Engine Test Stand

[fortee9er]

I want to build an engine test stand. I really like the Easy-Run Test Run stand, specially their Professional Series 66 series. A really nice piece of equipment that I can't afford. If I could get the measurements and wall thickness of the tubing used I can fabricate my own. If anyone here has one of these Easy-Run stands or has access to one please send me the measurements.
Thank You

 

[fiftyv8]

I ain't going to tell you mine is the best and do not know the stand you refer to above, but really it is not hard to knock something up in your shop from what stuff is around.

What I can tell you is my stand was going to be required to hold multiple engines with or without a ****** attached.

I have a flathead two outlet radiator and an early Mustang radiator to handle most needs.

I have also made slide tracks from square tube mounted like a diamond shape which act as tracks for my slide pieces which are based on angle that slides over the square tube.
I have run 3 engines in it so far and all is good.
Cadillac flathead 346 with modern ******
Cadillac 365 no ******
SBC 283 with ******.

Take a look at this YouTube link where I have used it in my video.

Engine stands are a great thing to own when you need one, but once you have noi use for them, they take up a lot of space...

 

[matt_i]

Because of the sharp bend radius on the OD of the tubing I'm going to guess .120"/11ga wall thickness.

If it were 1/4" thick then you would see a much larger radius.

Go to a metal supermarket (etc) and compare.

A little extra steel never hurt anything, it just costs a bit more.

Keep in mind this isn't a dyno stand that has torque reactions thru the motor mounts, its just to hold the dead weight and probably a little centrifugal reaction from revving it.

Another way to look at this. The channel frame in my 1988 Chevrolet 1 ton pickup is built with steel that's somewhere between 1/8" and 3/16" thick in most places. That's enough to resist the max torque reactions of pulling very heavy stuff up steep grades....loaded with the trailer up near 26k gross weight. So just starting and running an engine to check basically idle requires just a little more than supporting the dead weight of the assembled engine.

 

[joe_padavano]

I was all set to build my own engine run stand, but then I found the Larin stand. Given my limited free time, I would rather spend it working on my projects than building tools to work on my projects. When I bought this two years ago, it was only $234 delivered from WalMart. The price has gone up since then. I've had a couple of Olds 455 motors on this, so strength is not an issue. No, it does not have a radiator - you just run a garden hose to the water pump inlet (hose adapters provided) and adjust flow rate to maintain the temp you want. It's not the best plan, but it works. It also saves you the trouble of configuring pulleys and belts to run the water pump.

Two downsides are 1) the wheels are too small and thus the legs of the engine stand won't fit under it, and 2) the Chinesium gauges absolutely ****. I got taller HF casters to fix the first problem and swap meet Autometer gauges to fix the second. Yeah, I've still had to put some work into it, but all in all, it's a good compromise for the price.

 

[WWIIFAN]

We built one years ago using a 70 Chevy Nova front sub-frame. Welded a some metal to the steering box locking it strait at all times. Welded a tongue on the rear of the frame just behind the trans cross member. Cut up the core support to house the radiator and battery with coolant overflow only. Then added a mount for a two gallon fuel tank. You could pull a motor out of a project car with the ******...bolt it all in the sub-frame. Then hook it up to your truck and take it to be power washed or what ever. Worked very well.

 

[bigguns69]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=362241

See Page 2.

I built my own using 2"x 3/16" wall tubing I had left over and the Easy-Run stand as a visual cue. Used a Jon-Boat fuel tank as supply, existing mustang radiator with a 12V fan I had laying around for cooling. Built a mounting frame for the battery. Simple project and cheap since I had all the material laying around. Still need to get gauges though to complete it.

 

[Richard D]

We built one years ago using a 70 Chevy Nova front sub-frame.

What a great idea, if you have the room to store it.

 

[fiftyv8]

Trouble I found first up when building my stand was that you don't use too smaller wheels as once the stand has engine weight on it, then it will be difficult to move.

Second thing to consider is make the base frame high enough so the front legs of a garage crane can access under your stand from most any angle/direction.

Also put fuses in any harness you may make and a easy to turn OFF battery connect point.

I also make a point of having a fire extinguisher nearby during test runs...

 

[Kaizen]

I built mine using an engine stand and parts from an engine dolly to bolt at motor mounts. Filled in with some square tube and stuck some gauges in sheet metal. Ugly as hell but works. Wheels are small so **** but I use a pallet jack in the new garage to move it around.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bullnerd]

What engine are you planning to run?