Wayne's E9 now back to California

E9Wayne

E9Wayne

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Hey folks, after 15 years living in the Northern Virginia area due to a job change, as well as getting ready for retirement and wanting to be closer to my mom and kids, my wife and I (plus my E9 "Bluebelle" and 1987 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3 16 Cosworth daily driver) decided to buy a 1800 square foot home in Moss Beach, CA. My cars are now comfortably housed in our two car garage as I unpack too many boxes -- but when my wife shows up next month with her 2015 Audi Q5, I see a nice 2-post lift in my future to make a 2 car garage into 3 spaces! (I was so envious of my friends, @Ohmess and Tom Baruch, and their very nice lifts in their South Carolina homes during my visit and (unanticipated) repair opportunity last year after my car suffered an alternator cardiac arrest and unfortunate tow truck accident.)

I look forward to hanging out more with my SF Bay Area buddies and, of course, my car's family practice doctor @sfdon and original Frankenstein creator - Don Lawrence. I'm sure Don is relieved neither he nor his staff will have to fly out to work on my car anymore! My car hasn't been to Monterey car week since my 2017/2016 back-to-back Carmel cross country trips with Andrew, Chris, Stan, Peter, Doug and other folks who came out from the mid-Atlantic and NY areas.

I can't wait for Monterey 2026 and seeing my CA E9 colleagues and friends again.

FYI to @HB Chris, my E9 still has its original (when I bought her in 2007) Santa Cruz Motors BMW license plate frame...

Wayne
 

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Congratulations on your move Wayne. I will admit that we were looking at returning to California. This winter was so cold for so long we were both thinking about it. We went to Palm Springs for Modernisim week in February and then drove to the Bay Area to visit my wife's family and were "stranded" there because of yet another storm at home. Flights cancelled so we decided to hike on the coast and then spend some time in the town of Sonoma.

Kids here on the east coast keeps us here (for now), but the weather and family are a strong pull too.
 
Wayne, That’s great news, you’ve traded one Chris for another! I first thought you meant Moss Landing but now I know where Moss Beach is, what a great area and you will definitely be eligible for my Küstenfahrt drives. This year we will start in Santa Cruz, visit Half Moon Bay, SF, Gulala/Pt Arenas, Healdsburg and Sonoma. Can’t wait to come up for a visit to see you and Fran.

Chris
 
Awesome to hear that you are going to the Bay Area... I miss the roads down there. Growing up in the Monterey Bay area sure spoiled me. My Uncle lived in Pacifica and it was a total blast going up the coast (and nearby 'empty' roads) to visit him when I lived down there. Nevermind that I was usually driving my parents 1979 Ford Country Squire station wagon and was a total boat. But- when my dad asked me if I'd do him a favor and take something up - I volunteered quickly. Fun times!
I am up near Seattle now - but do get down to the Bay Area somewhat often. Hopefully this year for the Historic Races at LS.

Regarding a lift - One thing to think about is maybe considering a 4 post lift instead of a 2 post one...
I bought a home a few years ago that has a 3,600sf shop that has a 2 post lift. The fella built the shop with a concrete floor specially made to accept the installation of a 2 post lift. A 2 post lift has special concrete requirements (both in concrete thickness and the concrete strength) that most garage floors in traditional homes don't have. A 4 post lift can be placed on (I'd imagine) pretty much any level concrete floor and be good. Nothing special needed.

When I needed to increase the numbers of cars I could park in the shop (on the floor), I did not want to use the two post lift that I already had.
While it would work - I felt way more comfortable with having the car sit (for extended periods of time) on its wheels. I did not want to have my cars sit for who knows how long supported from points on their bodies. The added bonus is that the 4 post is not bolted to the floor. The ramps and cross supports keep the 4 corner posts aligned and secure when the car is raised. While the 4 posts could be, I did not have them bolted down in case I wanted to move the lift around the shop to a different location. That can be easily done with the lift I have. The guys I got the lift from said that they have very few folks bolt thier lifts down.

If you really want to get advertous, their are styles that are two cars wide for lifting two cars at a time. I thought about that style, but the layout of my shop really didn't work for that... But for a two car garage, it might be an option... :)

Just my thoughts on a lift...


Good luck with the move. Can be a real PITA sometimes...
 
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lip277 said:
Awesome to hear that you are going to the Bay Area... I miss the roads down there. Growing up in the Monterey Bay area sure spoiled me. My Uncle lived in Pacifica and it was a total blast going up the coast (and nearby 'empty' roads) to visit him when I lived down there. Nevermind that I was usually driving my parents 1979 Ford Country Squire station wagon and was a total boat. But- when my dad asked me if I'd do him a favor and take something up - I volunteered quickly. Fun times!
I am up near Seattle now - but do get down to the Bay Area somewhat often. Hopefully this year for the Historic Races at LS.

