Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/20/21 1:26 p.m.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LWLotuKJ0UU

Want the advantages an automotive rotisserie offers when working on a project car without having to shell out thousands of dollars?

Lucky for you, forum user TheWraith has the perfect solution, the tip-tisserie–made with less than $100 worth of wood.

See more of the tip-tisserie in the build thread: Big G Body Build and 50 Other Distractions.

Watch more videos

JAdams
JAdams Reader
10/20/21 1:51 p.m.

Made years ago that was $100 worth of wood, but I see at least $1000 there these days...

 

Kidding (kinda).

Dusterbd13-michael
Dusterbd13-michael MegaDork
10/20/21 2:10 p.m.

I need one. 

That will support an entire car minus engine and trans....

Honsch
Honsch Reader
10/20/21 3:36 p.m.

When we built our Fox wagon, I built one out of some cheap steel, pivots and all.  I think it was around $100 in parts six years ago.
It bolted to the car in the stock bumper mounts.

GM > MG
GM > MG New Reader
10/20/21 7:05 p.m.
Dusterbd13-michael said:

I need one. 

That will support an entire car minus engine and trans....

Dude...

I practically live next door to you. Want mine?

Had my MGB GT on loaded on it w/ motor, trans., and front/rear suspension. No doors hood, front fenders or any interior - Say 1300-1400 lbg ?

 

I do need back what I have into it - $800 pre-pandemic.

Probably close to one billion dollars in todays steel $$$...

NOHOME
NOHOME MegaDork
10/20/21 7:34 p.m.

Best part of the wood version is that you have firewood when you are done.

In my experience the spinner is in the way the day the car comes off of it. I cut mine up and scrapped most of it just for the room; nobody wanted to buy it. 

californiamilleghia
californiamilleghia UltraDork
10/20/21 8:03 p.m.

are there any plans / drawings  for the wood one ?

mostly need to know the radius on the curved part.....I guess the rest will matter how large or small your car body is......

Thanks

Wicked93gs
Wicked93gs Reader
10/20/21 8:56 p.m.

While wood "tippers" are great for budget...they are not as good for a full on restoration. During the course of my restoration I can't even tell you how many times I needed the car fully upside down to be able to get to something, especially when it comes to painting the undercarriage and interior. In the end...I just ended up borrowing a full rotisserie from a friend for a couple months. If I didn't have that option I would have built a tipper and spent many an hour cursing and clambering up and down some type of scaffold.

frenchyd
frenchyd UltimaDork
10/21/21 9:52 a.m.

I built a steel rotisserie  out of scrap metal I found in a dumpster.  I'm still using it 45 years later because it takes up so little room to store in the garage.    
     With the aide  of a stick welder, a cheap metal cutting bandsaw  I had it built in one morning, and my car up on it that afternoon.  I laid the pieces on the floor of my garage and when I had enough for 2 legs I built one leg and then laid the second leg on top to duplicate it. No measure, No plans, just cut, and weld. Guessing, there is about $200 worth of steel if I had to buy it. 

frenchyd
frenchyd UltimaDork
10/21/21 9:56 a.m.
NOHOME said:

Best part of the wood version is that you have firewood when you are done.

In my experience the spinner is in the way the day the car comes off of it. I cut mine up and scrapped most of it just for the room; nobody wanted to buy it. 

Sorta depends on if you ever see doing another car or not.  Even when I thought those days were over. I kept mine because  I knew sooner or later that steel would come in handy. 

TheWraith
TheWraith New Reader
10/21/21 7:49 p.m.
Dusterbd13-michael said:

I need one. 

That will support an entire car minus engine and trans....

I'd beef it up a little more on the uprights but it should, it had zero problems with the body.

TheWraith
TheWraith New Reader
10/21/21 7:53 p.m.
californiamilleghia said:

are there any plans / drawings  for the wood one ?

mostly need to know the radius on the curved part.....I guess the rest will matter how large or small your car body is......

Thanks

I built the stands first and made sure they were long enough outside the the body for it to roll, built the uprights and reinforced them then bought the 4' x 4" squares of plywood and screwed it all together, then radiused it the corners, all done by eye. I made sure where the radius was it was backed by the 2x4's for structure.

procainestart
procainestart Dork
5/25/22 10:57 a.m.

In reply to faulknernolan :

I dug a hole in that quoted text but broke my shovel on a buried canoe. 

frenchyd
frenchyd MegaDork
8/3/22 11:04 p.m.

In reply to Colin Wood :

I used scrap steel purchased from the recycling yard. I doubt I have $100 in mine.  
 This year I did get fancy and put wheels on it. 
  I first used that in the 1980's  when not in use I shoved it in the corner  oh, yes!  You don't know joy until you are painting  or assembling on a rotisserie.   No crawling underneath. I'm old so sitting down while working is extremely civilized    Since I'm on an old office chair I just scoot around.  Oops that's a bit out of my reach, I'll roll it over until it's perfect  

NoviceClass
NoviceClass Reader
1/31/23 10:28 p.m.

Saw this years ago on a Classic Bronco site.

 

rich911s
rich911s Reader
2/1/23 8:39 a.m.

I did mine in wood circa 2019... iirc ~$125 including the casters and pipe.  I I still have some of the boards floating around in various places in my shop.  I can tell by the guards red overspray on them.  Not pretty but def got the job done.  I will say it took two people to flip all the way upright, the weight was not centered at all since I used the factory bumper mount locations. She had 35 years of accumulated oil and road grime.  Her underbelly is so nice now, I absolutely love walking under her on the lift!       

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 UltraDork
2/15/24 11:50 p.m.

 

i made a tiptisserie for mine. Worked well. It was all scrap I had around but about $100 worth I'd expect. I'll use again for the mini resto. The wheels made it extra useful for pushing around the shop. They were from the high school auto shop I volunteer at-- I earned the dump run and scored a new set of snap on tool chest casters they were tossing. Really tied the whole thing together. 

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