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engine stand

simontudor

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Joined
Jun 5, 2009
Messages
140
Location
Australia
thinking about building and engine stand but wondering if it would be safe enough to hold up an engine. Has anyone tried building one them selfs? if so can you please tell me how it went

cheers
 
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Uncle Buck

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Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
9,120
Location
Kansas
I built mine in high school shop as a project. If you look around a bit I am sure you can find some plans to build one. The machines I used to build mine are as follows. 1) Band saw for cutting up the stock, of course you could always purchase it cut to length. 2)Obviously the welder to weld the thing together. 3)metal lathe to smooth both the OD of the shaft used for the engine mount plate, and the ID of the pipe that holds the shaft at the top of the engine stand. 4)Torch to cut the rough shape of the faceplate that holds the bell housing stand offs 5) Milling machine to mill the slots in the faceplate 6) Drill press to drill the holes in the stand offs for the face plate 7) Angle grinder to clean up some nasty weld goobers.

I have had several dressed big block engines on my stand through the years, done right you should have a far better stand than most modest priced stands on the market, and a stand as good if not better than most high priced stands. The only thing I wish I had done differently at the time was building a three wheel stand instead of a four wheel stand which would have been a more stable design for rolling around the shop.
 

Brad54

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Joined
Jun 13, 2006
Messages
4,646
When worried about whether something is strong enough or not, always remember the Golden rule of fabrication: "There's no kill like overkill."

-Brad
 

nate379

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Joined
Feb 2, 2009
Messages
7,279
Location
Palmer, AK
My brother build one a few years ago, I can't seem to find the buildup he did on it. Anyhow I wouldn't worry about putting my 1000lb Cummins on it.

I had a "2000lb" rated stand and it pretty much folded up when I put a ~700lb Detroit 6.2L on it.:shocking:

Make it 4 leg for sure. 3 leg units tip over way too easy. Not fun breaking parts off $$$ engines because of a POS engine stand!
 
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mattwgrizwald

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Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
308
Location
Red Wing,MN
I was watching horsepower tv the other week and they have the custom build segment. They showed how to build a custom engine stand I don't remember the episode I tried looking on powerblocktv.com and I could not find it. all you can watch for free is the current episode
 

rsanter

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Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
18,492
Location
visalia ca
how good of a welder are you?
if you are a good welder and you buy standard material that is thick enough, it will hold anything you want it to

I built the rotisserie that my car is on. it is about 15 years old now and has been loaned out to several friends to use for several different cars. so far it has held up well and has shown no problems

bob
 

russlaferrera

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
2,035
Location
Central Virginia
thinking about building and engine stand but wondering if it would be safe enough to hold up an engine. Has anyone tried building one them selfs? if so can you please tell me how it went

cheers

Try search. Someone built a ball bearing engine stand out of an axle . Looks like it will hold a diesel!
 

MXtras

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Joined
Aug 17, 2005
Messages
1,356
Location
On the Right Coast
Here's one. Not mine, but I saved the pic when I saw it because I thought the guy did a nice job of it.

Scott
 

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66RICH

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Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
79
Location
Portage, IN
I built this one over 20 yrs ago, has had a
lot of engines on it.
Rich
 

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A_Pmech

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Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
8,002
Location
IL
Here's one. Not mine, but I saved the pic when I saw it because I thought the guy did a nice job of it.

Scott

I approve!

That's how I'd build an engine stand. :thumbup:

The only thing I might change is to add a 20:1 worm drive gearbox on the back end, with a crank handle. :beer:
 
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shovel

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Joined
Dec 26, 2008
Messages
477
Location
Port Neches, Texas
I bought a HF model a couple years age for less than 50 bucks. You can't buy the material to build one for that. Even if you had the material, your time has got to be worth something.
 

uhcrandy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
283
How strong are the HF stands? Could I take the 4 wheel stand and weld some braces to reinforce it? I have been pricing supplies and I cant really beat the HF stand...
 

pipehack

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Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
923
Location
chicago
I built this one over 20 yrs ago, has had a
lot of engines on it.
Rich

O.K. dude... You can't show me a picture of an engine stand with a Hemi on it and not show us what it went into.. That's just teasing!!!!
 

pipehack

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
923
Location
chicago
thinking about building and engine stand but wondering if it would be safe enough to hold up an engine. Has anyone tried building one them selfs? if so can you please tell me how it went

cheers

Have you built your welding cart yet... That should be your first project...
 

shovel

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2008
Messages
477
Location
Port Neches, Texas
How strong are the HF stands? Could I take the 4 wheel stand and weld some braces to reinforce it? I have been pricing supplies and I cant really beat the HF stand...

Yes, I planned on doing the same thing, but never got around to it. It held up to a couple of builds already. It does flex a lot though. If I was gonna keep it, I'd stiffen it up. My engine building is done for a while (I hope!) I'll prolly sell mine a the next swap meet.
 

66RICH

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Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
79
Location
Portage, IN
Pipehack:
It's going in my 31 Coupe if I ever finish the body!


The stand was made from 2" sch 80 w/2 1/2" head piece.

Rich
 

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rsanter

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Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
18,492
Location
visalia ca
How strong are the HF stands? Could I take the 4 wheel stand and weld some braces to reinforce it? I have been pricing supplies and I cant really beat the HF stand...

yes you can

another popular thing I have seen is to take the 3 wheel version and turn it into a 4 wheel one and upgrade to bigger casters

the weakest part id where the 3 tubes come together on the bottom. weld it together there and add a brace from the uprught to the front leg and it will be much better.
another good add on is the drip pan if you plan to de engine assembly

also keep in mind that the engine stands are good to hold ford 9" rear carriers for rebuild and for trans work

bob
 

Flathead Red

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Joined
Jul 25, 2009
Messages
648
Location
Gulf Coast of Florida
The Powerblock.tv version is nothing more than 14 guage square tubing welded into a rectangle frame with casters on the corners. It has four posts that come off the redtangle with plate welded to the ends that the engine bolts to. I saw the same episode and thought it looked easy enough. I also looked but couldn't remember which show it was on.

Flathead Red
 

Easy Money

Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
5
Location
Santa Cruz Mountians
Don't make the mistake I made, keep the engine stand high enough off the floor to roll the engine lift under the stand if you cannot go in from the front, mine is a 4 caster stand with a spread wide enough to keep the eng. lift to far back to hook up to the mounting plate also the mounting plate is perment to the stand(gear drive) to turn the motor over. I hope this helps in some way. Jerry
 
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simontudor

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Joined
Jun 5, 2009
Messages
140
Location
Australia
hey guys thanks for all the help i have designed a stand i will have a go at building but will post on here later
 
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