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Have any of you built a jig or hoist to hold the car while changing the clutch. I dont want any dealer or garage to touch my car. Needs to be safe enough so I can get under it and work on it. Show pics if you have.
From: Arlington Va Current ride 04 vert, previous vettes: 69 vert, 77 resto mod
Originally Posted by johnfin
Have any of you built a jig or hoist to hold the car while changing the clutch. I dont want any dealer or garage to touch my car. Needs to be safe enough so I can get under it and work on it. Show pics if you have.
you need to use tall jack stands....google the subject there are many links and videos on the subject.
From: Arlington Va Current ride 04 vert, previous vettes: 69 vert, 77 resto mod
Originally Posted by johnfin
can i remove or loosen alot of components while up on 4 ramps, ie exhaust, torque tube.
yes you can do it all up on jack stands...its a lot of work and may be eaiser if you can stand under it.....google it ....there are you tube videos of the process....its doable but a lot of work and the clutch assembly is balanced to the car....so you have to mark it and have the new stuff balanced the same. I am all for guys learning and working on there cars.....and i have been doing this for fun for over 40 years, but i will say this is a lot of work, google removing the rear cradle and you will get your sense of the work involved in getting the torque tube to move back for access to the clutch
the 4 ramps are to be used to get most of the stuff off safely, like exhaust. then lift the rearend with tranny jack, install jacks, then drop cradle. torque tube bolts already loosened.
About all you can do on ramps is take the mid-pipe and the tunnel plate off. I hope you're skinny because there won't be much room to get under the car on ramps. An 8" tall ramp will give you about 11" under the car.
I did my clutch in my garage. Two sets of jackstands for extra security since I had them. Got car as high as possible. Harley lift for rear subframe with diff, Harbor Freight trans jack, floor jack to balance torque tube. Worked great and I was able to leave car in the air with peace of mind.
I had the front on ramps and the rear I lifted and then kept in the air with wood blocks. Live near a lot of boatyards and went to the lumber mill that supplies them the blocks. Bought one long 12"X12" section and had them cut it into blocks. Had a car come off jack stands once so I don't trust them.
I had the front on ramps and the rear I lifted and then kept in the air with wood blocks. Live near a lot of boatyards and went to the lumber mill that supplies them the blocks. Bought one long 12"X12" section and had them cut it into blocks. Had a car come off jack stands once so I don't trust them.
I understand fully. If I were to do this job at home, I'd be supporting the car at the "lift points" defined by the jacking pucks. MOST jack stands have curved support pads, designed to "cradle" an axle, therefore they actually have a very limited contact patch if used at other points of the car. This means that they aren't all that stable. And furthermore, when removing that much weight from the car, especially at the rear of the car, will shift the weight balance of the car, while the work is being done. Doing a job of this magnitude requires that the car be "rock steady" at ALL times. Personally, I think using jack stands for this type of work is a real "crap shoot"....
From: Arlington Va Current ride 04 vert, previous vettes: 69 vert, 77 resto mod
these are hockey pucks and the elite rocker rails......if you use jack stands on rocker rails you have a natural cradle for the jack stands....real jack stands are very safe. don't cheap out on stamped steel 3 leg jack stands buy real ones and there is nothing wrong with using other safety measures.....earth quakes do happen.
it doesn't get any safer then this for jacking up a corvette
and finished product
with glued rubber pads on
Last edited by bobs77vet; Jul 4, 2018 at 11:36 AM.
I don't know how anyone gets a spreader bar under their car unless they use ramps first and that's too much work. My floor jack barely fits under the cradle by itself. I just made a set of rocker rails and that makes everything so much easier.
If you're really worried about the stands, put the ear on one end of the stand right into the tie down slot at the jacking point. It's won't slide off of that.
Originally Posted by vettenuts
I had the front on ramps and the rear I lifted and then kept in the air with wood blocks. Live near a lot of boatyards and went to the lumber mill that supplies them the blocks. Bought one long 12"X12" section and had them cut it into blocks. Had a car come off jack stands once so I don't trust them.
It's funny how people view things. I wouldn't trust straight stacked blocks because I'd be worried they would slide on each other. Now, stacked into a crib and screwed together would be OK, but that wouldn't leave as much room under the car to work.
Just for ideas, the total height is 13" with the plastic ramps, all of the sections are locked together so nothing can slide, under the ramps are blocks that the ramps slide over, the wood blocks have bolts in 2 opposing corners and the blocks & different length bolts can be added or removed to change the height. The ramps you can flip the raised stops different ways so when jacking the car does not roll forward or backwards when jacking.
You could build taller blocks to set the car on the jacking points.
If I were using jack stands, I have a set that are 24" tall, I would have to make a steel u channel cap that fits over the top of the stand & locks into the jacking point just to be safer.
I have wooden blocks that fit under each cradle that also have blocking to hold them in place when jacking, my jack maxes out at 20" so I have to add height at the floor to get car on top of the ramps with suspension at full droop.
Never had any mishaps so it's all about safety, don't cut corners.
From: Arlington Va Current ride 04 vert, previous vettes: 69 vert, 77 resto mod
Originally Posted by lionelhutz
I don't know how anyone gets a spreader bar under their car unless they use ramps first and that's too much work. My floor jack barely fits under the cradle by itself. I just made a set of rocker rails and that makes everything so much easier.
k.
my spreader bars fit with a low profile jack, but like you said the rocker rails were a game changer for me and they are my go to jacking method.....low profile jack is good for 14-15 " and then if I need it higher I move to the bigger floor jack. if that bigger floor jack didn't have sentimental value to me I would just buy a low profile bigger jack with the 19-20"lift. although that really light low profile jack is super easy to use..it takes 6 minutes to get the car up 14" in the air from opening the garage door,,,
these are the wimpy 2 ton jack stands for when I swap the wheels to my other set and clean these
Last edited by bobs77vet; Jul 4, 2018 at 05:45 PM.
6speedsteve,
Thats what I am thinking. How did you move the supports inward? Here is my transam on metal ramps. Plenty of room to remove tranny and I am huge.
6speedsteve,
Thats what I am thinking. How did you move the supports inward? Here is my transam on metal ramps. Plenty of room to remove tranny and I am huge.
Not sure what you mean by moving the supports inward?
Jig or Hoist
