Rotisserie attachment question

[rixter]

Hi,

Thinking of getting a rotisserie to work on the bottom of my Alpine. I assume any model of rotisserie wouldn't be able to include attachment components to attach cleanly to every type of vehicle and thus some fabricating of such would be required. Can anyone who has used one tell me how you attached the rotisserie to the car with respect to having to get or make the interface parts and where on the front and rear of the car the attachments are made? Photos of the attachments would also be appreciated.
Thanks
Rick

 

[jumpinjan]

I built a framework that is bolted to the shock holes and the front cross member holes. In that way I can work on the front & rear ends without any obstructions. And it helps to keep the body straighter than mounting it at the extreme ends.
I'll look for a picture of it with a body in the frame.
Jan

 

[jumpinjan]

 

[DanR]

I made mine from plans I found on the WEB back in 2007-08.

The plans have been utilized by a lot of Guys since.

The picture of the bracket is what I utilized to "fit" in the jack holes.

Blue Boy is pictured in a partial roll over. Nice working position, various positions on sides, top up or bottom up, or even at 45 degree angles.

If you want the plans send me an E-mail

 

[Alpine 1789]

I made one from two heavy duty engine stands and fab'd a crossbar with steel inserts that went into the jack holes and attached to the bumper bolts. All of the weight was taken up by the jack points; the bumper bolts just held the crossbar to the body. I used this article for some inspiration (http://www.tigersunited.com/techtips/MenkeRotis/rt-MenkeRotis1.asp) along with one or two others on using engine stands. While I built it for my S3, the only time it was ever used was on my Tiger project with Mototron. Someone - not even a Sunbeam owner - just offered me $500 for it, which I took as quickly as possible before he changed his mind.

 

[rixter]

https://forum.sunbeamalpine.org/index.php?media/frame_drawing.4340/full&d=1657050552

For some reason, I cannot view this link.

 

[rixter]

I made mine from plans I found on the WEB back in 2007-08.

The plans have been utilized by a lot of Guys since.

The picture of the bracket is what I utilized to "fit" in the jack holes.

Blue Boy is pictured in a partial roll over. Nice working position, various positions on sides, top up or bottom up, or even at 45 degree angles.

If you want the plans send me an E-mail

Dan,
I won't be much for taking on making a rotisserie, but it looks like you answered my question about the connection to the car. You fabricated a part that attaches to the bumper mounts and that plugs into the square part on the rotisserie? You answered another question I forgot to ask and that is about rotating a car with the wheels on. Our cars are light enough that weight probably isn't an issue, but I wondered why I always just see fully stripped cars on rotisseries. That is probably just the nature of a car's condition or restoration stage when one takes on flipping it over to work on it.

Thank you
Rick

 

[rixter]

I made one from two heavy duty engine stands and fab'd a crossbar with steel inserts that went into the jack holes and attached to the bumper bolts. All of the weight was taken up by the jack points; the bumper bolts just held the crossbar to the body. I used this article for some inspiration (http://www.tigersunited.com/techtips/MenkeRotis/rt-MenkeRotis1.asp) along with one or two others on using engine stands. While I built it for my S3, the only time it was ever used was on my Tiger project with Mototron. Someone - not even a Sunbeam owner - just offered me $500 for it, which I took as quickly as possible before he changed his mind.

View attachment 27711

Jim,
Thanks. This is interesting. Wouldn't the weight load be somewhat distributed between the bumper mounts and the jacking points using this method? And I guess any rotisserie without hydraulic rams implemented means you're having to get the car lifted up to the rotisserie mounts and there are no fine-tuning of balance features?
Rick

 

[DanR]

Rick, I built mine heavy enough to do a small Pickup and the 63 Volvo P1800.

I have done several with complete engines and running gear on mine. It is strong enough anad easily rotated "if" you figure the balance points

 

[Alpine 1789]

Wouldn't the weight load be somewhat distributed between the bumper mounts and the jacking points using this method?

It would probably take an engineer to answer that question (fortunately, we have several here) but my feeling was that the jacking points took nearly 100% of the weight. I hope so, as the bumper mounting points are very weak.

And I guess any rotisserie without hydraulic rams implemented means you're having to get the car lifted up to the rotisserie mounts and there are no fine-tuning of balance features?

