Technical Engine stand

Threw the new ford 6 on an engine stand, and not loving the way it leans so far down in the front. It’s a 2 ton stand that I’ve never actually used before, and I know these inlines are longer than a V8, so maybe this is normal? The weld on the outer tube sleeve looks good, and I’ve got grade 8 bolts holding it to the stand. I’m going to be moving this thing around the garage and rotating it quite a bit the next few weeks. Am I being paranoid?

 

Not at all. That stand doesn’t look like it’s up to the job.

 

V8s on my engine stand do that. I put a long bit of wood between the stand and the front of the block when I move them around. I’m sure it’d be fine but the bend gives me the willies too.

 

I'd find a way to support that thing.....kinda sketchy!

 

You’re gonna need a bigger stand.

 

You'll be ok if you're careful with it. I have a "real" engine stand, but I used to get by with flaky ones like that.

Yours does have two "front" wheels, so it probably won't tip over.

 

I’m not so much worried about it tipping, more like breaking

 

take a picture of the mounting plate and the back of the engine, so we can see it a bit better. Just move the camera to the right a few feet, and zoom in a bit. Better yet, take it from the other side, the light from the open door is behind you, not in front of you.

yes, photography is difficult.

 

I'd pie-cut the vertical tube of the stand to get it closer to level. You can see the whole rotating part of the engine-stand is angled slightly down, a pie-cut and welded back up with restore a more neutral angle. This is one reason I paid-up for a crank driven engine stand.

 

I just found a piece of pipe that just fit inside the tube welded to the engine plate side, drilled several 3/8" holes thru the outer tube that's welded to the engine plate, knocked the pipe I found down into the tube and plug welded them together thru the 3/8" holes and ground them smooth so that it would fit and still turn in the stand tube. Then I cleaned up the the engine plate to tube factory weld and ran another hot bead weld around the tube and called it good.

Never seen one fail between the tube welded on the engine stand, just the engine side plate ***embly so that's where I added support.... been that way for years. Still got a Pontiac 400 on it, guess close to 9 or 10 years now. Still sitting there. Did the same thing to the second one I bought, got a 440 to go on it... someday...

...

 

Is the front lower than the back to begin with or is that just the angle of the photo? It looks like the bottom tube of the stand that is below the engine is running downhill.

 

Nailhead, the last thing you want is to drop that engine. You are not being paranoid get it off that stand!

 

over all these years, the only engine I ever dropped was a slant six, on a really light duty stand with only 3 wheels. I learned my lesson from that.

never had a cheap stand that looked like it was going to break, but they sure do flop around a lot! but knowing the difference between deflection, yield, and fracture, flopping around looks scary but isn't really dangerous.

 

Thanks guys, yeah I just ran out and bought a new stand. Ended up getting a similar style from Harbor Freight, but this model has the tube sleeve welded at a higher-than 90 degree angle, unlike the one I was using that had the tube welded at a lower than 90 degree angle.
They had two other fancier models, but the mounting plate on the more expensive ones isn’t removable. I’d prefer to mount the plate to the engine while on the hoist and then just shove it into the sleeve, rather than bolting the plate to the engine while the plate is attached to the stand.
Plus the fancier models that have two feet, I read in reviews that people said you couldn’t get the stand in close enough to the hoist without the feet hitting each other.
So I may not have technically upgraded to a more heavy duty stand, but if when I get it on the new one it isn’t sagging like that, I’ll feel better.

 

A piece of 2x4 cut to the appropriate length and wedged under the front of the engine would be a good idea.

 

Bought these at a couple different garage sales.
One has bushing and turns super smooth.
I’ll add a front crossbar with 2 casters to the front.

Got maybe 80 bucks in both of em

 

Looks like a cheap HF junk stand. Glad you got rid of it before you ended up missing a part of your foot.

Here is my 300 (fully trimmed) on a stand I got out an auction sale of a closed engine builder. It held it level and steady.



The back side of that same stand with a 1000 lbs of Corn Binder diesel V8 hanging off of it. This was it's limit, and I actually ended up buying a new 1,250 lb Napa stand like the style in the last picture to support that motor during it's rebuild.

 

It should tilt the engine to be slightly higher at the front.
If it is a stand that required some ***embly, is it ***embled the wrong way around...???

 

Like was said stick a 2x4 under the front for piece of mind

 

Here's a link to my homemade engine rotator. It definitely saved my back when spinning the motor!
My cheap homemade engine stand rotator

 

At the very least brace the front of the engine before it ends up on the floor or on your foot!

I wonder if an exhaust manifold type bracket like on a Flathead would be a better idea.

that stand scares me.

 

I don’t like how short the front leg is compared to the engine and how it is hanging down…

 

ATD used to make an engine stand with a base low enough to roll under the legs of an engine hoist. I picked one up 30 years ago and love it. It has a 1250# capacity. They pop up at auctions from time to time.

 

Cheap engine stands just need a little crutch to hold stuff up.

 

Glad you did the right thing.
My thought was,
When they go it's quick.

 

This was a kit from 1972, that I welded as the instructions said to do. The main structure is 3/16x2-1/2 square tube, if I remember correctly. The tube for the rotating part is about 5 degrees tilted nose up. It’s had small blocks, big blocks, 6 in a row, 4 bangers, flat 4s, a flathead or 3, even a Towmotor engine. It’s a bit awkward because it only has 1 caster, at the front leg. But it is very stable. And being welded, it is much more rigid than the bolt together type. I had one of those, and only used it for Austin A-series 4 cylinder engines, and still didn’t really trust it. Gave it away when we moved east from Michigan. And the guy still paid too much!

 

Nice job!...I have one of those worm gear winches in my pile of "stuff"...now it's going to have a purpose.

 

Glad you got another stand. I have that same stand with a 235 on it and not sagging any. Looks like yours was a Monday or Friday made.

 

Got it on the new stand, looks much better as far as I’m concerned. You could say I basically traded one HF piece of **** for another HF piece of ****, but at least it’s sitting at slightly higher than 90 degree angle. I feel better now.

 

Looks like the same type of stand, but I notice that the pivot tube is attached at the correct angle on the new one.