Today was concrete day, I searched online and found a guy down the street from me that bought a cement mixer and rents it out to people in the community for $25, I thought that was a hell of a deal. I bought 10 bags of 6000PSI concrete (twice the PSI spec that is required in the lift guidelines). I started mixing bags and shoveling them into the holes and it became very evident that 10 bags was no where close to what was required. I left the mixer running and quickly made it to the hardware store to buy 11 more bags before they closed for the night. In total 21 bags left me with about half a bag of extra concrete. I used my hands to push as much concrete as i could up and under the slab to lock the lift footing into the existing slab/rebar.
I also took the time to level the footings even though the garage floor is not level (slopes toward the door). This way the lift will be mounted without shims and will lift the vehicle vertically.
The concrete mixer was a great idea that i feel did save a lot of time however it took about 2.5 hours to clean it. If it was summer i could use a hose but its winter and -20 outside so i had to clean it in the garage using hot water in buckets, SOS pads, and a flat screw driver. It's important to me that it be returned cleaner then i when i got it, I just didn't realize how hard that would be.
Parts should be here Thursday to convert the garage door over to high lift so i can lift vehicles all the way up to the roof without the garage door or opener getting in the way. I will take some pictures of that as i go. Cost to buy the opener, drums, cables, spring bars, springs, track extensions, etc all totaled a little under $1000. I called around before buying the parts myself and the cheapest bid was $700 just for labor, parts were an additional $900. Figured I could do it myself, I watched a YouTube video.... that makes me an expert now. 🙂
Lift Holes
Rebar done, not the prettiest but functional. I used green epoxy rebar and i sprayed the old rebar with an epoxy coat as well.
Bending the rebar was a little problematic and i managed to catch my leg with my BFH while trying to bend the last piece. I am only walking with a bit of a limp :-).
I picked up 10 bags of 6000 PSI concrete, i bet its not enough but i should get a better idea after i fill the first hole tomorrow.
(about two weeks until the kit arrives... which is perfect because i have some work to finish.
Filling the Lift Holes
Dug a bit, slow progress because i cant fit a shovel in between the re-bar holes. I ended up using a metal crow bar and a blue parts bin as a scoop, I originally planned to dig down 4' but after getting to 3' and struggling to reach the bottom i decided that 3' is deep enough. :-). Not to worried about the frost line as the garage is heated and I don't think the ground under the garage freezes.
So this is a picture of what the plan is.
Black is the current slab
Green is the new concrete i will be pouring in to make the footings
Grey is the existing mud/dirt under the pad
The new concrete will be poured though the existing re-bar, I will also add 16' of Re-bar into the new holes. The holes are 1.5' wide and 3' deep, it will also lock into the bottom of the existing slab. This should produce a safe footing for the lift.
Also think i might pick up one of the 996 "budget" gearboxes from "The Race Line".... just need to make time to call Erik and talk about gearing and the options for limited slip.
Found a cool rearview mirror today (actually a coworker found it for me)
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5-inc...363649043.html
Might help with the lack of rear visibility, just leave the rear camera on all the time showing whats behind you. I tried to find one that was 100% LCD but this is the biggest i could find.
Customs paperwork came today. 2 weeks to the day of when i submitted the second time.
(I did send them an email yesterday asking about the status so its possible the poking is what make it come)
Update: Talked to Factory Five, kit is completely built and waiting for pickup. I called Stewart transport, waiting for a call back.
Update2: SMC Performance quote was completed for my complete wiring harness (fuel/rad/engine). price is <$1000 so I am ordering that today.
Update3: Stewart Transport is estimating that the the kit will be in Montana by the week of March 16th.... this gives me just shy of a month to finish the concrete wor
I finished removing the tape from the now freshly painted column. Looks good enough to be hidden in the dash 🙂
Tomorrow marks the 2 week mark for my resubmitted paperwork to Transport Canada. (5 weeks since i sent it in the first time but they lost it that time).... hope to have that paperwork back soon.
