Not scissor lift, but I've got recently got an engine crane and its main use now is with a 1T strap around coming down under the front suspension unit... so one can quickly hoist up the front end by 2 feet with rear wheels still on ground. I imagine it could be easily used t'other way round too.

and of course, can be used to take engines out.

These look good

https://www.holden.co.uk/Default.asp?shippingcountry=Guadeloupe

580mm is a pretty small lift IMHO, less than 2ft. You'd be hard pressed to sit under that comfortably?

Location: Ripon

There are several different ones on ebay,the narrowest I can find is 1005 mm which is still slightly too wide for a 7 to straddle.They will rise to 1.2 mtr however .

Location: Channel Islands

There are, of course, alternative methods of working on the underside of your car:

1. Get a spade



2. Get violent

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E" not a "T".

Very good. Not sure what A30/A35 enthusiasts would have to say about the second option though

Another alternative is a four post lift, these can be bought quite cheaply secondhand. My one came from a garage which closed down; it was a lot cheaper than a scissor lift or even one of the "DIY" type Chinese made lifts. I did move the runners in on the transoms to make it easy to get a SWB 7 on there though. Apologies for not having a 7 on the lift in this photo -there is my Ulster project lurking in the background though.

Location: N W Kent

Dave,
Have you looked at the Automotechservices AS7630?
Looks a bit narrower at 917mm across the pad centres and with 1.3m lift.
Alan

Just be careful with second hand lifts as lots of them are three phase.

Location: Gard, France 30960. Used to be Languedoc-Roussillon but now it's Occitanie

I have a single post lift. It has a set of trucks like a pallet jack so you can wheel it round. When not in use It tucks in a corner so I don't trip over it. You'll find them on EBay The lift 1.8 meters and have a 2.5 rating. One thing is that I have had to built a front and rear bar to shrink it down enough to fit the little cars but I did use a couple 4x4's to bridge the gap for a time also

I am sure they are made in China but mine has a TUV

AND They are cheaper that that scissors thing....... For little cars and chassis I use a motorbike lift but the lift is ALWAYS in the way if you need access underneath.

I'm getting bids on four more to use as parking lifts as they have a smaller footprint than 4 poster.

Pits are nice too but they a cod and damp used here.

Location: Poland- THE EASTERN FRONT!!

Another option, this innovative car ramp design:-

http://www.restorationramps.co.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/ramps?opendocument&part=2

Location: Oxfordshire

I am in the process of adapting one of the to take a cradle suitable for long and short A7 chassis:

http://m.g.ebay.co.uk/itm/262409812533

Once you've done it Ruairidh, can you let me have details of how and the minimum overall space needed please? I've a very limited space and that might just work.

Steve

Location: North Yorkshire

Hi Ruairidh, when you say you are adapting one to take a cradle, would this be able to do a totally horizontal "all four wheels up" lift?
I would imagine that as a Seven weighs at most a third (?) of the stated capacity that the device might be capable if the feet were extended to provide enough cantilever? Would the vertical part of the device stand the bending moment?
If so, this could be a most useful piece of kit…

Am I talking through my fundament here?

I've just seen that they do a two-post lift which would be more appropriate and less trouble than adapting an existing one.. twice the price but ,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-POST-LIFT-CAR-VEHICLE-RAMP-LIFT-HOIST-3-5-T-3500KG-TWO-POST/282324393781?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107083358%26meid%3D8920dd48c4944a0f9182e8259f60a699%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D262409812533

Location: Ripon

It may be all too obvious, but with any of these modification ideas, the most important thing is to ensure the failure of hydraulic systems or overstressed steel members doesn't leave you trapped underneath. In the dark ages people would put a pile of bricks under an axle. I often think of the chap we met on a rally who died shortly after under his Trimph 2000 when the bricks crumbled.

Take care when you are having fun!

Location: not in the garage :(

I was going to ask the same thing !
I used to have a pit before I moved,We dug it out but as Bluto says it was cold and never completely water tight.All of the scissor lifts seem to be a metre or so wide,even the german one pictured above.

Location: Channel Islands

There are moulded glassfibre pits e.g:-

https://www.mech-mate.co.uk/

Location: Oxfordshire

I also bought a second hand 4 poster the same brand as Stuart's. It was 3 phase but I just bought one of those Single/Three phase Variable Frequency Drive thingys off Ebay and it works a treat.

Location: Rokeby, Victoria, Australia

We have a four post lift that we got for free from a freindly garage who bought a bigger and stronger one. It is a KONI 1.5 Ton lift of 45 years old and works perfectly, it even survived the fire in the workshop. We made the runners a bit narrower to run on and off our A30/35 easier and by luck we did it right too for A7's and also the bigger cars we own.

Location: behind the dykes

For anyone following this thread I am now thinking of buying one of the readily available 2.8 t scissor lifts rather than a"narrowed" one and fitting side channels to run the cars straight on rather than to straddle a narrow one.
There are some brilliant lifts available from Bike-lifts Europe but they are about 4 times the price of a heavier lift.

Location: Channel Islands

There are quite a number of plans and examples of bike lifts to be found on line which are constructed using a trolly jack as the lifting ram. It would be easy to adapt and fabricate one of these to take an Austin 7, I have been meaning to build one for a while now but never seem to have the time.

Location: NZ

Ian,I want to be able to do is say work on the propshaft,or drain the gearbox which I think would be difficult using a motorcycle table based lift.
I've considered altering a machine mart motorcycle lift or two (Too wide),to get the gap in the middle. They are less than £400 here.

Location: Channel Islands