So,

How useful are the 5-6 foot scissor lifts versus the standard 2 post lifts.?

I am about to buy a new one...they are the exact same price.
The two poster does add , well, two posts to my shop...good or bad has yet to be determined.

What are you views?

Rich

I would imagine that the scissors lift may be portable, so gives you more flexability around the shop.

One the other hand, the twin post lifts are very popular for a reason. Can't see anything that a scissor lift can do that a two post lift can't.

Just an opinion...If I were going to buy a lift I think I would consider a 4 post with the optional wheels...drip trays and center jack...that way you could move it around the shop...outside if need be and it will allow and extra parking spot and not get drips from the car on the lift....I know I know...lots more money maybe...but youve waited this long...LOL

Good luck on whatever you decide...let us know

Steve

Interesting...I can see that the scissor adds portability and it does not have the big huge two posts in the middle of my shop.

I have a 36 foot wide bay that I drive into the middle and fix cars.
The outer thirds are for shop tools and various car projects underway.
I keep the middle open for live projects and winter parking.

I raised the roof a while back with the anticipation of getting a lift...but then I lost my job.
Now I am back working again and a lift may be one of my xmas presents.

Rich

I'll be getting a scissor lift, and not a two post because of the portability factor. I need something that I can move from place to place as necessary. The cons are that the scissor lift can block access to the floor pans, if you need to do anything with those, and the two post lift goes higher and so can give even more access as well as allowing for an additional parking space for projects.

My money goes to the scissor.

I have looked around for the best option to not screw up the shop floor space in my shop. I had a 2 post in my old shop and it pretty much eliminated the bay for much of anything but lift work. I didn't like it. Loved the lift though. I have looked at the mid rise scissor lifts because on many of the cars I work on it would be perfect. Good for doing suspensions and brakes. Can lift to a good height for that. Plus with FWD and many midengine and rear engine cars the lift picks up the floor pan and leaves space under the engine bay for my lift cart. I don't like the fact that they are in the floor most of the time. Still messes up the bay sorta.
However the setup I have stumbled across looks to be the perfect solution. This is what I am wanting.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthr...;highlight=lift

type 4 or the /6 engine will not fit between the rails of a 4 post lift.
Cant use it to pull a motor.
IMHO its a fail because of that.

Mark Scala has one...pulled the motor on his back.
My friend has a single post style that once again...could not use it to pull the motor.

Rich

Saw that one on the site...
3k for that setup...though it really does solve alot of problems.
Gotta dig and pour concrete also...which is not bad.

I have a midrize scissors style lift.My garage is 9' high and a 914 lifts almost all the way up to the ceiling.I don't care what you say or do it's sooooo much better than jackstands.As far as portability it isn't like you can pick it up and move it around.I use my engine hoist to move it.I usually just designate the back left of my 26'x36' garage as the lift area.Oh and I keep a car parked over it so if I have a few drinks I don't trip over it.It is aboslutely a must for engine drops and saves a lot of time .

Rich, one of the 4-posters does have a wide enough space between the rails to pull the drivetrain, because the guy who I got my 74 parts tub from did so with his. Sorry, but I don't recall the make he has - he said it cost him about $1800 a few years back & was blue/black if that helps (I can email him if you want). There are always several makers' ads in the monthly auto mags.

I agree with the comment above about getting the wheels kit to roll it out for portability, plus the drip pan to double stack 2 cars.

I have 2 post lift in my shop. Life is much better now. We use it all the time. Easy for pulling motors. Valve adjustments are so simple. I did a valve adjustment at Scotty's in Richmond (Thanks again Scott!). He has a scissor lift. It went well but the 2 post lift was MUCH easier. With the 2 post lift, you can walk under the car. With a scissor lift, you are still low to the floor. Ours cost 1,600 delivered. There was a crack in the floor. This required cutting a 4" square in the floor and pouring new concrete. It was sooo worth it!

I have a bendpak midrise scissor lift in my garage. Couldn't be happier with it. I also wanted the portability and I didn't want to drill holes in the concrete.

Two post gets my vote, nothing beats standing up straight under a car. Plus you can park two cars in one spot.

I got my 2 post used on craigslist for $700.00. It makes it's own space. You can always park 2 cars in that spot from then on, mine has a 914-6 up in the air and a real 914-6 GT parked under it tonight.
Most of the time you're only working on one end of a car so if you have something up on the lift and you need to work on another broken turd you can just pull the correct end of car #2 halfway into the stall and act normally unless you're 6'20".
Then you have other problems, like the inability to access dashes, for instance.

