Technical ENGINE STORAGE STAND

Some time soon I will be transporting a sbf engine and don't want to use the old tire method of hauling it, last time I hauled a engine in that manor it rolled over.

Are any of you guys aware of a simple stand that is readily available, possibly a universal or Ford only, I have a regular roll around engine stand but looking for something low without wheels. HRP

 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-917056
If you don’t want to buy it….your bed has free angle iron

 

I have one like nochop showed. Strapped down in the bed it never moved.

 

just kind of difficult to bolt the Ford engine to it.

I've made them out of scrap lumber too....supports the oil pan rail. A few pieces of 2x8 or 2x10 lumber, one under each rail, and something across both ends, is all you need.

 

Like squirrel says.

 

Another vote for the scrap lumber, my go to as well

 

Pretty much anything you cobble up won't really be much better than a good deep old tire. Yes you can make a wooden stand that sits low and surrounds the oil pan, and many engines have been successfully transported that way. The key is to strap it to the four corners of the bed with some good ratchet straps. Then it doesn't matter if you use a tire or a neat little fabricated wooden stand.
(Have you priced any wood lately?) Those $10 stands ain't $10 anymore. Probably $40 to build one right now.

The problem with transporting is that the engines are all naturally "top heavy", and the straps are the only way to insure they don't flip over. Had a guy come buy an engine from me a long time ago. Told me he was an engineer........but he was still a nice guy

Anyway I gave him an old tire since he had brought nothing to sit the engine in. Then he reached into his truck and came back with 4 bungee cords. He was going to hook a bungee cord to each corner of his truck bed to restrain the engine from moving.............

I gave him some old rope I had on hand.

 

Straps help a lot when using an old tire. Just saying

 

Like Squirrel and others. We built one out of wood with some 6x6 blocking. If you are using wood for a longer term then stay away from pressure treated as it will corrode metal. The engine rested on the pan rails and needed a couple notches and a cheap set of casters for rolling it around. The engine travelled along with an old car about 1100 miles in a trailer with no issues. I built a plywood box, recycled the casters on it and lined the box with heavy poly. We used the engine lift and put the engine with the wood supports in the box. I got a gallon jar of silica gel used for drying flowers and put the silica gel tied up in old nylons in different places on the engine to grab any moisture then sealed the poly up and put a plywood lid on the box. We did the same storage method for an airplane engine and it stayed sealed for about 6 years. The silica gel turns a color when it is wet and can be dried in an oven endlessly. When we opened the airplane engine the silica jet had stayed dry and the engine was the same condition as the day we put it away. The engine curretly in the box now is a Chevy 350 and was put there in 7 years ago.

 

I have one of those. Wheels off I hauled my 348 around under my topper for months before I was ready to machine it. Great weight for winter driving

 

I have one made out of lumber for my 6. Pan rails rest on it. works well.

 

Pure Dakota solution to traction issues….I’m originally from Hudson….

 

Thanks!

 

Buddy of mine bought a SBC that came on a cut down grocery cart. Was held down with two 1" ratchet straps.

 

go to your local Chevy or ford dealer and look by their dumpsters, I have snatched several crates from new motors being installed in the shop and the crates are then tossed out, as the old motors were put into the scrap pile. I usually have 3 or 4 laying around. the crates are made so that they just sit right on the pan rails and usually still have some strapping bolted to them to bolt the engine to the crate.

 

Ha...Yeah, the old Grocery Cart trick! (Santa Clara, 1959: The Safeway carts were best...Flash chrome lasted for decades.
SBCs were like flatheads to haul: Never less than three, keeps 'em from rollin' around!
Hemis were profoundly top heavy, (AND heavy! 760 lbs.) I cut some 4X4 posts into 22" (iirc) lengths, and strapped them upright under the heads, alongside the pan. Like 'stilts'. Moved 5 or 6 like that, same blocks.
Pan rail 2" X 12"s are excellent, long as you 'box' them or ratchet strap them.
I also have some I made from hospital bed angle iron and rectang tube, plug-in casters for rolling, unplug for pickup bed.
Lots of options and opinions.

 

I will not strap down 500 lbs of iron with out using 2” straps. Shit happens at least in my life so I want that clump not moving no matter what happens! I want it to be in the bed of the truck even if the rig is up side down after a wreck. A tire works just fine as padding or a skid resister but straps hold it in place.

 

there's nothing in the bed of my truck that's stronger than a 1" ratchet strap, to attach the heavy straps to....

 

It has been painted and ready to be installed. HRP

 

I realized that after I posted that most truck beds are not made for heavy work. I have been using my car trailer for over thirty years for hailing motors. One thing nice about using a trailer is you can hall the stand and cheery picker at the same time

 

I have one of those steel motor stands with the adjustable uprights. I removed the wheels and I set in the bed and drop the engine in it.

 

I also like to keep weight at the front of the bed rather than the rear, just in case something happens to the straps. You can decide how hard you take off/accelerate. You can't always decide how hard to brake. Seen a lot of pickups with crunched front bed panels when heavy stuff crashed into it.

 

Put it on the tire in the middle of the bed, then a strap from one corner, a few times around the carb, and attach to the opposite corner. Foolproof.

 

Are you picking an engine up, or taking one from your place and delivering it?
If picking one up I see why you’d want some universal that you could assemble on site.
The last V8 I transported was on tires, I took my carb plates I use to pull/install engines with. Once bolted to the intake I had the engine on tires as far forward as we could get it, then used 4 straps from the “pull ring” on the plate to the corner ties in the bed. Made it pretty dang secure.

 

The other stuff fits in my truck...easier than hooking up the trailer. I drive careful with a load in the back of the truck, but you never know what the other guy is gonna do.

 

Got this one for my 455 and made a similar one for my nailhead.

 

I bought an engine stand from Summitt, works great

 

The support under the pan rails is pretty universal. Straps for sure to keep the engine upright and from moving. As mentioned, you can control how fast you accelerate, but not always how fast you need to stop. Ensure that 500-600 lbs of engine does not come sliding forward.