E30 Zone

At the moment I'm trying to get two E30's back on the road. One four door 325i (an ex Mynheer car, don't get me started!) the other a 320i with a nice 2.7 conversion going on. I've always hated going underneath cars since a Mini Clubman fell on me, and last week didn't help much either. I was under the 320i bleeding the new clutch slave cylinder I fitted when the Coke can (very professional I know) I was bleeding into fell off and the resulting pressurised stream of brake fluid went straight into my eye!

The outcome of this was a good long stream of words I didn't want my daughter to hear for a good few years an eye that looked like someone had shat in it!

Balls to this, I need some ramps. I was originally thinking four poster but location, price, missus, etc was stopping me. I then came across these ramps on the internet. Perfect I thought but I'm not paying £800 for them so I'll make them myself.

Hence these.





They're not 100% finished yet but they are going to the galvanizers when they are. They've cost me about £20 so far so I can't complain and at least when they're done I'll have a good escape route (they are 2 ft high!)



[[/img]

Nice work

how will you get the hight in the 2nd pic with a car on?


i'd also want some side [anti topple] support.

but they look like they could work well.

I want a set

similar to the one's used on dealer forecourts .. these will be great if they work

should imagine it will be scary the first time you drive onto them !

magpie wrote:how will you get the hight in the 2nd pic with a car on?


i'd also want some side [anti topple] support.

but they look like they could work well.

When the car is on, the engine acts as the counterweight. If you drive up forward the ramps will tilt down as the engine passes the midpoint. If you drive up backwards the car will stay at an angle because the engine is at the bottom. There will be a couple of supports attaching the two together to stop any 'sideways action'

as long as the distance from the pivot point to the back end is larger than the wheelbase of the car, they'll be very useful. otherwise they'll tip up before the rear wheels get on...

i've seen these in dealer forecourts before too and thought they'd be very useful

i have a set of drive on ramps with a top platform that can then be raised. here's a pic, not being used on the wheels but they show the idea. they raise up to about 12" further than a normal drive on ramp

Cunning,wish I could fabricate like that!
One design point,though,I would want more than just the width of those lower bars on my paving slabs......maybe a plate the width of the ramp and a foot or so across?

same ones i used on my engine swap.

i'd like the other type also

[quote="gareth"]as long as the distance from the pivot point to the back end is larger than the wheelbase of the car, they'll be very useful. otherwise they'll tip up before the rear wheels get on...

I haven't tried a car on them yet but I've had the same thoughts as you. I really don't want them twatting the sills of the car before the rear wheels meet. If it looks like that might happen I can extend the front section so the wheels will hold it. Hopefully that makes sense!

that does make sense, could be really annoying if clobbers the underside halfway

mikeywill wrote:

Good work. I'm not having a dig, but trying to make some valid points.

I just can't help thinking of the irony of having a beemer with 50/50 weight distrubution and them not rocking forwards.

I'd get hard on the brakes as soon as you go over the balance point, as the momentum of going forwards could get carried away. And It'd be a good idea to make some 'chocks' or similar to help stop the car going to far forwards on the ramps.

here is how

http://www.restorationramps.co.uk/phdi/ ... ent&part=2

£850

mikeywill wrote: They've cost me about £20 so far

I take it you had the material to hand then?? I also balked at paying 800notes for a set and am going to make a set myself but the steel alone added up to a fair bit of cash

Nicley done though! Quite jealous

e301988325i wrote:I just can't help thinking of the irony of having a beemer with 50/50 weight distrubution and them not rocking forwards.

I'd get hard on the brakes as soon as you go over the balance point, as the momentum of going forwards could get carried away. And It'd be a good idea to make some 'chocks' or similar to help stop the car going to far forwards on the ramps.

two more possible very embarassing situations

the first could be cured with some brave passengers, sat on the bonnet

the second is very valid, sill bashing possibilities for the front end

I note that the £900 version has a decent base....good on the OP for getting stuck in,though.

DaveD wrote:here is how

http://www.restorationramps.co.uk/phdi/ ... ent&part=2

£850

I hadn't seen that site, I like the idea of the jacking beam!

With any luck today I'll get the end stops fitted and then hopefully I can book them in to be galvanised.

Test them out before getting them galv'd, Last thing you want is to get them back all shiny then find out there not quite right.

Also, have you looked for a price for powder coating? Might work out cheaper?

Chris

they look class, but how do you get off of them once the back bit is up and working as a support?

Looking good, but I'd put some sort of stop on the end of the ramps or it could easily go horribly wrong!

Finally got them finished and got the e30 on them!



Quite pleased with how they turned out, although I didn't chance driving it up the first time, I used a Superwinch and lifted it into position

All that effort,for a bloody more door....
Looks good,hope your paving slabs have a firm base!

brilliant, beats a trolley jack any day, it can take days to weeks to get to use a lift for me,
well done

daimlerman wrote:All that effort,for a bloody more door....
Looks good,hope your paving slabs have a firm base!

How dare you............ I do have a 2 door as well, but believe it or not I actually prefer the more door. (waits for abuse)

consider yourself abused!

they look awesome, well done that man.

can i borrow them

the next thing you should do is fit a scissor lift to a movable beam between them,a bit like the 4 poster garage ramps have, so you can jack up while it's up there. i can't see a trolley jack being much use as they are!

They look absolutely fantastic. imagine a clutch change under there. I've almost gone hard!!!

The biggest problem i'd have is storing the things! have you thought of designing a modular set?

he doesn't have to ...just copy these

http://www.restorationramps.co.uk/phdi/ ... ent&part=4

DaveD wrote:he doesn't have to ...just copy these

http://www.restorationramps.co.uk/phdi/ ... ent&part=4

I like those.

mikeywill wrote:

Something doesn't look right there.

How did you drive through the fence?

Chris wrote:

mikeywill wrote:

Something doesn't look right there.

How did you drive through the fence?

have the people of clacton not invented the gate ?

No worries found it!!

hmm i like this idea... ill be talking nice to my brother very soon.. see if he fancies a wee project