BTW, the 2 post installation was really easy. Epoxy a bunch of pieces of allthread in the ground and wire it up. PM me if you need details.

If your garage is 17X17 and the ceiling is only 7 feet high, the scissor lift is great. It is portable but you better bring help if you want to move it (about 1000lbs.). To get close to full travel, I have to remove the roof and align the targa bar and the windshield between the ceiling joists. (I can't do that with the Yellow Zonker because of the roll cage). I put a beach chair on a furniture dolly and I can scoot around under the car and reach most everything. I think a two post lift is about ideal though. Wish I had room.
Cheers, Elliot

This is like a 4 vs. 6 or carb vs FI thread.

*Some* 4 post lifts don't have enough room between the rails to drop a motor on a 914 (the tin is too wide to fit between the rails). Like mine.

Some do. The more expensive lifts have movable runners. Like Ferg's.

Anyone considering such a purchase should do their homework. 4 posts are so much easier to use. Just drive up on it, lift and go to work. Depends on your intended use though, just like computer OS's and carbs vs. 6 motors.

How do you do you remove the wheels when using a 4 post? This would make brake and wheel bearing jobs difficult I think. I also think the rail would get in the way when doing valves, The scissor lift is under the car where only the floor pan is and there is not much to do there. With a 2 post, everything is accessible.

How about some pics of the underside of a 914 on these different lifts so the unlifted among us can see how the lift fits on the car, and what things you can get at, and what things you can't.

We were thinking of building the garagemahal this spring, but plans are on hold as the city if re-doing our street, and adding sidewalks on our side of the street, and we need to see how/where that all ends up so we can check setbacks and see where a detached garage can fit on the property. I was thinking 2 post with storage for another car below. If we don't build it, I'd like to put something in our attached 2 car garage, so something scissor and possible set into the floor would be better. That garage is tight already with our "stuff" and has a low ceiling, flat roof, so the extra height is a wasted feature.

Harder to open the doors on a 2 post.
I picked up this old service station lift for 300.00 and it has worked well for me with limited ceiling height.

I also would like to see picks of the under engine clearance on the scissor lifts. Might not be a bad option. My 40x23 shop has a 10ft ceiling with room to extend the ceiling decking up another two feet over the lift legs. I can park 4 cars in the shop and still have plenty of room to work, but a 2 post lift would kill that. Yeah it would let me stack two cars, but I would lose the rest of the space. The buried scissor lift keeps the floor open and clear. That is pretty nice.

I did my evaluations and ended up with a mid-rise lift from Greg Smith Quipment:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&...st&p=974120

Still have no regrets or issues with it.

If I want to work on the engine I position the car a little further aft on the lift. If I want to work on the front I'll position it further forward. To work under the engine I can position the car so the firewall is directly over the aft edge of the lift. You can position the arms further back if you worried about the car falling off.
Raised to the full up postion, the wheels and suspension are about waiste high.

I guess it just depends.

There's a carb vs. F.I. thread!!?? WOW!! where is it? I've been looking all over the place for one!

Looking into that myself right now
The scissors is just a bit portable (1000lbs) and has a ground clearance problem. You need to raise the car a bit to fit over the lift. You can see in most pictures that people installed rails to solve the clearance issue. I intend to have the lift in my normal parking spot so parking on the rails every day or moving the lift to the side might be difficult.

On the other side, the scissors are much more stable than 2 poles, especially the "portable 2 poles" like they sell at Costco for $2000. Just imagine how the center of gravity moves forward when you remove the engine. I'm a bit afraid that this miss-ballance may cause the poles and car to tilt forward and maybe fall off.

2/4 post better for maintenance.

A scissor is probably the best way to even out a rusty and folding 914 ( or other ) chassis. The load of the car is spread out on the pads of the lift not the wheels which allows the ar to go back into it's natural relaxed state.

post lift provides more room for storing cars indoors

scissor loft is better for brake suspension and wheel work

Scissor lift is a bitch to roll dead cars over by yourself if they have a drivetrain in them. I know I do it almost daily. At home you can recess it as others have done

post lift requires a high ceiling

either will get a car high enough to mount on a rotisserie, but once mounted the scissor is still in the way


50/50

My scissor lift mod. Makes the underside and engine bay completely accessible and car is uber stable.

Damn. Those are some rusty ass brakes. Whoever owns that car should be ashamed...

