ujmchris
Well-known member
I've wanted an engine stand for quite some time, but until now I have had no real need. When 2nd gear wouldn't stay engaged on a friends cb900f, I decided to do something about it. I thought about buying one, but either didn't like the design, quality, or price of anything available. As with most of my projects, what started out as a cheep, quick project, turned into something costing nearly as much as a bought stand, taking 2 weeks of my free time, and being way over built. I can't take too much credit for the basic design, as I pretty much copied the K&L MC25 stand using my own dimensions. Here are my results. Hope you all enjoy!
Materials list:
8' of 2" square tubing
8' of 1 3/4" square tubing
1' of 2" DOM tubing
1' of 1 5/8" DOM tubing
2' of 1 3/4" x .25 cold roll flat stock
total weight: 65lbs~ ish
K&L shipping weight: 27lbs!
Here is the base for my stand. The center tube is bolted into one side (so it can be taken apart for storage) and telescopes in the other side. I added a bolt later to lock it into position.
The pivots for each side. I wanted this to be a tight fit, so I had a local machine shop turn down the inside tube to a nice slip fit. (one day I'll have my one lathe!) The nice machinist didn't even charge me for the 5 minutes of his time though.
Here are the uprights for each side. They telescope to adjust for height differences in motors. (Not one of my best welds
)
Here are the cross bars mocked up. They are very adjustable to hold the motor and allow me to pivot it upside down or at any angle.
Here is the stand mostly finished
This is a close up of the engine mount. If I don't have bolts the right length, I just use a length of all-thread.
In order to lock the stand in a certain pivot position, the inner pivot tube has a serious of holes in it which line up the a hole in the outer pivot tube. A burnt kohler valve makes a great pin and is much easier to pull out than the bolt I originally used. You can also see the pin to lock the telescoping uprights in.
All done with an engine mounted. In order to get the motor into place, I set it on the bench, attached the mounts to the engine and spread the stand out. then I picked the engine up the the chain hoist above the bench, slide the stand together, and locked it in place. Sounds a bit complicated but works well with very little manual lifting. I also want to make up a custom aluminum drip pan with a channel for the center tube, to catch oil and small parts
And a shot with the engine upside down.
Someday I might paint it, but a nice coat of oil will work for now.
Materials list:
8' of 2" square tubing
8' of 1 3/4" square tubing
1' of 2" DOM tubing
1' of 1 5/8" DOM tubing
2' of 1 3/4" x .25 cold roll flat stock
total weight: 65lbs~ ish
K&L shipping weight: 27lbs!
Here is the base for my stand. The center tube is bolted into one side (so it can be taken apart for storage) and telescopes in the other side. I added a bolt later to lock it into position.
The pivots for each side. I wanted this to be a tight fit, so I had a local machine shop turn down the inside tube to a nice slip fit. (one day I'll have my one lathe!) The nice machinist didn't even charge me for the 5 minutes of his time though.
Here are the uprights for each side. They telescope to adjust for height differences in motors. (Not one of my best welds
)Here are the cross bars mocked up. They are very adjustable to hold the motor and allow me to pivot it upside down or at any angle.
Here is the stand mostly finished
This is a close up of the engine mount. If I don't have bolts the right length, I just use a length of all-thread.
In order to lock the stand in a certain pivot position, the inner pivot tube has a serious of holes in it which line up the a hole in the outer pivot tube. A burnt kohler valve makes a great pin and is much easier to pull out than the bolt I originally used. You can also see the pin to lock the telescoping uprights in.
All done with an engine mounted. In order to get the motor into place, I set it on the bench, attached the mounts to the engine and spread the stand out. then I picked the engine up the the chain hoist above the bench, slide the stand together, and locked it in place. Sounds a bit complicated but works well with very little manual lifting. I also want to make up a custom aluminum drip pan with a channel for the center tube, to catch oil and small parts
And a shot with the engine upside down.
Someday I might paint it, but a nice coat of oil will work for now.
