Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Seeing Gerry's post on his +2 jack conversion I had a quick look in my original bag to compare.
Anyway I found this item along with the jack and white metal hammer.
Does it belong in the bag or has it just slipped in there from somewhere else....it's a ratchet action but I can't fathom what it fits or what it's for.

Cheers,

Kenny

It's the jack handle for the original jack. That has a square end that you put the handle on to jack the car up, rather than a turning handle with a loop and eye.
Mark

Cheers Mark, I've never seen one of those jacks you mention but all interesting stuff.
I've included another pick of my jack set..........I wonder if its been made up or original?

Regards,
Kenny

I think the stout, all weather shoes might have been added later (vbg) !!!

Regards,
Stuart.

The original jack was a fiendishly dangerous device comprising about half the components of your scissor jack. They were prone to collapsing on your toes if you took your eye off them. I suspect that Chapman bought them because they were a) lightweight and b) very, very cheap!

Someone will now tell us that he has been using his three times a day for the last 39 years and there's still not a mark on it.

Pete.

elansprint71 wrote:Someone will now tell us that he has been using his three times a day for the last 39 years and there's still not a mark on it. Pete.

So Pete, are you saying that stories about lifting Churchill Tanks with them could be exaggerated

types26/36/74 wrote:
So Pete, are you saying that stories about lifting Churchill Tanks with them could be exaggerated

How are you Brian?

elansprint71 wrote::lol: How are you Brian?

Fine thanks and sometime I must make it up to Cloggy land but we'd better keep on topic ........so what plugs are you useing? I just Champion N7Y...they work for me.

PS are you going to Castle Combe on Saturday?

Oops! wrong topic

Have you had to use that jack in anger. ie with a flat tyre. You may be too high to get into the sill member tube when the tyre is deflated. In which case you may have to run the car up a curb or brick in order to get the jack in position.

I think the original jack has a lower start position. Just a thought!

Gordon

I really hate to admit this BUT I'm old enough to remember the jack handle you have and the types of jack it was used with

From my memory it was mainly fords the likes of the Zephyr 4 , 6 and Zodiac that had a jack which used this type of handle the jack was a fairly long affair and had a foot on one end with a threaded rod all the way through its length. There was a round tube which folded out and pushed into any one of 4 holes in the side of the sill either for the front wheel or the back wheel either side.

You then placed the handle you have on the top and merrily ratcheted away until the car lifted as the round tube (now in your sill) raised up and lifted the car. Being up the side of the door (on a Zephyr as i remember) the ratchet would often slip a tooth and then you would promptly stove the handle into your door or wing and put a nice dent in them + scraped all the paint

They handles were also used on a different type of jack which laid flat on the floor and just one arm moved along the thread to lift the car (cannot remember what car though) rather than the 'scissor type' for the Lotus.

Here endeth today's 'old fart' history lesson

Going back to Drink Some Guinness today Yipeeeeee

Gordon, good point about using it in anger. The car is still "up in the air" at the moment but will be intesting to check that. I must say the spigot is a great fit in the chassis hole and when the jack is fully closed it is quite slim. It is for sure original paint and I doubt the spigot has been put on after it was supplied with the vehicle it was intended for.

Peter, interesting points re. the old ratchet handle. I may be wrong but are you saying you think these were never supplied with a Lotus? Another chap I spoke to yesterday agrees with that and said all Elan jacks were "scissor" type which goes against comments from other knowlegable chaps above...........confusing really, everybody has different thoughts as to what is "correct"

As for the blue jack I thought and was told it was original but I've asked this question about it as I've now seen about four different jacks in different colours that owners say are original Lotus items............is this another case of whatever the "Old Man" could lay his hands on he used

Cheers,

Kenny

sgbooth wrote:I think the stout, all weather shoes might have been added later (vbg) !!!

Regards,
Stuart.

A good thing to keep in the emergency tool kit. I was once on my way to a track day when my car (non Lotus) broke down. I had on light weight racing boots which were not very comfortable for the long walk to get help.

Both my Elan and Elan+2 Workshop Manuals (section G) and my Elan Service Parts List show similar but not identical types of 'compact' (don't know what else to call it - 'lethal weapon' perhaps?!) jack, with the ratchet handle you have in your tool kit.

The advantage of this type is that they will fit under the front damper/antiroll bar stud and under the rear wishbone outer tube (with a load-spreading piece of wood of course ) to lift the suspension only for a quick wheel change. However, I managed to break mine by trying to lift something from almost the closed position - the loads were too high for one of the welds so beware
I now use a compact scissor jack on both Elan & +2 from some more recent Japanese car for practical use...

My Elan+2 Service Parts List shows exactly the type of scissor jack & handle you have in your kit, so it looks like you have a mixture of both! Perhaps your car is the EXACT change-over point between the compact type & the scissor type

Matthew

This looks like the early type:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lotus-Elan-original-jack-in-good-condition_W0QQitemZ250123084942QQihZ015QQcategoryZ31354QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem