Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

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ChuckHackett-844
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Joined: Wed May 03, 2017 3:54 pm
Location: Tampa, Florida

Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

Post by ChuckHackett-844 »

It's a real pain having to lay on your back under a steaming bay or engine stand to work on breaks, etc. No fun on the back, etc. not to mention the prospect of screws, oil, dirt dropping in your face or, worse mouth :-)

Several people have asked me for details on how I built the "Car Rotatory" I use to work on the bottom of my passenger cars.

I wrote up a pdf that describes it. I think there is enough detail that you could make one adapted to your cars and engine stand.

Due to the size of the pictures it contains I can't attach it to this message. I have provided a "DropBox" link below.

If you are asked to 'sign in' just click on the link at the bottom that says something like "Continue without signing in". If that doesn't work let me know.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/guh8a1me3vro6 ... s.pdf?dl=0
Regards,

Chuck Hackett, UP Northern 844, Mich-Cal Shay #2
Owner, MiniRail Solutions, LLC, RR Signal Systems (http://www.MiniRailSolutions.com)
"By the work, One knows the workman"
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makinsmoke
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Location: Texas Hill Country

Re: Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

Post by makinsmoke »

Hi Chuck,
The guys that work on old, rusty jeeps call that a rotisserie.

I know we all wish we had one! Rolling a car over on a blanket and working on the ground gets old!

Nice bit of engineering. Thank you for sharing.

Looking at that last pic one can see your attention to detail and making use of every
inch under your passenger cars, much like the full size guys.

By the way, did you notice one of your trucks is upside down? (ducks....)

:lol:

Thanks again,
Brian
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Greg_Lewis
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Location: Fresno, CA

Re: Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

Post by Greg_Lewis »

THANKS for the detailed info. I've been thinking about that and you've done all the hard work!

By the way, some browsers will allow you to save the page as a pdf so you can have it locally.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
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ChuckHackett-844
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Location: Tampa, Florida

Re: Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

Post by ChuckHackett-844 »

makinsmoke wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:21 pm By the way, did you notice one of your trucks is upside down? (ducks....)

:lol:

Thanks again,
Brian
Had to check it out - it was making a scraping sound last time out. Found out it works better when the pin comes in from the other side ...

... but it didn't seem to slow 844 down ... :-)
Regards,

Chuck Hackett, UP Northern 844, Mich-Cal Shay #2
Owner, MiniRail Solutions, LLC, RR Signal Systems (http://www.MiniRailSolutions.com)
"By the work, One knows the workman"
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Steggy
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Re: Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

Post by Steggy »

ChuckHackett-844 wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:30 pmIt's a real pain having to lay on your back under a steaming bay or engine stand to work on breaks, etc. No fun on the back, etc. not to mention the prospect of screws, oil, dirt dropping in your face or, worse mouth :-)
Interesting gadget. I've occasionally entertained the notion of building something like that, but now everything for me is way behind the eight ball─medical problems will do that to you. Also, I'm an old curmudgeon and just can't crank out the work the way I could 15-20 years ago.  So a car rotater is likely to never materialized in my shop. :cry:
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Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
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ChuckHackett-844
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Re: Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

Post by ChuckHackett-844 »

BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:40 pm ... just can't crank out the work the way I could 15-20 years ago. ...
I'm in that group too ... but I still try to make the young kids keep up with me :-)
Regards,

Chuck Hackett, UP Northern 844, Mich-Cal Shay #2
Owner, MiniRail Solutions, LLC, RR Signal Systems (http://www.MiniRailSolutions.com)
"By the work, One knows the workman"
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Steggy
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Re: Device to rotate cars to work on brakes, etc.

Post by Steggy »

ChuckHackett-844 wrote: Mon Apr 09, 2018 2:21 pm
BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:40 pm ... just can't crank out the work the way I could 15-20 years ago. ...
I'm in that group too ... but I still try to make the young kids keep up with me :-)
This hobby seems to be top-heavy with folks such as us. :o
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Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
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