Yes on both points. I don't remember exactly how we got the car up on the lift. I'll see if Rocco remembers. I do know that everything was very well balanced and I could roll the car over on my own. And, to your question to Dan, I felt much more comfortable doing all of this with just a bare shell. I assume the rotisserie was strong enough to handle the added weight of the drivetrain, but I doubt I could have moved it around alone and wouldn't have trusted it that way, just to be safe.

 

[rixter]

Dan,

OK, I am getting your photo now with the fabricated mount and the protractor. The receptacle for the jack is at an upward angle compared to the bumper bolt mount which is near or horizontal to the ground. I didn't realize that pronounced angle until I just went out and looked at my car.

Thank you
Rick

 

[rixter]

It would probably take an engineer to answer that question (fortunately, we have several here) but my feeling was that the jacking points took nearly 100% of the weight. I hope so, as the bumper mounting points are very weak.

Yes on both points. I don't remember exactly how we got the car up on the lift. I'll see if Rocco remembers. I do know that everything was very well balanced and I could roll the car over on my own. And, to your question to Dan, I felt much more comfortable doing all of this with just a bare shell. I assume the rotisserie was strong enough to handle the added weight of the drivetrain, but I doubt I could have moved it around alone and wouldn't have trusted it that way, just to be safe.

Jim,
Looks like the bumper bolt connection is just to keep the tongue piece going into the end of the jacking point is to keep it from popping out and not so much as a weight bearing point.

I'll make sure nobody is under the inverted car when the engine fluids come running out. Ha ha.. kidding. The engine would be removed. I'll look into any other disadvantages of leaving the other stuff on.

Thanks
Rick

 

[DanR]

Rick, Some words of caution....Beware the Alpine can have some very weak points when using the rotisserie.

The bumper mount positions "can" be very deceiving with unseen rust which can cause them to give way under a load
such as when placing the Alpine on a rotisserie.

I have a PIC of the Red GT where I did a rather sloppy weld on the end of the frame rail where the left rear bumper is bolted. I discovered a weak point in one of the front frame rails while towing the GT with a tow bar hooked to the bumper positions (using the same brackets I use for the rotisserie) from a storage point to the Shop. The tow bar connection broke loose from the bumper/frame rail due to rust.


My Blue Boy and all of the others have not had that sort of problem.

Another suggestion would be to build use some braces that will secure the Alpine from twisting under load. I made some very sturdy braces out of 1" square tubing and 3/4' threaded rod.

I added the "Original Plans" so that you can see what I started with. They are very informative. I made a few mods I thought better to suit the Alpine. My Mods to the Plans are available, just ask.

 

[Alpine 1789]

Dan's brackets are very impressive. Far more stability than the ones we made for the Tiger. I am curious as to whether they are overkill or ours were underkill. Any thoughts?

 

[belmateo]

Dan's brackets are very well made to keep the structure and especially the door openings from getting tweaked. If you do a rotisserie, you have to brace it.

 

[DanR]

Jim, I used 1" square stock for the main piece for the Jack mounting hole and 3/8" flat plate for the piece used to bolt the face to the Alpine. I had to trim/shave done the 1" square stock a bit to slip into the Jack Mounting holes.

The idea of the bracket was not new to me when I started on the rotisserie, I had designed the bracket for towing my Alpines with a Tow Bar years before. Just had to remove the Bumper.

Maybe one day I will reinvent the wheel and re-design the bracket to be more user friendly for towing and leaving the Bumper in place

 

[DanR]

Here are better PIC's of the attaching points I utilized for the "X" frame Braces.

 

[jdoclogan]

This is how I approached the 4 point Harbor Freight engine (two units) lift configuration attachment. More of a creative engineering, use what you have, approach. Unlike Dan's precision engineering.

 

[rixter]

Thank you all. Lots of good information here. Using existing holes and adjustable braces to do the bracing is creative. I've seen square stock tack welded criss-cross style.

Rick

 

[Aladin Sane]

I took a different approach to accessing the bottom of my alger project. I built wood cribbing for the wheels to sit on and then jacked the car up and worked on it from below. I had to do some reinforcing welding for the rear suspension mounts so that the V8 and Dana rear end didn't tear the springs loose.