I'm gonna build a rotisserie out of 2 engine stands. I know it's been done often. Anybody got any ideas and pics to share? Ole Pork
Go here.------ http://www.ponypics.com/spitfire/rotisserie.html And here--- http://www.autorestorer.com/articles/art106.html
I built a Rotisserie out of two Harbor Freight engine stands. ( the heavy duty 4 wheeled ones...) The car is a late '50s Abarth Zagato. ( Italian Racecar, handbuilt aluminum body on modified Fiat unibody floor & suspension.) The steel floor & boxsections were too rusted for me to start the restoration. So I made a jig off the suspension pick up points off a stock, unrusted, never crashed Fiat 600. And the jig is also part of the Rotisserie.
What kind of car are you gonna put on it? I would think the 2 engine stand method would be good for small, light cars. I may have some drawings here somewhere. I will look for them.
I'm thinking engine stands are too small to build a proper body rotissierie. 51 chevy body is close to 70 inches wide. so if you want to swing 360 degrees you'll need a pretty tall engine stand. I built one and my pivot point is about 45 inches from the floor you need to make it so the body position is adjustable up and down so you can find the balance point of the body, otherwise you will tilt it to a certain point and it will flop all the way upside down and it will be a bitch to get back upright. I was looking at them at the swap meet. guy had a flyer with a drawing of it he was handing out, so i took a flyer, went to my scrap pile and built one that works the same but looks way different for almost free....
Ratfink, I don't need to go 360. If I can go 60 deg. from horizontal, I would be happy. Can you show some pics. and info on the one you made? I'd be grateful as hell, bro......Ole Pork
i built one out of 2 VW engine stands i had laying around, i lengthend the legs and made them a little taller, to handle the rotation and it worked really well. i tied the 2 stands together with a piece of steel tubing and it rolled around nice. ive did a shoebox and the one pictured is a 49 merc. stripped bodies arent that heavy just okward. i also made adapting plates to tack to the body in the front and back to hold the car about center so it wasnt to top heavy and alot easier than trying to bolt it up somewhere to the body
Yeah, I agree. But a Abarth Zagato weighs about 1100Lb complete, ready to run. I bet what I have there weighs less than a SBC Engine...
most engine stands have narrow footprints, make exstensions like a cherry picker has, on mine i welded them on but left them just barely shy of the ground so i could still roll the stands and they wouldnt drag. cheap and easy. V8 stands will work great with a few modifications.one thing nice about the VW stands was all the wheels piveted, very manuverable.
I built mine from 2 harbour freight 1 ton cherry pickers.($99.00 with a coupon) I used the extended boom as the spreader bar that attaches to the car and a slip fit steel house jack post (Home Depot)as the basis for the swivel head. they can be disassembled and go back to a cherry picker easily. I also used a 8 ft. 2x6 bolted to the back crossmember as an outrigger to protect against tipping but after using it that wouldn't be an issue, VERY STABLE!
Sorry, I don't have any pics - but something to bear in mind with engine stands is the angle of the "head". With a stand at each end of your frame/body/etc., they will "fight" each other and resist rotation. Did I 'splain that right? -Dave
Made a set for my Model A frame. Worked very well. Make sure to get the 4 wheeled ones (one of mine wasn't). Take a pie cut out of the front to level the head, so they don't fight another. Left the front a little loose at the frame to help it rotate.
Here's mine. 6' wide, 5" high with plenty of adjustments. The ends are RHS, 4"x4"x 1/4". Spigot is 4" x 1/4" wall thickness with smaller OD internal. Last thing I wanted was a flimsy engine stand collapsing on me with a car on it. I just improved on a commercially available one and only need to add the hydraulic rams before I use it. My '46 Olds weight 3K+ lbs.
Dual engine stands are fine for small stuff, but for full size car bodies, something stronger and safer is needed. I built my own rotisserie for my '62 Monterey. A very big heavy body that I would not trust on 2 (especially HF) engine stands. I have about $500 (2008 Dollars) and a weekend with the chop saw and welder into it, all new tubing, jacks, and casters. I can spin that big body 360 deg. easily by myself. I drew the plans up in CAD so I have drawings, PM me if you are interested in them.
This is for TOOMANYFORDS, got any pictures? I was thinking of doing the exact same thing but the way I was thinking of building it would not let me go back to cherry picker mode. Would love to see how you did it. I have the coupon for the $99 engine hoists. I am building a 1968 El Camino and about to lift the body off the frame. Thanks in advance... Tom
toomanyfords wanted pics of my cherry picker rotissierie so here is one end. I would change a few things if I was to build again. I would try to use the picker ram somehow to lift the car into position. i now use another picker to lift the front and back. I would also make the swivel head adjustable so I could change the center of gravity. when the car was a bare shell it could be rolled with one hand but now with the suspension and axle in place it's too bottom heavy. all the materials I used were castoff junk I had laying around except the top swivel tube. it is an cheep adjustable steel house jack post you can get at Menards or home depot. (one tube slips inside the other) to use as a picker all i have to do is remove the swivel and reinstall the ram and boom. any questions please PM me
Here is a variation on the rotisserie that prevents binding while rotating the frame. A trip to my local Ace Hardware yielded enough parts to make a joint that allows rotation when the engine stands have the rotator sleeve at an incline. I didn't want to cut the posts to make them level, especially on the one I borrowed! I used 1" pipe fittings. Just leave the fittings just loose enough to rotate a bit. The rest is just adapters.
Cool Idea, but one further suggestion. Wouldn't you be better off with 2 x 3 wheeled engine stands ,plus a piece of square tubing that slips inside the two linking the bottoms together so they wont try to spread apart with a heavier load.
I made mine out of purchased casters and used lumber. Guys were making rotisseries out of 2" square tube "in order to be strong enough" to hold a small car and I thought I'd make a statement. In action: I kept it on the rotisserie for about a year, it was strong enough to roll in and out of the garage. The only problem: I screwed up the CG, it was hard to rotate and REALLY liked the turned turtle position. Bill
B Blue That is inovative and you proved it could be done with wood. I like it and never I would have thougth of using the wood myself. That what is greet about the HAMB. So much knowlege, great ways of doing things in alternative inexspensive ways.