What engine support brace do you have?

[CoconutPete]

I need to support the top of the engine in my Z while I do motor mounts and an oil pan gasket.

Harbor freight sells the bar for $75 or so, but the one near me is out and "low stock" appears in all the nearby stores. Apparently there's a shortage on these like everything else.

I'd consider making a temporary one out of 4x4's but with lumber prices what they are - that may actually be more expensive!

What do you think? Is this a tool that has to be top quality? Or will anything do? Amazon sells what' very obviously the same as the HF one for about 95 bucks with free shipping but it's not prime.... so it'll probably take 3 weeks to show up. I have a Northern tool nearby but they appear not to sell them.

 

[Buckgnarly]

I use this one at my home and at school. looks like it's 20% off eligible also...just buy 2 other small items.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NLE7917125?cid=paidsearch_shopping_dcoe_google&campaign=GSC-Tools-Equipment&campaign_id=8553470562&adgroup_id=107047174069&adtype=pla_with_promotion&gclid=CjwKCAjw3MSHBhB3EiwAxcaEu067_yJ1vxKdzXr1NvRiuvHCVNB2o2UA67KBTYPhuKpX64EgNK4KUBoCsycQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&

I would not get one without the 3rd support point, way to easy for the engine to roll if you don't have that third. Just did a clutch on my wife's 2014 Outback, that HF version would not have worked because of the lack of the 3rd leg.

 

[Mark_17]

We used the harbor freight one to do the oil pan gasket it my friends '97 Firebird. It worked like a charm. Didn't have any issues with the engine moving since the trans was still hooked up.

 

[Jagmandave]

I think the legs that sit on the fenders on the HF one are spread far enough that I don't think it will roll over. I've used one several times with no issues.....also, that third leg one will only prevent a roll in one direction.

 

[Lucid Moments]

I have the Harbor Freight one. Used it in a couple of Porsche 944s, my Civic, and my Chevy 1500 with no issues. Of course if you can't find one that doesn't do you much good.

 

[dscheidt]

I need to support the top of the engine in my Z while I do motor mounts and an oil pan gasket.

Harbor freight sells the bar for $75 or so, but the one near me is out and "low stock" appears in all the nearby stores. Apparently there's a shortage on these like everything else.

I'd consider making a temporary one out of 4x4's but with lumber prices what they are - that may actually be more expensive!

What do you think? Is this a tool that has to be top quality? Or will anything do? Amazon sells what' very obviously the same as the HF one for about 95 bucks with free shipping but it's not prime.... so it'll probably take 3 weeks to show up. I have a Northern tool nearby but they appear not to sell them.

Check your local autoparts stores. Everyone sells one. I'd also call your local tool rental houses. I've rented one before, from a local place.

 

[vssjim]

I have two a home made bar then the three leg OTC that looks just like the NAPA Tools one pictured above. The three leg ones do come in handy and if you don't have one and need it making all the brackets and stuff would not be easy unless you have a lot of material laying around which I don't

 

[CoconutPete]

Orderd one from FleaBay. It's painfully obvious that it's the same as the HF one. This way I'm not running around trying to find one. Looks like a week or so for shipping. Not bad. I'll find other projects in the meantime.

 

[Qualitytools]

I have the HF one, I have used it with no issues for motor mounts and for oil pan gasket on my BMW e46. It made the job easy supporting the engine while I dropped the front subframe with the suspension.

 

[DannoXYZ]

I made my own from scrap wood I had laying around.

 

[5ubtle]

I made my own from scrap wood I had laying around.

And I thought that I was brave. I don't know what engine you are supporting, but that scares me.

 

[DannoXYZ]

Engine weighs 345-lbs with turbo attached (pulled it years earlier for rebuild). No problems with wood beams. I had jack under bell-housing behind engine for additional support, but didn't need it. Removed jack after dropping crossmember to get more room.

 

[CoconutPete]

Ha! I was going to build it out of 4x4's but opted not to for 2 reasons:
1: I don't have any scrap laying round. I literally just used my last good wood scraps to build a trampoline ladder for the free trampoline we scored. This means I need to buy new and lumber prices are still craaaaazy here.
2: Sometimes my projects just go slow. I have kids that are still relatively small, so sometimes I get 15 minutes to work on her maybe 2 days a week. This means sitting like that for a while and wood bows...

Guy had one for sale locally used. Conveniently when I inquired about it "someone just wanted it" and he was trying to get a bidding war going. It did not turn out well for him, especially since his other guy fell through and he reached out to me a few days after I bought one on eBay.....

 

[zmotorsports]

I have a NAPA 3-point engine support bar and it has worked well. I've had mine for about 10 years now and have no complaints.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NLE7917125

 

[will335i]

I have the HF one, got lucky when it came back in stock and grabbed it. There are a couple versions of the straight bar (HF) and the three leg (OEM, Napa) and its probably same to assume they all come from the same manufacture respectively. HF looked to be the least expensive when I was looking which is probably part of the reason the stores always have low stock.