In the way back, we landed the counterweights on some type of blocking or rail clamps sufficient to hold the weight. Hung the car off of the machine beams, then hoisted it up to account for rope stretch( back then it was 9" for every one hundred feet of rope, or 6" if using pre-stretched rope. Always set the safties. If you could land the counterweights high enough, the car top was at the top floor level. This was for straight over traction. For 2 to 1 you had to hang the car high enough to access the shackles. Which of course had to be poured with molten babbitt. With the advent of the wedge shackles, things became looser and guys started to improvise, doing one rope at a time, then going back in with a rope clamp to hang the car and shorten the cables at least once and maybe more, depending on the rise. The wedge shackles changed everything, the tried and true went by the wayside for quicker and easier. Safety of the crews also sometimes goes out the window. I am not denigrating the wedge type, just saying, take some time to stay safe.