Side by Side Parker one year ownership report

It is almost a year since I installed the Hero Hoists side by side parker. overall, I have been very happy with this hoist. It has freed up some space to work in my garage, without having to sacrifice some of the rent paying cars I store in there. I’ve had no problems with it.

It is a tight fit in my garage, but I knew that going in. Being able to use the full width and height of the hoist would make it even better. Even with my limitations it is still worth it.

Due to my ceiling […]

BMW E39 Garage Chair

I’ve had two BMW E39 front seats in the garage for a couple of years. My brother wrote off his 1999 BMW 523i a couple of years back. He was originally going to do something with the seats, but since moved interstate. I’ve always thought that one of them would make a great garage chair. The main downside is they are immensely heavy. Even though these are manual seats and do not have motors, I was shocked at how heavy they really are – to the point that is is pretty awkward for one person to maneuver them.

The plan […]

Four post hoist oil drippage

I installed a double four post hoist late last year. Overall, I have been happy with the hoist. It is a very tight fit in my space, but it is worth being able to store cars more effectively. It also allows me to rent out a couple of spots to help cover my costs.

The major problem I have is oil drippage from the cars above. Cars that are over 40 years old are going to have some level of oil leaks even when well maintained. The hoist came with drip trays, but there are not enough to cover engine, […]

CTEK MXS 5.0 battery recondition mode

My E-Type has a habit of eating batteries. I seem to get about 2-3 years out of them before they struggle to start the car when cold. You might be thinking that these batteries are left discharged all the time – but not so! The E-Type is connected to a trickle charger when not in use and is parked indoors in a moderate climate.

I think there are a few reasons for this. Firstly, the battery is quite small, and like many things on the E-Type is under specified for the car. The series 1 radiator fan is the classic […]

Hero Hoists Side by Side Parker Installation Part 4

The Hero Hoists Side by Side Parker is now installed and fully operational. The locking mechanism is now working, and I have put the E-Type on top. In the last part, I had the electrical connection hooked up and did the final adjustment.

The challenge I had with the locking mechanism was that a 1M rod needed to be installed from the rear of the hoist. I did not have this much clearance. To solve the issue, I cut the T-piece off the rod with an angle grinder and drilled out the bit of rod left in the hole. […]

Hero Hoists Side by Side Parker Installation Part 3

The Hoist is almost operational! The only thing left is to get the unlocking mechanism working. In part two I installed the motor and hydraulic lines. Yesterday an electrician connected up the hoist for me. After fixing a minor hydraulic leak I had a working hoist (sans unlock rod). This is timely as I needed to get the 560SEC inside.

While the unlock rod is not working I can manually unlock the hoist if I need to. I was able to position the hoist at the height setting I’ll likely be using it and park the 250SE underneath.

The […]

Product Review Update: SCA Hydraulic Vehicle Positioning Jack

Back in 2015 I did a review on the SuperCheap Auto Vehicle Positioning Jack. I had purchased a set of these during a SCA sale. Overall, I have mixed feelings about this purchase. The jacks are useful to move cars that are not running. The big challenge with them is that moving even a medium sized car requires two people, even on a flat concrete floor. It is much easier to push a car without the jacks if it is moving in a straight line.

My expectation was that I would be able to push a regular size car around […]

Hero Hoists Side by Side Parker Installation Part 2

In Part 1, I had done the heavy lifting to get the Side by Side Parker installed. I have arranged an electrician to come and hook the hoist up on Wednesday. This gave me a deadline to get as much as I could before they arrive. Most importantly to mount the motor.

The motor is quite heavy, but straightforward to get mounted. A hydraulic fitting needs to be screwed into the motor so it can drive the hoists hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic fluid chamber also must be filled. The motor can be mounted either at the front or back of […]

Hero Hoists Side by Side Parker Installation Part 1

I help defray the costs of my workshop by renting some spaces for car storage. This was making the workshop quite cramped, especially with the addition of the 560SEC. Hero hoists offered an interesting four post hoist – a model that could lift two cars side by side and lift them both without the centre pillar. The presence of the centre pillar would have made it difficult to get some other spots to the left of where the hoist is to go.

The idea was to be able to take a 4th car for storage and still have room for […]

Product Review: SCA Hydraulic Vehicle Positioning Jack

Supercheap Auto had their hydraulic positioning Jack on sale ($162 e.a.) last week so I picked up a set for the garage. There are some parts of the Garage that are not easy to get cars in/out of, and I’ve also had situations such as with the 280CE where there are cars that are not running for extended periods of time as I work on them. I also had a $100 gift voucher to use, and about $25 of credit on their loyalty card that was going to expire.

If you’re not familiar with how this tool works, basically it […]