I'm heading down to NJ to pick up a '50 Merc Flathead for my '35 Ford Pickup. Could someone tell me an easy way to make a wood engine cradle for the pickup so nothing gets damaged coming back home? I figure I'm not the first one with this issue. Thanks! Brian
Years ago I bought a crate motor from Chevy, and it was sitting on a couple 2x8s (or something similar) upright under each oil pan rail, then another across each end. I've made several engine cradles this way over the years. If you dont have the engine yet, or another similar engine, it's not so easy to get the size right.
Why not? If you strap it to a standard 40" x 48" pallet, the 48" section will tuck right between the bed wheel wells. You can tie the pallet off to all 4 corners of the bed-it's not going anywhere. You can lift it in/out of the bed as one unit. If it's raining, slide a 40 gallon trash liner over the engine and give it a couple of wraps of duct tape.
Bring some extra lumber to screw to the pallet to support the engine from rolling around, and you'll be fine.
I think the biggest issue is that its hard to make an engine cradle when you don't have the engine to work around. I'm getting ready to make one myself, and the only way to do it decently is to have the engine on hand or borrow one from a buddy. Not sure why you don't want to just use an old tire, because they work well, cost nothing, and fit any motor. You can usually find one discarded somewhere if you don't have one. I'm building one to hold an engine that I want to sit on a work table so I can moch up all the pulleys and stuff. I expect to be doing some machining in order to get everything to fit properly. It will sit at one end of the bench and allow the face of the engine to stick slightly off the end of the table. Then I'll save it for some future engine storage and maybe transport...........but for picking up an engine its pretty hard to rule out using an old tire (IMHO).
I use the same as @squirrel suggested, a simple wood “box” with the appropriate lumber on edge under the pan rails and across each end that extend past the sides for stability and tie it down.
When I was young I hauled lots of engines around sitting on a tire in the bed of my pickup...and even more times, while working at the junkyard, I stuck a tire under a used engine that we were loading into a customer's truck.
Just hauled this from NM to OK the traditional way...on a tire. I did use ratchet straps and a tire that were newer than 1965 though.
That is how I have done it for over 50 years. ^^^^^^^^ @Joe Blow this will make ya laugh. Until about 5 years ago I had a tire and a pair of ratchet straps that got borrowed back around 2004. I told the guy to keep em incase he ever bought another engine. He was headed for Wisconsin. They made a trip around the country and landed back in the bed of my truck the following year at the HAMB Drags. I gave them to someone else and they went to the east coast. The next time they came home a guy was p***ing through from Calif. I used them a few times myself in between them taking a trip to gawd knows where. About 5 years ago I finally gave the tire to a close friend, and told him that he needed to keep the tire for himself. I have the ratchet straps still but the are thread bare and have become wall hangers. I always have a motor haulin tire.
Good to know. You didn't mention it and my mind reading abilities have faded as I get older....thus my response.
To expand on "old tire and ratchet straps", use multiple tires on the bed floor wedged in to help prevent movement. Use heavy duty, high quality ratchet straps on good anchor points in multiple locations. Drain the oil pan, remove the carbs, the distributor and anything fragile. I've hauled a bunch of engines in this manner on highways and byways at speed....and never an issue, FWIW.
Had a guy show up to buy an engine one time ........young guy.....told me he was an engineer. He planned to put the engine in the center of the bed and restrain it with 4 bungee cords. I gave him an old tire and some rope I had. I guess thats considered "p***in it forward"
I've got 4 17 inch low profile ties that came off my daughter's HHR that would work great for that. I don't have four engines to get rid of though. On the other hand a pair of 2x8 boards about the length of the pan, a couple of 2 x 4 pieces long enough to to go aross the ends and a couple of 2X ? about 2 ft long, a baggie of 3 inch wood screws with the driver bit and a stong running cordless drill or driver and you have an instant engine holder within five minutes of time after measuring the pan. Tires are the traditional way though
I like your idea....just remember to bring a sawzall or something to make notches in the lumber where needed.
The number of engines I have hauled in the back of a truck will never be divulged. For me, a tire has proved to work best.
I thought that using an old tire was the preferred method. It always worked for me. No slip and slide to worry about.
I guess if the engine shown on post 8 is the one being hauled back, then you might want to wrap it in a couple of blankets and use a couple of small straps to hold the blankets before sitting it on a wide tire. Unless you have a custom made frame that allws you to bolt the engine in place using existing engine holes, anything thats hard and just has the engine sitting on/in it is going to rub and chip the paint.
I have one of those steel carts like this one on line That I took the casters off and made it a bed block hauler. Mine has uprights that are adjustable for multiple size blocks and the pan rail sits on the top of the arms. Hard to make out but this is in my old parts getter truck. I kept sandbags in the back to weight it down in the winter and it was a 1 wheel drive SWB chevy. They came in handy for bracing stuff like welding bottles, and this engine stand. A couple ratchet straps, one pulling it forward and one pulling it back. Looks better than a tire and it doesn't smudge the paint on my oil pan.
I bought the speedway one for a SBC, folds down, fits as intended. Only downside, is the grade-0 bolts it came with. Was like 60 bucks to my door (through Amazon). Thing is, I hate having old tires around. Plus lugging then into the truck, etc. the stand weighs like maybe 10-15 pounds if that. Easy to carry and store. I’d bet they have one for a FHV8 as well.
I built a wooden dolly for a 460, and stored the engine on it for years before I put it on an engine stand… it’s still on the stand ten years later. Just brought a 350 and whatever mumble jumble GM called their overdrive automatic. I did it the traditional way, on a tire from the 65 Falcon that developed a bubble and exploded while the car was waiting its turn. By jamming the engine /trans in the corner of the box I got by with one strap for the 15 mile trip home. Once home, I ordered one of the little tubular dolly’s that you used to get for $25. Guess what. They run from ~$50 to over $100 now.
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