Citroen XM Forum

Having some engine out work on the way with a few cars, Ive been toying with the idea of making a work base for useing my hoist, because though Ive had a hard base, it was loose material, so the wheels simply sank into the ground.

Mums next door neighbour has just had his rear yard re-lanscaped... the result was he was disposing of his old flags... I spotted a couple of broken ones in his skip.. I poped over the wall and grabbed a few, he then said, Paul, come here, he took me round the back of his house and he had stacked all the remaining... about 40 odd... so this afternoon I loaded 25 - YES 25 of them in the boot of the car and went off to the farm.

The old working space where each car goes to be worked on:





After a bit of ground turning, with a fork to roughen and to an extent soften the surface to help make an eaven layer under each slab..



We set upon laying the flags. Im NOT worried about concerte, theres no need the under layer IS hard...

The first half result so far..







Back to Mums tomorrow to get the next lot of slabs..

We got them rather even, and even enough to allow the hoist to work.. Ooooooo Ive got a brand new Creeper in my shed at mums.. Never been able to use it. might be able to now.

We have sunk them a bit, and then packed the edges hard to hold them all in place...

T.B.C...

Certainly better to work on as long as they stay level. Can you make a covered area so you can work in inclement weather.

Well, William, we did discuss that today, I could either get a large Gazeebo, or we would knock something up over the said area...

They should stay level considering how hard the ground is under them, which Ive been working on for years... The Raking up of the working area was interesting. The amount of washers, screws, and even an Allen Key modified for Sump plugs came up!! Forgot to get pics of that bit..

Excellent Paul. That should really help.

I hope so.. Was dredding the jobs to come, that being engine out on the SD for clutch and Head Gasket, and engine out on the Xantia V6 when I start to dismatle that one, seen on the right of the bottom two pics...

I noticed the lovely sills on that. A shame.

It is a very good idea to get some sort of hard standing to support the car properly. I have to use the road or the lane outside the garage. And the lane is all grass ect. The XM just sinks on its axel stands. Very annoying.
Excellent too being free all those slabs.

I know.. I knew STRAIGHT away soon as he said, take em...

They arent thin.. Ill take a measurement tomorrow when I get the next lot...

As for weight... I could probably only carry three at a time.. and not for long either..

citroenxm wrote:
As for weight... I could probably only carry three at a time.. and not for long either..

Try some old genuine 3'x2' slabs. You would be lucky to pick one up properly.

I was only getting at the sturdyness, I think they are stong enough..

As long as they are well supported underneath they will be fine.