Had to modify the new rubber dust covers for the e-brake. A few seconds on the belt sander and they fit perfect.
I put the spindles/bearings/brakes together. I will attach the upper and lower A arms after the body arrives, for now the units remain smaller if there not assembled.
Tomorrow the first contracting company comes to look at the concrete floor.... Fingers crossed.
Steering column is now completed. Taped up the lower portion to throw a quick coat of black paint on it. I bought the motorized column, i read that it was harder to modify... truth be told it was really easy to complete the modifications and i think it will be a priceless feature for getting in and out of the car.
I have now completed everything I can before the kit arrives..... fingers crossed for customs paperwork....
In the meanwhile i plan on
-fixing the concrete in the garage
- putting up the last of the drywall around the outside edges
- getting the lift reinstalled
- maybe build a bigger work bench.
- Costco has a sale on garage cabinets.... tempting.
- I bought a jack shaft garage door opener and high lift kit so i can lift cars higher... that has to be installed.
Yesterday I pulled both my van and my truck into the garage to ensure that the mounting points were close enough to the car yet far enough away that the doors could still allow me to climb in and out. I might have got a little carried away and decided to see if the weight of my 6000 lb truck would be ok... I lifted the truck 2" off the ground and the concrete gave way. Pulled the rear anchors right out of the slab. (that's why i only raised it 2 inches, truck didn't have far to fall.)
So now to fixing the problem. I used a side grinder (big one) with a masonry blade and cut out a square that is 3" wider then the lift plate in all directions. The blade is round so i cant get all the way into the corners without making a mess. I then went to the hardware store and bought a 10lb sledge hammer and started to beat the crap out of the square. Unsurprisingly it came out pretty easy. This did leave a substantial amount of dust on everything in the garage, i put plastic over the engine so no concrete dust would enter the intake/exhaust ports.
Now that the holes are done you can see what happened. The builder started by putting Re-bar directly onto the ground (not elevated at all). It would appear that the re-bar sunk into the soil a little before a 2" concrete slab was poured. The re-bar was sunk into the ground so the concrete never touched it (it floats under the floor). Many years pass and the ground started to sink leaving the re-bar just below the slab and creating a void.
You can see all of the cracks in the slab in the photos... now i know why.
The thickest point is 2"... most of the slab is thinner...
So the plan is to first call a slab jacking company to come look, I would like them to pump their liquid concrete under the complete slab. I think it would be best to put the 6000PSI footings in first, then have them drill a series of 1" holes around the slab to pump in their mixture.
In other news I finished off the last of the brake assemblies now the the parts have arrived. I was side tracked with the concrete work but i should have the column done today or tomorrow.
So today was a crappy day in the garage...
These are the fasteners that attach the lift to the floor. They came with the lift. The lift manual requires a 4" thick concrete base, this is where the problem started.
I measured out a lift location to allow room to walk around and have the car in the center of the garage. I drilled the first 5/8" holes 2 inches deep as the manual states, still no problem. I grabbed the 7/8" bit and started to drill down to 4" and sure enough the slab is only 2.5" to 3" thick, that's not the worst part, under the slab is nothing but air for a solid 10". Its still not clear to me if the entire garage slab is floating 10" in the air but I did drill the other post in 10 feet away and ran into the exact same situation.
All signs point to the fact that my whole garage slab or at least a large % of it is not in contact with the ground.
you can kind of see the void under the slab in these photos. I have a truck that tops out at 6000Lbs, no way i trust this lift to lift the truck, or even my minivan....Hell knowing what i know now i think it may be only a short while before the slab cracks under the weight of vehicles parked on it.
Anyway, here is what it looks like mounted. To bad I cant use it to lift anything I care about. (That's my friend Robb in the picture, he was there to try the tears...)
My plan of attack now is to cut a 2'x2' hole where each post will be, stick my head down there to see how big the problem is. If the problem is fixable i can put a footing down and pour new concrete a few feet into the ground and then put the lift back with new anchors...
Now I have to rent a concrete saw 🙂