I made patterns to build an adapter for my 59AB Flatty to your typical 3 wheel stand (preferred exhaust flange mount). Then the thought occured to me..............since you shouldnt mount it off the bellhousing what about bolting it up to the front of the engine? Anyone ever done this? Is there even enough meat there? I do know the castings are a tad thin. Thoughts?
An immediate problem is cam assembly and other stuff up front...one of the commercial sideplates or a traditional 2-end stand has a lot of advantages for access.
I think that would be a bad place to mount it. Not necessarily cuz it's weak up there - but, because the cam, t/gears, front cover, w/pumps, etc. need to be accessible during a build. Other than the lack-of-strength issue with the rear of the 59A's, the reason for mounting engines on their rear or side is because those areas are the last to get "built" (header, flywheel/flexplate) before removing 'em from the stand. C'ya - RAY
This is my dad's stand. It has arms that bolt to the exhaust flanges on both sides of the block. It's very strong and still allows good access. Neal
I have an ancient homemade stand that consists of two exhaust mounts that spin. Engine goes end over end. Obviously you'd need to set it on the ground to port the exhaust, but everything else can be done on-the-stand. It has a heavy round loop at the base with four wheels in the corners (make sure you get them exactly on the corners of the circle). Then two large uprights with short tube hubs that hinge in half and allow the block with exhaust spindles to be removed via hoist. The thing probably weighs as much as a shortblock itself, but it will last forever and never collapse. Came as part of the "Great Flathead Purchase of '93". That's a story for another time.
I was going to mention the same. How many hours you got in smoothing that bad boy out? Is that the block used in the now famous "Green Monster"?
I am thinking of it as a temp. fix to get it up outta the car and pull the pan for inspection. If you think about it, an engine stand takes up about as much space on the floor whether in use or not. Just ease of moving it around while stored. I am still making a side mount for it, just havent had the time in the last week.
Yes, that is the green engine for my RPU. Who knows how how many hours I have in the grinding...too many for sure. Neal
Well, it paid off Neil. That engine is one of the nicest flatheads I've ever seen. I wish you many years of enjoyment with it!
"I am thinking of it as a temp. fix to get it up outta the car and pull the pan for inspection. " Well, presumably you have a hoist or puller of some sort...so why not just get 4 lengths of angle iron about 4 feet long and bolt them vertically to a couple of water pump and bellhousing bolts at each side? Engine then has four legs up and four legs down, and you just use the hoist to move from one side to the other.
Did not know that you should not bolt up a 59ab off the bellhousing?? Is that also true for a 8ab or 8cm block??
Or why dont I just weld up the damn exhaust flange adaptor for my stand! Sometimes we think too much.
The prob is the 59ab's extended bellousing. They have been known to break I am told. The later engines bolt up and are not an issue.
My first flathead engine stand many years ago was a terrifying juggernaut of warped thinking, poverty, and limited tools...I had the use of a professor's garage to rebuild my engine, in wintertime in a crude building with no real floor...I needed to get that block up and rotatable, I had nothing at all to work with, and had to be able to move the thing by myself. My solution: I bought a sheet of plywood, cut in half. A borrowed sabre saw turned my squares into circles with an oxcart level of precision. I bolted one circle to each end of the 59A, outlined the openings, and cut apertures for front cover and bellhousing areas. I centered the engine on its crank, a big mistake since that gave a very eccentric CG, and had a stand that could rotate my engine to any position fairly easily and simply be chocked to keep it there...it was actually pretty functional, though one revolution took up most of the garage. I was a starving student and could easily carry my whole tool collection at that time...metal and welding might as well have been NASA tech and NASA budget as far as I was concerned.
It was great fun when turning the engine to the top, maybe 200 pounds off balance due to my centering error...had to chock it with one foot while kicking anothe chunk of wood into place, and if I had slipped it would have rolled off down the hill and cut a path right through town and down route 24...I could visualize the headlines: "Newark riots stopped by apparent alien armored vehicle attack..."
I always use the bell bolts on 59A's, never had a problem. One hung from the stand for two years, had junk stacked on it, etc., and never bothered.
I too thought the things looked plenty strong; then the V8 times published a pic of a flathead lying on the floor with half its bellhousing bolted to a stand...that isn't conclusive evidence, but I sure as hell don't want to test the subject after seeing that picture.
That's why I have a nice Cornwell geared head engine stand. A lot of the times I end up doing that stuff alone and it's nice to just crank it over...
Reminds me somehow of walking on the huge wire reels my dad brought home from the power company. Great thinking on 0 budget though. I'll keep that in mind next time I need to move a motor in a truck, I always go for the motor-mounts, but two sheets of plywood would be a hell of a lot easier stand for moving a junker around.
Heres a poor picture of an old V8 stand that was converted to hold a V12. The front bracket is actually a large circle which allows the cam to go in or out without a problem. Its a very handy and stable stand but you dont see them often.
That's the one I was referring to--it's kind of the classic flathead stand, the one that's always around in old tech articles and garage scenes. I'm redoing one that some idiot welded solid.
I have a real cool side mount design that is flame shaped that has performed well ! Joe Abbin has one for his trade show demos that he does, and he likes it very well. I normally don't show pics of it very often, because I end up spending too much time protecting my patent rights on it. Every time some sees it , they think they are going to make there own. The side mount idea works good. Many people have used this style for a long time....
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