C5Registry "Stack your Corvettes right here!" Lift Party

But even a four-car garage really doesn't handle our needs. We have two daily drivers and three Corvettes (and I'm looking for a fourth: a '58-'60). Presently, two of the Corvettes (my '98 C5 and my '90 Red Roadster) are sitting in mini-warehouses until the project is complete; and my '64 Silver Roadster is still in storage in San Diego for the same reason.

Half-jokingly, I thought that what I really needed was a hydraulic lift so I could drive one 'Vette on, lift it up and drive another under it. Voila! Two Corvettes in one space!

Being an internet junkie (as well as a C5 junkie) it didn't take long to find the right answer -- and it's surprisingly affordable. I ran across the web page for Bill Anstine (C5R#W0303) and he has THREE of these suckers in his garage! Multiple telephone calls later (thanks to Bill's incredible generosity with his time) I ordered a lift from Autolifters of America in Wichita, KS.

Autolifters makes several models; the one I needed (their model M6) is a four-post lift, 6000 lbs. capacity, that simply stands on the floor (no bolts). It has a ramp and tracks you drive onto. The whole assembly goes up using an electric motor to drive a hydraulic pump -- and then you drive another car under. They have a pretty nice sales video (it bailed our butts out as you'll see later) so you can get the idea for how all this works. The M6 Autolifter costs $2,795. Their website used to be www.autolifters.com but they have, unfortunately, ceased business opeartions.

I ordered the lift in November (thinking the remodeling project which began in May would SURELY be done by then; HAH!) and it was delivered on December 12th. The thing weighs 1500 lbs. and the most agonizing part (at the time) was arranging for a fork lift/flat bed truck person to pick it up at the freight terminal and bring it out to the house. To make things even more complicated, I had another 1500 lb. package (a ham radio tower) being shipped from Fresno, CA to arrive at the same time. Y'don't want to pay the fork lift/flat bed guy twice...

Here's the lift coming down the driveway. The garage was unfinished at the time and the workmen were using it for a workshop/staging area.
And here it is being slid into the garage. Notice the tiny difference between the garage floor and the driveway slab. It's about a foot at the left-hand side.
Well, it's in! Where it sat until last night.

The lift was packaged for shipment with cardboard wrapped around it and the whole thing shrinkwrapped.

I emailed a bunch of local C5 Registry folks and other friends and invited them to a "Lift Party" (sorta like a barn-raising) for today. I didn't mention heavy lifting but I did mention beer -- so a number of folks turned out; here's the list of C5ers in attendance:

Along with a half-dozen other friends and neighbors. They ALL have my undying gratitude!

Y'see, the heaviest piece of the lift weighs about 350 lbs. so I needed lots of manpower to do the job. But I digress.

This is the lift last night before I removed the shrinkwrap. I thought it would be a good idea to unpack, check the instructions, the parts list and so forth before this morning.
And this is after the shrinkwrap but before the cardboard was removed
And this is with all the small pieces stacked on top. This was about as far as I could go without help.

This is where it's going to go. If you're looking down on the garage, the lift goes in the back left corner.
The first step was to unbolt the track from the heavy steel pieces that were used as the ends of the package. Then the track could be easily moved (right!) with several folks. Left to right, that's Mase Sanford, Ted Aspes and Frank Fortson.
Left to right, this is Ina Thompson, Ted, Brian, Tom, Mase, Rich Wolf, Mike and Frank (his head, that is). That's one of the two red tracks lying on the floor and the four corner posts are being put in place. They just stand on the floor (no bolts).
The posts are up and both tracks are bolted to the crosspieces. From left to right, Rich, Ina, Ted, Brian, Mase, Wally White and Joe Blumberg. (You get to see backs of heads a lot).
This is Brian (shoulder) Tom Smart, Mase, Mike and Frank. This post holds the motor that drives the pump that pumps the hydraulic fluid into a piston/cylinder under the left-most track. This in turn pulls a set of four cables, one at the top of each post. Collars are attached to the cross pieces which simply ride the posts -- and it all goes up and down. That's the theory.
This is the top of a post showing the threaded cable terminator. These four cables take all the weight but have a multi-pulley mechanical advantage. The lift is rated at 6000 lbs. so my 3000 lb. Corvette won't tax it much.
The lift is pretty thoughtfully made. There is a guard over each of the exposed pulleys for safety sake
Here's the motor/pump assembly. The red lever is the pressure release that lowers the lift (gravity required!). There's a red button near the bottom of the white label on the right side of the motor is the "go up" button (but it's pretty much invisible in this picture).
This is one of the four positive gravity locking levers that take the weight off the hydraulic system. As the lift goes up, these locking levers cam up and out of the way. When you have the lift about where you want it, you release the pressure and the lift goes down and the lock levers slip into one of ten slots (every 4") and absolutely prevent the lift from going lower.
This is the lever used to release the locks. To disengage the locks you raise the lift slightly (until the locking levers cam up out of the holes)and then lift this lever while you release the pressure -- and down she goes. You can see a pair of the wheels in this picture that are used to move the lift -- with or without a car on it!
The hydaulic fluid reservoir comes empty and takes 10-12 quarts of non-foaming fluid. The hardest part was pulling the piston (under the far track) out of its cylinder all the way (about 4 feet) before the cables could be attached and the pump would work properly. My friend Don Kasten went for fluid.
Here's the slack cables finally attached to the end of the piston. It's downhill from here. Plug in the motor, push the button, wait a while for the air to bleed out and the fluid to pump in.
And yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's goin' up!
And what goes up, must come down. Without the weight of a car to help it along, Mike and Brian volunteered to act as supercargo since gravity is the "down" force...
Here's a picture of the final installations; whew! Notice the wheels are clipped onto the tracks. You can lower the lift to the floor and there's a lever shipped with the wheels that allows you to lift each corner a half-inch and put a retaining pin in each leg. Then you can roll that baby around (with or without a car on it!) to place it exactly where you want it. One of the ramps (detachable without tools) is leaning up agains the front leg.
Here's the first practical use of the new lift. This is Brian's Navy C5 on the lift to install his CAGS bypass. Cool! Remember that the lift has wheels that can be bolted on so the whole thing can be moved with or without a car on it? We moved it to the middle of the garage for this work and used the shipping pieces from the end of the lift as a ramp to get the C5 up into the garage.
And, while we're at it, this is Mike replacing the factory exhaust in his '98 Black C5 with a Corsa Touring system. The difference in the sound is awesome; and it only took about an hour and a half!
And here's a pretty happy Mike with his new Corsa Touring exhaust installed! And look at his super cool tail-lights. Mike's are the nifty European style where the turn signals are amber. Very cool!

So what's the net of it all? It was a piece of cake (with enough manpower to lift the heavy pieces)

For those who've asked, click here for all the specs for the Autolifter M6.

Also, here are pictures of how the wheels attach to the track (to answer several requests):

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