Anyone buy a new engine stand lately? I have a couple of engines I'm going to start on and going to upgrade the HF 3 stick stand.seen some from AXE manufacturing.Or anyone build their own? I would love to have a couple K.R. Wilson stands but don't know too much about them except they are cool cast iron pieces and pricey if you can find one.
The only engine stand I have ever owned was made by Lakewood Industries, mid eighties rated at 800 #. It is a 4 wheel model I have had FE's, 385's, a 454, and many flatheads on it and never a whimper. If you can find one I would recommend it.
i see used engine stands on CL eveyday, cheap... i picked up a cherry picker, leveler, and engine stand for $100 last year...
I have four stands ( couple 4 wheelers from HF and a couple 3 wheelers from Napa, never paid over $50 for any of them, nor had any trouble even though I regularly mount BBCs on them. I've made my own in the past too but generally spent about the same in materials.
KRW stands were made for Ford dealers and service garages. They also made a full line of rearend stands, body tools, and service tools for Fords from the Model T through at least the 50s. Stands consisted of the stand tower with a three bolt bottom flange, an optional roller base, a tray for keeping lifters, valves etc. in order, and engine adapters which mounted through the top of the stand and were secured by a large wingnut and a spring-loaded arm which engaged a slotted flange for turning the engine. Engines were mounted to the adapters on the side so the engine turned over on a front back axis rather than side to side as modern stands. Adapters were available for Model T, Model A/Model B 4 cylinders, 32-53 full size flathead V8s, 37-40 V8-60 small V8s, 41-51 flathead inline sixes, and the Y-block V8s. There were probably adapters for tractor engines, 40-41 4 cyl. as well as the big Lincoln flathead V12s and later V8s. The parts trays were also made for the various 4-6-8-12 engines, many choices. They are very heavy and do their job very well. They are pretty hard to find and pretty enpensive when you find them but their weight makes them more of a collector of tools piece than a home garage use piece. At Specialized Auto Parts in Houston in the 70s-80s we had many of these stands in our showrrom/counter area with early Ford engines with OHV, OHC, F-head 4 and V8 conversions mounted on them.
all i can say is i bought a HF one this year and hate it.if all you need it for is to hold the engine its fine,but if you are going to build it they suck.i have the middle one{1000 lb}it takes everything you got just to turn the engine over.i had my friend help me spin it to put the pan on and then back around.i really thought is was going to flip-or bend when i was doing it.i have two old ones from?and next time ill take one of the complete motors off one of them and build the next engine on one of them!!!
We have probably 8 or 10 of the HF ones and while they aren't SnapOn quality they do what an engine stand is supposed to do. The secret to getting them to spin over easily with engine weight on them is to put some wheel bearing grease on the part that turns inside the top tube. That makes a huge difference. Even with a BBC or BBF on them they turn over like butter once you grease that tube. Don't just put a dab of grease on it, coat the entire tube pretty well. The other problem with them is that when you spin them over the holes don't line up anymore so you can push the pin in. I just take a flat bladed screw driver and realign the hole then put the pin in place. The four wheeled one HF sells is WAY better than the 3 wheeled model, both in strength, rolling ease, and stability. Don
Hotrod just did an article on HF stands- the cheapie version took 2200 lbs of downward pressure before it failed and the more expensive ones did even better.
We build some of the best engine stands I've ever seen right here at the school. Our standard 3pt will hold an iron big block without any problems, and the XH 4 leg version will take a 5.9 Cummins. These aren't huge stands, either. Just well thought out...
I have 1 home built and 2 others the home built one works best .the other two just hold motors till I am ready for them. if you build your own dont skimp on wheels .I used steel wheels off an old floor jack.
Dammit Mac, you beat me to it! You comlng down to Reynolds to join us at the Nostalgia Drags next Sat? Dave
A buddy bolted a 454 to cheapy three wheeled engine stand late one day, came out the next day and the crank pully was touching the floor. After two hours of heat and bend, and welding on six pounds more steel, it worked.
I have twelve, some three wheelers and some four, all under $50.00. I haven't had any trouble with bbc, but I do use ones that "looked" stronger.
The only one that I ever bent was one that had a BBC on it and I was pushing it across our parking lot. The front wheel caught in a crack in the pavement and everything came to a screeching halt. The arms that bolt to the bellhousing bent and the engine was pointing down at a 45 degree angle. So now I only play with small blocks. Don
I have the HF three wheel model it did what it was supposed to do, If I was to replace I would definatly go with the four wheel and as Don stated grease the shaft that goes into stand and rotating will be better.
A little grease helps a lot of things in a lot of situations!!!!!!!!! The only problem with the 4 wheel and/or dual lower arms is tripping over the damn things when your mind is own whatever it is on the other side that yo need to do. Dave
do a google for "geared engine stand" you'll get lots of links. if/when i need another engine stand that is the direction i'll be looking later jim
I Googled "geared engine stand IDEAS" and got plenty of hits including this: See post number 665 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235784&page=34
My experience, most are junk. Chinese thin steel and bad welds. End up bracing them together (especially if big blocks are involved) and they still crater. I made one my own way, being a welder. Used 2 x 3 x 3/16 for u-shaped base, 2 x 4 x 1/4 backbone, couple pieces of 3/8 plate, and 2 different diameters of 1/4 pipe and GOOD ball bearing casters.
I've got the HF 4 wheel and it worked fine on my BBC 427 during my rebuild once I greased the pivot point. I've got some cheap storage stands that I use if I'm not going to turn the engine or I want to just keep them mobile until I install them. They're really handy and under $25. at the swap meets.
inlinr6, if you're going to put a six cyl on one of those stands, you might think about mounting it sideways. The later chevy six has a three bolt side mount that you could build an adapter for. It keeps the engine weight close in to your upright support, and can pivot for working on easily. Someone had posted a pic of this in the 12 Port News a few years back. Later, Kinky6
don't mean to rob the post but how about engine cradles? Has anyone used these for storage or working on an engine. If so do they make engine cradles for eraly Hemis, or flatheads?
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