the side of the Elan I'm still inclined to think sill is correct

Sorry to go off on a tangent, good luck with your parking dilemma

PS I have been in the motor trade most of my working life and have replaced/repaired/welded countless sills. I have yet to do a cill

[Spyder fan]

At risk of making this topic continue to drift I was at a local classic car show today and there was a classic American Chevrolet present that had a wooden trunk literally bolted to the rear of the car, hence the very apt American term for the rear storage area of a car being the trunk......
American English appears to be more precise than the mother tongue, why do we call it the boot? Is it because we are descended from a bunch of pirates and it's where we stash the booty?

[TroonSprint]

Dreadfully off topic, but I found this on an "English Language & Usage" web site.

In the case of the English "boot", the origin is that in the 18th and 19th centuries, the coachman used to sit on a locker where he could store, among other things, his boots. For this reason, this was termed the "boot locker" and after a while an additional compartment situated at the rear of the coach was used, also called for the same reason the "boot" (for short).

Boots of course were mandatory in those times given the state of the roads. Jane Austen alludes in several of her novels to the fact that speaking about the state of the roads was as common place in England as speaking about the weather. For one thing, the roads have improved since Jane Austen . As for the weather...

As for the American "trunk", well it should suffice to look at all the classic cars designed in the post WWI era, for which trunks were mounted at the rear end.

Mike

[nebogipfel]

At risk of making this topic continue to drift I was at a local classic car show today and there was a classic American Chevrolet present that had a wooden trunk literally bolted to the rear of the car, hence the very apt American term for the rear storage area of a car being the trunk......
American English appears to be more precise than the mother tongue, why do we call it the boot? Is it because we are descended from a bunch of pirates and it's where we stash the booty?

image.jpg

Please don't bring Americanisms into this Alan or Sills will not even be Cills, they'll be Rockers. We all know they were the coves who scrapped with the Mods in the sixties and are certainly not part of any car!

Anyway signing off with apologies to John for completely destroying his topic

[Famous Frank]

Hmm, your dilemma fertilizes new thoughts. I had a chance to be under a Porsche GT this past week. Interesting that with all the strength of carbon fiber this and carbon fiber that, the perfectly flat floor of the GT has special lifting points so the body is never stressed at all.

If I had to lift it be the body for any length of time, I think I'd consider removing the wheels and tires. That would not only lesson the weight on the sills but would also remove some of the weight on the suspension.

I keep thinking! Good luck!
Frank

[alan.barker]

TIRES TYRES, SUBWAY UNDERGROUND
maybe it's better to get back to the subject