I have an SBC that is going into my 51 Chevy. I want to fire it while its still out just to make sure it doesnt need any more work. Whats the best/safest way to do it? I am sure that firing it on my cheap HF engine stand isn't smart... Thanks!
It isn't much, if any, more work to put the engine in the car to test run it than cobbling all the connections on a test stand. Assuming you are going to use the make/model engine eventually, you need the mounts, cooling system, exhaust anyway. Ray
When I was a wee lad I had traded the stock 283 out of my '57 Chevrolet for partial credit on a '65 396. We pulled the engine out of the '57 and after pulling the engine out of the '65, the salvage owner says "How do I know that engine runs?" and I was in shock of what to do, my cousin John says, give me a few minutes. He got 2 concrete blocks to brace each side of the 283, grabbed a starter and cast iron belhousing outta of the guys parts stash and a battery, used a overflow tank for a gas can and started that 283 right there on the ground! I was in complete suprise! The owner of the yard offered him a job right there! "No thanks" Off we went to stuff the 396 in my '57!
yup, 'did that too had a '61 Caddy with motor pulled and sitting on the ground next to it hooked up a battery and gas can and ran it sitting right on the ground I built a test stand though for the Olds I have in my RPU now, at the time I had a decent running Stude in the car and wanted to run the Olds in and get it all in tune, check for leaks etc. before making the swap now the test stand just takes up space, I need a bigger shop..
fired up a 250 Ford just sitting on the ground, no blocks, no exhaust! brought the neighbors out of their house.... it's not like it can roll off on it's own; if it were so badly imbalanced that it shook enough to "roll" then it needs rebuilt anyway. i have had engines tip over that weren't running and pinch a toe....
I was given this engine last year to haul it away. I put it an engine stand, pulled the pan, checked the bottom end clearances, and it looked fine. I turned it over and pulled the head, again, no apparent problems. I fabbed a front engine mount out of scrap and vise gripped it to the engine stand. I hung a Jap radiator and fan from the scrap pile from my engine hoist, used an old battery to power the fan, used another old 12V battery to start and run the ignition, hooked up an oil pressure and vacuum gage and ran it. It was great! I added a junk muffler so I could hear it better. The best was adjusting the valves and setting the timing out in the open. Once it was on the stand, it didn't take long to get it running, and it's right there if it needs anything. I was able to get it hot and let it run for an hour. Crude but effective.
I made a test stand for my SBC. Used a rad but did not use a fan. Just watched the temp gauge and when it hit 190 I shut her down. Didn't use a charging system either just ran it off a fully charged battery. I did install mufflers. Works great. I was adding factory roller cam stuff to a 1987 305 (a magazine article said it could be done and was simple ... they are wrong)... tons of problems, had the oil pan and intake off numerous times ... ended up throwing the block in the garbage and starting over with another engine. You have no idea how happy I am with that stand, I would have lost my sanity entirely if I had had to deal with all those problems with the engine installed in the car.
I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than seeing if it fires, but... I have started engines I was going to buy sitting in a spare tire, minus rim. jumper cables, pigtail to the positive post. Arc the solenoid with a screwdriver... done. If you aren't sure it's ready to go in, you probably shouldn't be trying to start it... you should be fixing it.
I was hoping to see somebody fire an engine out of a car. That would be cooooool. Kinda wondered how far the engine would fly...LOL.
We fired my 265 on the shop floor. We were so sure it would not fire that we just hooked up some jumpers and dribbled som gas in. This engine had layed on the ground at a yard for YEARS. It fired, flopped over and dingedup op a valve cover. We giggled like schoolgirls!
I can tell you that I DON'T recommend firing a Cadillac 429 (or other torque monster) hanging from a cherry picker, and then whacking the throttle!!!!
i don't trust my cherry picker just holding an engine, much less firing it off... when i'm doing a changeout, the engine never hangs longer than it HAS to!
I will have to agree with that. Yea, that is why I opened the thread, I was thinking a big ass mortar or something...
I used to crank SBF engines on my garage floor quite a bit. After building a Caddy 500, I got all the wires hooked up, ran fuel to it and fired it off. I revved the motor, and found out REAL quick that Small Block Ford bracing is not stout enough for Caddy 500s !! Nothing helpful here, just a funny story I remembered.
I think I will weld up some heavy angle iron and bolt it to the front and back of the motor. I really just want to make sure it fires. If it runs for 5-10 seconds I will be happy. I dont want to put it in the car before it fires, because I have a perfect 235 in there now...
baknthdays I got a 67 FE Ford motor from the local auto wreckers, and while looking at it sittin on the garage floor, my buddy said hey lets fire it up! it had the exhaust pipes to steady it and was complete right out of a pickup. so we fired it up on the floor, had to steady it when we revved it. Young n dumb daze.
Find somebody to fund it, and I will deliver exactly that. Those experiments for "reality" television shows get built by somebody, and it is not always the folks you see on screen.
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