As one who has spent countless miserable hours crawling around underneath cars and trucks to perform repairs, I literally jumped for joy when some of my friends acquired hydraulic car lifts and allowed me the use of their equipment to do my stuff. It’s been years since I’ve had to slither like a snake under a car, and I’ll never go back. With old age and whatnot, I doubt I could pretzel myself underneath a car anymore even if I chose to try.
What perplexes me is this: Why on Earth would anyone choose to do so, if they don’t have to?
The car shows are chock-full of wonderfully talented people who perform minor miracles with the aid of seemingly endless access to the most sophisticated and expensive state of the art equipment…yet they frequently opt to do their work of cutting, welding, and wrenching while flat on their backs underneath the vehicle… often with an empty car lift right next to them. I’m talking about rolling stock here, so moving the job to the lift would a matter of a few minutes with little effort. Hell, I’ve even seen people crawling on hands and knees working on the lower sections of vehicles while the dammed things were sitting on a lift! Push the up button for Christsakes, it makes life so much easier and the boss will appreciate the increased efficiency with faster turnaround. What is up with these people?
As you may have guessed, I’m addicted to “car TV” but one more thing to get off my chest on this topic and conclude the rant. What’s up with shows featuring the above mentioned talented people, (Road Kill aside) who obviously are very well compensated for their $50,000 in parts restorations, doing their work out of some pathetic workspace with no lift, and appears to be performed literally in someone’s suburban home garage, with no professional equipment? Give me a break.
Hmm, can’t say I have noticed this. Those cars spent a lot of time on the lifts. Now your last point sounds like it pertains to Garage Squad where doing the work at someone’s house is the whole point.
As for the money - in legit shows like Restoration Garage, Chasing Classic Cars or FantomWorks you are watching actual restorations. The client is paying all the bills. The garages are kinda closed lips about how much the garage/host receives for each episode.
The best I have is that rolling or sliding under a car means serious mechanics are happening. It’s the ultimate expression of being a mechanic, and in a visual media like TV, the visual language matters just as much as the verbal sort.
On the other hand, I am a total sucker for fabrication, which is why I can’t get enough of Project Binky, for instance. On the other-other hand, they’re not doing a lot of slithering. They’re genuine pros. But I’ve preferred the more earnest, low-drama car-twiddling shows (old Roadkill is a fine choice) to the drama-filled ones.
I tend to buy older cars & trucks. I currently own eight. I do all my own maintenance. Needless to say, I’ve spent countless hours lying on my back under a vehicle.
I absolutely hate it. It’s uncomfortable, crap gets in my eyes, mobility is very limited, and it’s hard to see stuff. But the biggest thing I hate is being under two tons of steel supported by a couple $30 safety jacks. If those things slip or buckle, it’s curtains for me.
So I’m definitely in the market for a 2-post lift. My barn has a 10 foot ceiling, so I’m thinking of installing a Bendpak GP-7LC lift.
Hijack, but after seeing one of the home renovation shows include a car lift as part of the renovation, I was curious so I googled the cost; I was surprised that these things can be gotten for under five grand. One place was even suggesting them as a way of storing two cars in one spot.
The 4 post lifts aren’t too expensive and simple to install (you don’t need to bolt them to the floor). But they’re best used for storing two vehicles; they’re not all that great for working on them. (You can’t do suspension or brake work, for example.) 2 post lifts are better suited for working on vehicles.
If you are in the market for one, be aware that suspension and brake work can be performed on a four post lift. Put a bottle jack on the track spanner, lift vehicle off the tracks, then support with stand(s). Not as convenient as a two post, but very doable.
Your not a real mechanic if you don’t get road grime and mung in your eyes. Heck! Might as well pay somebody to replace that broken shift fork on the front axle.
My favorite is getting my ponytail caught in the creeper wheels. Good times.
And if you’ve got hair long enough to be pulled under the creeper’s wheels, and didn’t take the precaution of tucking it under your head on the creeper. That was me, early-mid 1980s. It still hurts.
The part I don’t get is the shows that clearly have a parts-store connection, but they still do most of the routine, non-precision wrench work without power wrenches.
Fantom Works at least were upfront about the money being spent and how many days the project was taking. They also were frank about just how impractical or crazy a job was, but going ahead once the client knew what he was asking for.
One show, maybe Texas Metal, took on a pickup truck and ended up replacing everything but about 50% of the cab instead of starting with a sound truck, because of the client’s sentimental attachment.
To address the cost of some of the jobs I can recall a few that wowed me.
One was a family restoring grandpa’s 60’s Cadillac convertible and (I think) upgrading to factory A/C. This was on FantomWorks who has an $80/hr shop fee. They told how much the parts cost and the total hours and I figured about $225,000. At least granny was happy riding around in it!
Texas Metal did a resto-mod on an old delivery truck that ended up up over $400,000.
And Dave Kindig and crew restored a GM Futurliner bus that took several years and cost a cool million bucks. It reached 2.6 million at auction but did not sell.