billmerbach

Hey guys as I get closer to assembling my engine I'll need to test it afterwards so I need help I wanna build me an engine test stand so I can tune etc when its finished. I've heard around that you guys have done this before and want to know how to build me a decent budget friendly stand

Octania

Budget?
Front 5 ft of a parts car's frame and radiator support!
Bedframe angle iron for supports as needed.

billmerbach

Haha ok can I do it outta lumber dad has a few 6x6s and some other wood

billmerbach

Can I build onto my engine stand with the lumber? Any help is greatly appreciated I'm pretty crafty with wood so I believe I can do this

MDchanic

Bill, I have not done this, so I am not an expert by any means, but if you want to make a run stand, your best bet will be to make it as low as possible, and make it take the weight of the engine at or in the area of the motor mounts.

The higher the center of gravity, the harder it will be to make a stand that is stable, and while it is theoretically possible to shore up an engine stand, doing it properly would be much harder.

Since you want to use heavy lumber, I would recommend making a cradle to hold the block like the frame of the car does, possibly even with a pair of Olds frame mounts sourced from a junk car, or with the ones you plan to use when installing the engine in your car. I would build it so it would hold the oil pan an inch or two off the ground, and make its primary structure out of cross-pieces that stick out a good distance on either side, to prevent the engine from rolling over, which it may want to do. It won't want to move front-to-back on you, only side to side.
Be sure to leave room for exhaust pipes with mufflers.

- Eric

66400

Octania's suggestion is not a laughing matter it's a great idea as I know of 3 buddies using just that.

But seeing how you have some lumber you can build an engine cradle with some thought, as previously advised build it to keep the engine low to the floor. I'd use lag bolts or long bolts with nuts to assemble with, no nails.

Henry

76olds

A few pieces of angle iron for bracing..... with lag bolts as 66400 mentioned would also help.

1970supremevert

Bill
I have seen these on e bay for 100.00 and you could bolt them to the lumber
just a thought

billmerbach

Oh no I wasn't laughing at his suggestion but the only 'parts' car I have is my omega if I had another I'd do it. Sorry if I came off wrong about it

billmerbach

Looks like something that bolts to the engine as if a transmission would could you explain to me what these are

billmerbach

I have an idea I'll make some drawings up and show you guys ik for sure I want to brace it as much as possible and yes low to the ground cause gravity can be a beeotch lol

66400

On the other hand gravity can be your best friend sometimes!

Henry

67 Cutlass Freak

Bill I have a couple of photos of running engine stands I can post for you. The most important thing is safety. If you think that having a running engine stand for future usage is a good idea, than you should build one from steel. They are pretty simple. Make it adaptable for other brand engines. That way if you want to sell it, others will be more attracted to it. Keep the engine low. If you're going to build one from an existing engine stand, cut the bottom of the rear square tube to lower it. I'm going to build one soon, but I have a welder so it will be easy for me. These things take up a lot of space so you should consider building one that can come apart easily. If you just want to use it one time, than the wood isn't a bad idea. Build your base wide and keep it low. When I build mine it will have gauges, switch panel, electric fan, MSD box, coil, four corner outlet radiator, and a small aluminum fuel cell. I have been gathering pieces.
Dads67003.jpg


105-0590_IMG.jpg
One thing to keep in mind, some engines like Chevy's, require a bell housing to mount the starter. Olds and Fords do not. Make sure you build your stand long enough for the added space a bell housing will take up. Hope this helps.

billmerbach

True lol I plan on building something I can roll my stand into bolt the motor to the test stand and fire it up

billmerbach

Awesome I'll draw up some plans later tonight and hopefully you guys can help me improve. I would build out ta steel if I had the right kind of welder and the right experience on proper welds I can do some half a$$ welds but nothing to secure

billmerbach

IMG_20140323_131802_zpsk8owsiog.jpg
Heres my rough draft I'm not the best at drawing I can imagine it in my head but can't put it to paper please feel free to improve as I said I'm wanting to be able to roll in the stand and bolt to my test stand

1970supremevert

Bill
My prior post is the mounting system used for a boat motor and would bolt up to the front of the block behind the balancer, and at the back of the block & covers the flex plate/flywheel

billmerbach

Ah ok so instead of getting mounts just that device And it will hold I'd right up

MDchanic

In that case, for whatever it's worth, I would strongly recommend taking a mechanical drawing class if your school or local community college offers one (sometimes high schools have a deal with a local college where HS students can take a college course or two for free).

Here's a quick sketch of the basic structure that entered my mind - it's not great or refined, but it's a starting point:



- Eric

billmerbach

Oh I've done drafting but I had to teach the teacher how to use the program ironic huh? But I'm not artistically inclined

MDchanic

Program?

We used a pencil, T-square, triangles, dividers, compass, and a scale.

- Eric

billmerbach

AutoCAD and yea we did one day of that didn't learn much other than. How to scale

coppercutlass

Now I'm not sayin to do this. But back when I built my first sbc 355 I was 16. Me and a friend "borrowed" a shopping cart and "borrowed" some angle iron we saw on the side of the road and we cut up the shopping cart and braced it up with the angle iron. We spent about 15 bucks on bolts but our local hardware store works on the trust system where you bag and price the bolts your self but we actually had about 30 bucks worth of bolts lol. Now I'm not saying you should "borrow" stuff but you never know what comes up on the side of the road lol.

coppercutlass

You can also go to a local iron shop and ask them if you can buy some scrap steel for your project. Chances are a few bucks beats cents on the pound. I usually have 3 iron shops I hit up for steel since I usually need small stuff and I give em like 10 bucks and leave with what I need . Most iron shops have a scraping contract with the local foundry acme but they usually jump at the chance to pocket some cash.

MDchanic

I've heard of AutoCAD, etc., but never used them.

I'm surprised the schools aren't starting those classes of with basic pencil and paper, though.

I'd love to be able to use it myself, but no way am I spending the dough when I have a pad of paper...

- Eric

billmerbach

Hmmmm thanks copper I'm gonna look out for some shopping carts now lol and I'll look for some catwalk shops around my area

Lars

joe_padavano

Here are some home made engine test stands at Homemadetools.net. By the way, if you haven't checked out that site, there are some cool home made tools there.

caddy

Here is a link for a great autocad software & its free...

http://www.sketchup.com/download

I use it for designing speakers boxes and mechanical templates applications. And yes, there is a tutorial...

oldcutlass

This is just my opinion... Bill, you have the perfect engine run stand in that car body out back. For the amount of engines your going to build in the near future, why invest in the effort.

billmerbach

True true