Not sure if this falls into the non G-Body class or shop talk, but I can put it here and it will migrate if required.
So some of you may recall the pictures of my t-mission swap that was done to my Non G-Body G-body, aka my G-10 Van. The pictures for that work showed the van sitting on sets of stacking 2x4 plates, 6 plates to a stack, to get the van high enough to drop the box and slide it out on a transmission jack.
What didn't get shown was the amount of work needed to get the van high enough to set the stacks in place. For the last couple of pplates, I had to use a 10 x 10 baulk of wood as a spacer to take up some of the room between the jack saddle and the front crossmember or i would run out of ram extension before the saddle hit the crossmember. Wood is good for a lot of things but internal decay or damage can cause a baulk to split unannounced. Not a nice thing to have to deal with.
So I came up with the idea of creating a steel saddle adapter/spacer that would sit in between the saddle and the lifting arm on the floor jack to get the jack saddle to the crossmember sooner and lift the vehicle higher, and more safely.
The first picture above is the basic structure. The spacer body is a motor casing from a lift motor that had burned out. My buddy had the guts in a margaring pail in his shop and laid the case on me when I told him what my idea was. At the point shown above i had added an outer collar of 3/16th plate about 3/4 wide to the body of the spacer to be. This was to create a wider contact surface for the "teeth" on the saddle to align with.
Now sitting upright and with its plug and edge welds ground smooth, you can see the notches for the teeth on the saddle more clearly.
Just a closer look from a different angle. The initial notches that I ground into the case body became wider with the addition of the collar. Where the edge of the collar passed by a notch opening, a seam was created that I subsequently closed off with a pass. The overweld was then ground smooth as well to create a solid opening.
And here is why the notches had to become wider in depth. With the collar attached and the saddle just mocked up in position, you can see how the teeth on the saddle sit and fit into their matching notch. As a to come additional safety feature, a second collar of the same thickness of material will be added to the first collar, but, at the same time, be offset so that it will overlap the saddle. For its part the saddle will be free to come and go, so tha the spacer can be installed or removed, but having the second collar offset as it will be, will keep the spacer from trying to "wander" off the saddle during a lift. Th other end is scheduled to receive a piece of heavy plate with a hole drilled in it to accept a second saddle, so it all goes together sort of like a sandwich; 'cept this sandwich would only get eaten if you had a major iron deficiency. LOL!
Nick