Their Delaware location is `10 miles from my house.
Total equipment lust!

If you have equipment lust that's OK but do I have to know this

Maybe you should get the Doc to fix your tranny

I know....

I like my two-post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPhMTdQwiao


Scissoring leaves no real job for the man

Thought I posted in this thread...

This is the one I need. Leaves the whole side open so I can roll my Celette under the car for mounting. This is the only kind I can use in my shop. A two post doesn't even work for me. I have in floor heat and can't drill holes for bolting a lift down.

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Master-S...tp-xl-spl-6.htm

I decided on the EZcarlift (see photo below), I have limited space in my garage and only work on my own cars. I need the portability. I considered the BendPak but moving it around would be difficult and delivery would be a nightmare, (requires a forklift).


Click to view attachment


Plenty of room between the lift supports.

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Only difficulty I see is the 4 cyl motor mount bar needs to be removed before dropping the engine, (see image below).

Click to view attachment

i really like this - who makes it?

Here's my recently installed scissor. One of the best tools I've ever purchased.

I have a scissors lift which I got from Paul Sayegh and after me it will be going to McMark. It is great and while it is 'portable' portable means something different in a 2 car garage than it does in McMark's bigger shop... I will be going to a two post lift in the garage of our new house as I want to maximize space... The new garage is 40 feet deep on one side while the other is a normal garage space. With the two post, I can park one car under the other and still have space for the family truckster and my motorcycle and daily driver.

Meanwhile, McMark will merrily lift away at his shop and move it out of the way when he needs the floor space.

I have the same lift for my 914. I use it turned 90* and roll it in from the side. That's how Boytchu Manov (not quite how to spell his name) reccomended it. No problem with engine removal this way. Check ezcarlift.com to find the product.

Hi,
I tried it turned the 90* but ran into problems with the lifting points.
The front lift points are set into the floor pan about 2 inches, lifting there bends the pan.
I place wooden blocks on the lower part of the inner fender, much stronger place to lift the car from.

Click to view attachment

RE: scissor lift.....Don't be fooled by an advertised "lift" from any manufacturer. They run the lift to the top, add all the rubber blocks that are provided and measure from the floor to the top and call it "lift"....WRONG!!!!! They don't subtract how high it is sitting on the floor collapsed. Ask what the actual "hydraulic lift" is, not the advertised lift.

I did not want posts in my garage. I think it's just a matter of taste and amount of room available as well as ceiling height. You will NEVER regret getting the tallest lift that will work for your ceiling. I got a lift that will go 6 feet up and sunk it in the floor and I can stand underneath it. I lost no space in my shop, no risk of door dings and my shop is totally usable...I can drop engines, remove wheels etc.

Pic for you....Before and after sinking. The ramps are no longer needed of course

Click to view attachment


Click to view attachment

A regular two post (poles) like my US made AMMCO will never "tilt" unless it takes the whole floor with it. I've had a full size chevy P/U on mine so I think it can handle a 914. I agree a portable two post or "made in china" lift will not be as good as a commercial lift.
I used to R&D and build much larger scissor lifts and I'd say the HF scissor lift is less stable than a two post, only because it's not anchored to a base frame that is bolted to the floor.

Nice! Who makes this?

flat scissor lift ...pretty much flat bottom cars only.but they can be sunk into the floor and are no longer in the way.takes less shop space...I like

4 post ....very big, tires and wheels are not off the ground so to speak ...but very safe car cant fall off.....under side parking as well

2 post still big but you can lift any car .. pending load limit of course ,wheels off the ground ,no worries about drive lines, brake lines, exhaust pipes,etc etc...and under side parking

2 post for me please ...All JMO
MikeC

Not really.... they provide you with rubber blocks to put under a frame. For instance I lift my 2500HD GMC truck with no problem (6900 lbs). I set the blocks under the frame. You could lift any car. The worst scenario is you have to add some blocks to catch the frame without hitting something else. My Prius and Subaru can be lifted without anything. The 914 takes a small rubber block under the donuts

The lift is a Bend Pak SP-7

Any lift is a personal choice based on needs. For me I wanted height, no floor space usage, wheels free when lifted and drop an engine out the bottom. The Bend Pak was the best I found for those needs.

your pickup ..wow thats pretty impressive for that lift ...never would have expected that ...9k capacity? ...I really like the flush mount ...know ya got me think n ...co$t?...mite have a two post for sale LOL....
MikeC