I once saw a man lift a Mini by its back end, and there were some schoolkids
sitting on the rear seat. I'm not sure how many. I was busy at the time. But
now I'm wondering how many there could have been and what weight he might
have lifted.

He was a normal-looking man, with the build of someone like the actor who
plays Sharpe - not some Schwarzeneggar type with muscles growing out of his
eyelids - and the Mini was an ordinary one, not a Mini Cooper. The kids were
around thirteen and small-looking, AFAICR.

By the way, how much heavier would the front end of a Mini be than the back
end if there's no one sitting in the car?

Ivan

Ivan (ivan.sewell (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying :

I doubt there's much more than a couple of hundred kilo on the back end - a
Mini's about 600kg all-in, and all the mechanicals are up front.

On 2007-03-03, Ivan <ivan.sewell (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk> wrote:
It's about a 60/40 weight distribution towards the front.

But to lift the back up you'd certainly need to be stronger than
average, especially with people in the back. Two or three people can
roll a Mini on its side (I've done this in a scrapyard, with the
scrapyard owner's assistance, in order to get access to the front
subframe, don't do it on your own Mini).

Some of the events in the 2007 World's Strongest Man competition
involved running around carrying Citroen AXs, with the engines removed.

It happens that Ben C formulated :
They used to roll their minis onto its side to sit on an old mattress
without damage. The trick was to jack one side up as far as possible,
then with a little help it would just gently roll the rest of the way
itself.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Ben C wrote:

The works rally team of the '60's used to roll them over onto a layer of
tyres in order to work on the underside.

I drove a Mini Cooper S in some rallies in the early 70's. My navigator was
considerable beefier than I am. We used to practice fast wheel changes; the
strategy we developed for rear wheel punctures involved me extending the
jack to a pre-marked point whilst my navigator stood with his back to the
car and lifted under the rear arch. I would then push the jack under. It
saved valuable time, and he didn't seem to find it too difficult to get a
rear wheel clear of the ground.

Possibly the best use for an AX I've ever heard of...

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

On 2007-03-04, Chris Whelan <cawhelan (AT) prejudicentlworld (DOT) com> wrote:
Interesting, you'd think all the fluids and things would run into places
they weren't meant to be.

I don't approve of turning bicycles upside down to work on them, let
alone cars!

Those were the days.

Ben C (spamspam (AT) spam (DOT) eggs) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying :

<shrug> They're mostly fairly well contained - think about how they're
going to slop about, especially in competition use. Yes, it'll smoke a bit
on starting, but...

Why on earth not...?

On 2007-03-04, Adrian <toomany2cvs (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
It causes scuffs on the seat and handlbars, cracks the computer and/or
its mounting, and can damage the brake levers. Those are the main
reasons. Getting the wheels on and off is easier with the bike the right
way up, and the gears don't work quite the same upside-down, so
adjusting them like that is a bad idea.

On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:37:41 -0000, Adrian <toomany2cvs (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Cos he's suffering from "jobst is a guru" syndrome?
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/upside-down.html
Personally I don't work on bikesupside down, but that's because as with
any bikeshop I've got a workstand.

On 2007-03-04, Duncan Wood <newsto (AT) dmx512 (DOT) co.uk> wrote:
LOL, actually I didn't hear this idea first from Jobst, although perhaps
the meme originated with him.