Regarding a lift - One thing to think about is maybe considering a 4 post lift instead of a 2 post one...
I bought a home a few years ago that has a 3,600sf shop that has a 2 post lift. The fella built the shop with a concrete floor specially made to accept the installation of a 2 post lift. A 2 post lift has special concrete requirements (both in concrete thickness and the concrete strength) that most garage floors in traditional homes don't have. A 4 post lift can be placed on (I'd imagine) pretty much any level concrete floor and be good. Nothing special needed.

When I needed to increase the numbers of cars I could park in the shop (on the floor), I did not want to use the two post lift that I already had.
While it would work - I felt way more comfortable with having the car sit (for extended periods of time) on its wheels. I did not want to have my cars sit for who knows how long supported from points on their bodies. The added bonus is that the 4 post is not bolted to the floor. The ramps and cross supports keep the 4 corner posts aligned and secure when the car is raised. While the 4 posts could be, I did not have them bolted down in case I wanted to move the lift around the shop to a different location. That can be easily done with the lift I have. The guys I got the lift from said that they have very few folks bolt thier lifts down.

If you really want to get advertous, their are styles that are two cars wide for lifting two cars at a time. I thought about that style, but the layout of my shop really didn't work for that... But for a two car garage, it might be an option... :)

Just my thoughts on a lift...


Good luck with the move. Can be a real PITA sometimes...
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Good thoughts on the pros and cons of 2 versus 4 post. I remember considering even a 1 post as I wanted to maximize room in our then VA home garage. Years ago when I researched this and saw a few friends who have - mostly - 4 post lifts, I concluded at the time the 2 post would take less valuable room from my garage for vehicle door openings, etc. The 2 post also provided better access to wheel and brake work. But right now, I need to meet with a contractor who can evaluate how to redo the roof ceiling area in my garage, structurally, to provide the vertical clearance.
 
E9Wayne said:
Hey folks, after 15 years living in the Northern Virginia area due to a job change, as well as getting ready for retirement and wanting to be closer to my mom and kids, my wife and I (plus my E9 "Bluebelle" and 1987 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3 16 Cosworth daily driver) decided to buy a 1800 square foot home in Moss Beach, CA.

Wayne
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Welcome to Northern, CA!
 
Happy for you & Fran for making the CA move from NoVA, I will miss staying with you for The Vintage & Hilton Head. A good excuse to visit CA again. The Brisbane Swap & Show in May, Car Week & The SoCal Vintage will be so much easier for you now.
 
Thanks, Andrew - mi casa su casa, still, but with reduced elbow room in the new place. I've not been back to SoCal Vintage since 2008 or so and I recall sitting on a portable chair with Murray Fowler for several hours and hearing his tales. My car and BlueMax looked great together. And my car's keychain is the SoCal Vintage event giveaway from 2008, I think...For Monterey, I'm going to see if I can rent the same place we all stayed at in 2016.
 
HB Chris said:
Wayne, That’s great news, you’ve traded one Chris for another! I first thought you meant Moss Landing but now I know where Moss Beach is, what a great area and you will definitely be eligible for my Küstenfahrt drives. This year we will start in Santa Cruz, visit Half Moon Bay, SF, Gulala/Pt Arenas, Healdsburg and Sonoma. Can’t wait to come up for a visit to see you and Fran.

Chris
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An upgrade in the Chris category for sure!

Congrats on your move Wayne. Glad it worked out for you and Fran. Northern VA is a decent place to make some money, but not a place to plant roots.

As to the lift, for your usage, there is no question. Get a four post lift.

I'm hoping I'll be able to join you again for Monterey some day. Those two trips were both outstanding.
 
Hi @E9Wayne - Some thoughts on your lift -

As I noted, you want a four post lift. They way they disperse load, you should be able to install this over any properly constructed garage floor without anchors. With a two post lift, you need to anchor, and anchoring the posts requires more depth of concrete. We have a guy here who anchored a two post lift without checking on the concrete, and one day when Tom and I dropped in to look at a differential problem he had with his GTO I noticed his car was leaning to one side. The anchors were pulling out of the concrete and one of the lift towers was tilted toward the car. Panic city!

Thinking about garage modifications, you have a couple of considerations. First, you likely need to get a garage door that rolls up into a cassette. This eliminates all the garage door structure above the lift.

Then, there are a handful of considerations your specific use case that may well reduce the scope of the modifications you need to do to your garage. Specifically, because you are using the lift for storage, you don’t need as much height above the lift. A generic “lift height” computation will assume you want to be able to stand up under the car to work on it. This is a much higher lift height (particularly for you!) than a storage lift height. For storage you only need to lift high enough to get another car under the lift. Thus ceiling height = height of car on lift + height of car under lift + a little cushion.

