Turning cars on their sides

[DavidB]

I don't have a rotisserie and I don't think I'd have space for one, so I'm looking at attempting to get my MR2 on it's side to do a bit of work underneath.

I need to weld some new sills in, plus do the handbrake cables properly, drill out the broken bolts from the plastic undertray and remove any surface rust, and then underseal it. I've been reluctant to do all this lying on my back which is why I've been putting it off for a year and looking at propping it up on it's side to do all the work which I reckon I could do in a weekend.

Is there a safe way to do this with a 'fully laden' car, or just forget about it.

[mjphotography2016]

Ive only ever seen it done once by my dad, that was on a mk2 granada estate,
remove wing mirror fluids etc, lay out something for the car to rest on, then start jacking it up and letting the tyres down on the side you want it to rest, ideally takes at least two people.
Make sure you have plenty of kit close to hand jacks blocks of wood, breeze blocks etc

[composimmonite]

I'd say DON'T !
It's simply not worth the risk of damage, both to car and potentially yourself, for the small amount of work you need to do. Thousands of people fit new sills, underseal and change handbrake cables without the need for such drastic measures.
Far better idea is to use a pair of ramps on one side of the car so that gives you the access you'd need without tipping the whole car over. Obviously you'd have to drive up one ramp then jack the rear of the same side to insert the other ramp then swop over to do the other side of the car. If you use a pair of the adjustable height ramps you'd have quite a bit of clearance.

[93fxdl]

If you have the space to roll the car on its side, surely you have the space for a rotisserie, another option could be the rollover type jig which bolts on in place of the wheels
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/110731/roll-over-jig-help
Ttfn Glenn

[colnerov]

Hi, I agree with composimmonite. The car will distort when you cut the old sills off because all the weight loadings are in the wrong direction. The wings and doors will dent from the weight of the car, because they are not designed to bear it. It is far easier to brace the car when it is level when doing the sills. You would need more room to put it on its side than put it on a rotisserie, on a rotisserie it moves in its own space, to put it on its side you need the width of the car plus its height plus working space to get it up.

No one said working on cars was easy.

Colin

[mjphotography2016]

If you manage to damage the panels then you are doing it wrong.

that was the car when it was finished.

you do need a fair bit of room as stated above, it can also be pretty dangerous if you don't know what you are doing (car falling down on you). id guess the smaller the car the easier it is though.

heres a nice rusty sill 

[Iain]

I rolled my Nova on it's side with an engine crane on the door bar, and a pile of tyres on the top of the B pillar

Wouldn't fancy it with an engine in though, this was a bare shell

[86corolla]

Only prob with doing that is your putting forces where it's not ment to be applied..at best you will dent the doors worst ull ruin the side of the car bend the chassis plus ull have to drain the fuel tank.engine oil.coolant.brake fluid etch they will all need to be drained plus you may trip the roll over switch..just not worth the hassle..
get yourself some tall axle stands and a tall jack and get the car up as high as you can and some decent welding ppe and a decent outside work light

Or if you know any farmers see if they have a tractor with forks on the front and lift the car that way..Just use some timber to put between the floor and the forks

[DWDarkWheels]

I hate rolling around under cars too. Fully laden would be a bit danger-ooose IMO. Other practical considerations above, but the engine mounts will also be under unexpected strain.

Your best compromise is what the guys have suggested for getting some good angle and access. I can't resist including this though.


Nice device, but car fairly well stripped.

[nomad]

Option A (my choice for replacing sills as car is tipped at a nice angle) - drive onto 1 ramp, jack up other wheel on *same* side, slide other ramp under that wheel (backward - see pic) and lower the jack.
Option B - drive onto a set of ramps as normal, jack up other end of car, slide another set of ramps under those wheels (backward - see pic) and lower the jack so all 4 wheels are on ramps.





Outer sills are easy, do any inner sill repairs when the outer sills are off for clearance.

[vonthrash]

Every situation is different. If you're not stupid, and it looks safe, then it probably is. Maybe.



If you can tether it from above it helps.

[DWDarkWheels]

Not mine, ElWoody, despite it being a Scimitar

[skozra]

I quite like the ideas shown in these videos. Ok the car isn’t tipped over on its side, but they do offer more access to the sills and the underbody and you can vary the height a bit :

[pcj]

Agree 100% with Compo above and the others who've mentioned ramps etc. Raise the car safely on whatever variety of ramps you can get under it. The 4 ramp set up is ideal requiring nothing more than a good jack to elevate the other end of the car to get it onto ramps once the other end has been driven onto ramps. If space is tight you could even use the jacking method at one end, then repeat it at the other. Unless you've got the space etc for a proper rotisserie no matter how "light" the car may seem don't even consider makeshift methods of propping it on its side.

Consider the possible damage to the car as you are subjecting the whole structure to forces and loads applied in directions it was never designed to take. Consider just this: to remove the glass or not? If you leave it in and the body flexes enough to crack or shatter it do you have the appropriate means to remove the distortion to fit replacement glass? If you play safe and remove the glass you'll only find out if the apertures have distorted after you've finished welding etc when you find the glass won't go back in.

Consider personal safety: This next bit sounds like considering the car but read on: if the structure is weakened and you are rolling a car with engine/gearbox etc in situ then those and similar heavy parts could break away suddenly and catastrophically, They could damage other parts of the structure wherever they finally come to rest but worst of all their sudden change of position could destabilise the whole operation into a complete rollover or worse still into a roll onto you situation.
How long might you remain trapped under the vehicle or between it and a bench or wall before somebody finally twigged you'd been a bit quiet and came looking? Having a limb or other body part trapped in a crush situation (I think for more than 15 mins if memory serves me) is extremely dangerous as cell destruction begins (as per leaving a torniquet on for too long) and needs skilled medical attention to deal with it as soon as release is accomplished. It can lead to amputation or even death if the crushed limb is simply released and the decay products thus allowed to flood the body system.

Maybe it's just my age and so self-preservation of whatever years I've still got kicks in, but whenever I'm working on my cars in any situation that needs me to have even a bit of me in a position where the beast could trap that bit then I rig everything I can think of to stabilise and then catch it should it even think of moving. It takes a few extra minutes but that's a fair exchange for the years you might have to forfeit.

Even when it's something simple like checking disc pads and discs then even with an axle stand in the right place I've also got the jack lightly taking weight AND I shove the wheel and tyre under her in the best place to also act as a catch mat too!

Remember as amateurs we work outside the safety envelope enjoyed by professionals because we're often on our own, working in difficult, cramped and dark places and we don't always have the safety gear nor sometimes the knowledge we should have in a perfect world. This is not to pander to the elf and safety zealots, it's just a question of being aware that we're often flying solo so we have to be our own "devil's advocate".

[niwid]

Did it with the Acty with no more than some old fish n chip shop carboard underneath. Kinda helps having a vehicle taller than it is wide though, that thing wasn't ever going to fall over. Still, good excuse to post one of my favourite photos

[fordperv]

I like that picture

[DavidB]

Lol at that Acty!

I think I'm going to invest in a proper ramp, I have a few cars that need underside repairs (exhaust, brake lines, etc), and the bottom tends to get neglected because it's so difficult to access.

[pcj]

Good call David.
Like the Acty shot, but then an Acty weighs in at about 3 fag packets and a match! (no offense meant, I think Actys are cute).

[niwid]

Mar 28, 2015 19:39:32 GMT fordperv said:

That is brilliant haha! So stolen

[DavidB]

On buying second hand ramps - is there anyone out there who can put these in properly?
There's no way I'm trusting myself with this.