Build Thread Dustys has a new friend

It works. Had an issue with the fluid foaming up and spilling out the cap. Took the reservoir off and found the pick up tube was loose and sucking air. Exactly what ro expect from HF. It's working now after tightening a few bolts on the lift motor head and tightening that tube.

Dusty barely clears with only one board under the tires.



Had to add blocks to the lift pads. If anyone has to do this, use the 2x4 across the grain, never with the grain or the wood could split and bad things can happen.



Pretty successful with getting the car up and figuring this thing out.



The wheels are just over chest height....and I'm 6'3".

I knocked the lift pump and cart over last night. The damn thing fell right on the hydraulic hose fitting and snapped it off. Only lost a small amount of fluid and the car was raised but was settled on the safety lock prior to this.

The hose supplied with the lift is some weird little O-ring sealed connection. I've never used this type before on any equipment. Searched the web and most people said it was some Chinese metric special crap that can only be ordered from the manufacturer. My mind was like F- U- U- U- U- U- K !!!!

The lift also takes a really common ISO30 hydraulic oil that is almost unabtanium around here. Must all come from Russia.

Anyway, I take what's left of this hose contraption off. There's a fitting that screws into the pump that the dinky line attaches to and a matching one at the splitter block by the lift cylinders. The threads there look familiar. Kinda like the hot high school chic thats now ringing up your chips at 7-11 or Allsup's after 15 years of prostitution, 5 years in prison, and 20 years smokin' meth.

Yup, that's it.... its 3/8th pipe thread. I run to NorthernTool after work and grab 10ft of " pre made" 3/8th hydraulic hose, a 45° swivel fitting, and can't find fluid anywhere.

I swing home determined not to be defeated. Go straight the the garage and the hose threads in perfectly. Add some Teflon tape and button that all up. The button gets pushed and the lift raises up off the lift lock. Dusty, safely, gets lowered back down on all 4. The lift is back working even better than ever.

After going through what I went through I'd highly suggest replacing the hydraulic hose from the pump to the lift. The hose from NorthernTool and the fitting were less than 50 bucks. This hose is made so much better. The old hose had a little section of tube at a female swivel connection that screwed on the fitting that adapted it to 3/8th NPT. That tube broke. It easily could've happened just tripping over the hose or even maxing out the length while positioning the lift pump out of the way. If the lift was raising, and the safety latch had failed, the car would've dropped. There is a safety restriction built in so it would've dropped at the normal lowering rate...but still would've been scary or deadly if someone or something couldn't get out of the way fast enough.

I didn't even have to top off the fluid. Everything is fine. Better than ever. The lift itself is very well made. The built in safety features work. The thing is even completely sevicable.

I need to order some rubber lift pads in various sizes. You'd be surprised how expensive they are. They used to be made out of old tire sidewalls and riveted together. Those things were almost free. Not any more.

Had some fun today getting a 74 Nova running. He's the father of one of the guys here. Good times.





Tomorrow, the lift gets someone else's car put on it for the first time.

@SSnakeGT127

This is the beautiful ride we threw a driveshaft in tonight. This lift comes in handy. Glad we didn't do this on the floor.

Got a little foot happy. Dusty is sick. He may not pull through.



I've always got old faithful...the ticker that never stops ticking.



I'll grab a thermostat and see if there's some weird air pocket or something somewhere. It never ran hot but I have no idea how much boost it made during that pull. I wasn't data logging. The car isn't running funny. No smoke out the tail pipes.

If the headgasket is blown, it's all coming out. Everything. It'll be a carbed and cammed 302 with a t5 and a normal rear end behind it. I've got everything but a clutch and a 8.8.

Noobz347 said:

I'm sure it's fine but that [looks] sketchy as eff. lol

Click to expand...

It's actually really stable. The alignment rack lift jacks are way more sketchy at work. The lift is really stout and works flawlessly. Only issue I've had is the lift arms scratch the top surface when sliding them in position. Easy fix with some black vinyl or tread saver tape.

The lift made a difference when it came to draining the coolant. I hope the thermostat is just stuck closed.



Oh, did I mention a mail truck crossed the center line and knocked the drivers side mirror off my f150. It litterally exploded. The bastard didn't stop and there was no way to turn around quick enough to chase him down. 160 bucks and new mirrors are on their way. When I pulled over no one behind me pulled over as a witness. My dash cam wasn't on. I've learned my lesson. Driving the SanteFe to work just isn't the same. I miss my truck. This gives me time to fix and update some stuff.

After my third attempt at a leak free thermostat I finally got to test drove the car. Had to make my own gasket. There's just a sliver of material between the lower corner of the small coolant hole. Not sure if it's a holley systemax thing or of its an aftermarket thermostat housing issue. Either way, I had to make a thicker gasket and customize this area. I had some Advance auto gasket roll left from the last time I did the thermostat. That stuff really comes in handy.

Test drove the car. Did several pulls up to about 80. Not an issue at all. Just the oil leak from the turbo oil return hose to the pan.

I was worried. I really don't have the time or money to dump in this thing right now.

Dusty is still doing well.

Been dealing with a bunch of small but pricey things around the house.

Had a $3500 quote for just spraying the walls in the garage. No prep, just spray the OSB white. That ain't happenin' caption' .

Started hanging the sheet rock. The garage is a complete mess but should be done soon. This way I get a nice smooth surface to put paint on myself.

I've decided to grind the concrete and seal it where the car and tool traffic will be. The " man cave " side will get a coat of garage floor paint. The epoxies and stuff are nice but I don't want to deal with repairing any issues over the next 20years. With paint I can easily repaint or remove it. With the sealer ya just clean and apply some more every so often. A bunch of factories and warehouses just seal the floors.

Life has been busy...but not too busy for me to hang some sheet rock over the OSB in the garage.





This place is a mess.