And that calculation does not need to be made for Fran’s Q7. The Q7 is 69” tall; whereas our coupes are only 54” tall and your Mercedes Benz is 55” tall. Huge difference here.

Also, you don’t need the max lift height over the entire length of the lift. You need more height over the passenger compartment of the car than you do over the hood and/or trunk. One of the car guys here locally did a bump up in the center of his garage to make room for a lift.

Another thing you will find is that the lift market has moved to huge lifts. Because of the proliferation of SUVs on our roads, 10,000 lb lifts are common. You don’t need to pay for that kind of capability to put a classic car up in the air. My lift is a Rotary Solutions 8000lb lift, and that’s plenty.

Lastly, you probably should get a recommendation for a lift dealer from somebody in the trade. @sfdon comes to mind. Or @OCCoupe.
 
Ohmess said:
Hi @E9Wayne - Some thoughts on your lift -

As I noted, you want a four post lift. They way they disperse load, you should be able to install this over any properly constructed garage floor without anchors. With a two post lift, you need to anchor, and anchoring the posts requires more depth of concrete. We have a guy here who anchored a two post lift without checking on the concrete, and one day when Tom and I dropped in to look at a differential problem he had with his GTO I noticed his car was leaning to one side. The anchors were pulling out of the concrete and one of the lift towers was tilted toward the car. Panic city!

Thinking about garage modifications, you have a couple of considerations. First, you likely need to get a garage door that rolls up into a cassette. This eliminates all the garage door structure above the lift.

Then, there are a handful of considerations your specific use case that may well reduce the scope of the modifications you need to do to your garage. Specifically, because you are using the lift for storage, you don’t need as much height above the lift. A generic “lift height” computation will assume you want to be able to stand up under the car to work on it. This is a much higher lift height (particularly for you!) than a storage lift height. For storage you only need to lift high enough to get another car under the lift. Thus ceiling height = height of car on lift + height of car under lift + a little cushion.

And that calculation does not need to be made for Fran’s Q7. The Q7 is 69” tall; whereas our coupes are only 54” tall and your Mercedes Benz is 55” tall. Huge difference here.

Also, you don’t need the max lift height over the entire length of the lift. You need more height over the passenger compartment of the car than you do over the hood and/or trunk. One of the car guys here locally did a bump up in the center of his garage to make room for a lift.

Another thing you will find is that the lift market has moved to huge lifts. Because of the proliferation of SUVs on our roads, 10,000 lb lifts are common. You don’t need to pay for that kind of capability to put a classic car up in the air. My lift is a Rotary Solutions 8000lb lift, and that’s plenty.

Lastly, you probably should get a recommendation for a lift dealer from somebody in the trade. @sfdon comes to mind. Or @OCCoupe.
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Thanks so much Chris, 4 post it is!
 
Great to see you and Shawn, Chris, and your small road trip gang. Looking forward to more adventures with my west coast E9 family...
 
E9Wayne said:
Hey folks, after 15 years living in the Northern Virginia area due to a job change, as well as getting ready for retirement and wanting to be closer to my mom and kids, my wife and I (plus my E9 "Bluebelle" and 1987 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3 16 Cosworth daily driver) decided to buy a 1800 square foot home in Moss Beach, CA. My cars are now comfortably housed in our two car garage as I unpack too many boxes -- but when my wife shows up next month with her 2015 Audi Q5, I see a nice 2-post lift in my future to make a 2 car garage into 3 spaces! (I was so envious of my friends, @Ohmess and Tom Baruch, and their very nice lifts in their South Carolina homes during my visit and (unanticipated) repair opportunity last year after my car suffered an alternator cardiac arrest and unfortunate tow truck accident.)

I look forward to hanging out more with my SF Bay Area buddies and, of course, my car's family practice doctor @sfdon and original Frankenstein creator - Don Lawrence. I'm sure Don is relieved neither he nor his staff will have to fly out to work on my car anymore! My car hasn't been to Monterey car week since my 2017/2016 back-to-back Carmel cross country trips with Andrew, Chris, Stan, Peter, Doug and other folks who came out from the mid-Atlantic and NY areas.

I can't wait for Monterey 2026 and seeing my CA E9 colleagues and friends again.

FYI to @HB Chris, my E9 still has its original (when I bought her in 2007) Santa Cruz Motors BMW license plate frame...

Wayne
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What a pleasant surprise! Wayne, a very sincere welcome back to California! Can't wait to get caught up during Monterey Car Week!

(For those on the E9 Forum not familiar with Moss Beach, Calif., it is the home of Mavericks. A freakish piece of geology on the ocean floor, maybe 1/3 mile off shore. When the swells turn West-NorthWest Mavericks brings in big wave surfers from around the globe.)
 

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