Technical Starting engine on stand.

What's a good checklist for being able to to run an Engine on a stand for a good 5mins max. This is my 1st engine I will be transplanting/inspecting/rebuilding.

And before I jump the gun because I don't see me starting it for a while after I inspect it. What are some good test I can run on an Engine while on a stand fully dressed from oil pan to carb with fluids in it? For example could a proper compression test be preformed?

So just to be clear as for me I don't mind using a jug instead of a radiator? So what else will I need, Trigger Starter, used car battery???

Thanks a lot for reading this post.
Engine is a V8 Big Block Cadillac.

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fuel, battery and cables, jumper wire to power ignition, screwdriver to short solenoid S terminal to battery terminal. That's all you really need. 5 minutes usually won't get it too hot to hurt anything, even without water in it. But I would not start an engine on a normal engine stand that is designed for rebuilding engines on. I'd do it on a dolly so the engine is very well supported and can't fall over.

At the junkyard 35 years ago, we used to start them on a dolly, get them warmed up, and run a compression test. The wore out engines would usually still be smoking some out the exhaust when the got warm, the good ones would clean up quickly.

 

If you were closer i'd lend ja one (picture of 2 in the back storage pile)... easy to build out of left over's ---->

.

 

few (2)off the net....

 

Keep a fire extinguisher handy and your fuel can away from potential sparks!

 

No need to show my wooden hillbilly run stand, but a guy was making nifty little dollies out of shopping carts. Fuel wire, remote start button and a hot battery. It'll run sitting on the dirt.

 

Can you fabricate?...i/e do you have a welders, and way to cut tubing/etc?

I've made several run stands,with and engine hanging off the engine stand, then set them do solid to fire them off, not sure I'm hip to the idea of firing it off a stand with a few 2x4's, like the guy with the BBC...\

But, like mentioned above, I have done the JY thing, setting the engine in a tire and firing it off, but after 35+years, I think I've chosen a better route.

 

Thanks for the offer Henry.

Shopping cart huh? That sounds interesting. When the Engine is running on a stand that is of metal like a ordinary stand or shopping cart just for example will then that metal be conductive like a chassis in real car?

I can't fabricate with metal yet.

Thanks for all the answers, looks like as far as the stand goes with the engine running it's going to be a " whatever is laying around" type of things since there's so many cool and good ways to get that done. thank you, could have one real bad on the building stand with a big block.

Kind of stuck in the point where I don't know if I should

1.
start breaking this engine to inspect the internals, clearances, & condition of the motor to see if I can put it back together and go or take it to the machine shop and start back from there..

OR..
2.
Get it running first, just to see where the overall condition of the engine is.
Thanks



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If you're not real familiar with the insides of old worn engines, you might or might not be able to "tell what it needs" by just taking it apart and inspecting. If it looks like it was leaking oil, which most old engines do, it probably needs some new seals/gaskets, no matter what. I would probably take some parts off and inspect, and then also think about what I want it to be when it's done. If you don't need it to last 100,000 miles, then you can get away with not spending so much money on it. If you need everything to be perfect, then make sure you have a few thousand bucks saved up, take it apart, and get to work.

But if you can figure out how to get it running enough to see if it smokes or rattles, then it might help you decide your next move.

 

I appreciate that.

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When I was teaching auto mechanics I had the AG welding shop make me some stands out of heavy angle iron that were basically a 2 ft high table with no top. we made mounts for what ever engine we had in the stand an had a couple of brackets for a radiator on the "front" an a very basic instrument panel with an ignition switch, mechanical oil pressure and temp gauges. About the only other thing on them was a secure place for the battery to sit. They all had casters on them so they could be rolled over out of the way when they weren't being used.
A test stand doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive to work. It is probably best if it is on the low budget side so you don't worry too much about sticking it out back somewhere if you aren't using it for a long time.

I've started and run a number of engines hanging from a chain hoist and that shakes up the guys who think you have to have an alternator or generator and all the stuff hooked up for an engine to run and if your are real cheap an old tire and a couple of boards works pretty good for a quick fire up to see if it runs.

 

Thanks a lot. That's good to hear.
Can you tell me why the engine will still run with no alternator? I imagine the battery would be good just for a couple cranks then? And then a recharge?

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Recommend a specific class?

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The ABC ones are usually fine for that but I'd get one of the next size up ones from the little ones. I have one mounted on my welding cart.

On the gas jug I just use a small plastic gas can, 1/2 gallon or so that I found one day. Most of the time I only put a pint or so gas in it. On the school test engines we had metal gallon paint thinner cans with fuel line soldered into them. That shop was huge being about 60x100 and we had plenty of room around us when we were using them. There were plenty of fire extinguishers in the shop but some of the kids figured out they could chill a can of pop with the big CO2 ones so I had to keep a close eye on those.

 

a battery will run an engine for quite a while without an alternator. The ignition system doesn't take much current, but the starter does. You can crank an engine quite a while before it will run down a good, fully charged battery.

 

Cool, that good to know. When the bad engines would smoke over what color was it and smell. Is that indication of bad rings or bad valves?

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I need to do a compression test but I've never done one on a engine out side of a Car.

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I went full bore when I rebuilt my 392 ten plus years ago.
Was changing from carbs to injection, so i set it up with high and low pressure fuel systems. my biggest mistake was not setting it up with a muffler. It was too loud to concentrate while trying to tune the injection. Was able to correct some water leaks and do a 30 minute break in run, before converting to injection.





the more complete you make the setup the longer you can run it, the more valuable tuning and trouble shooting can be completed. Work can be deferred until the motor is in the car, but access, in my case , was many times more difficult once the motor was installed.

 

While my engine was running on a stand, I didn't have the gen/alt hooked up. I would run my engine for 30 mins at a time and never had a problem with the battery running down. I would bump the starter with by touching the cable to the pos bat post and then would lay it to the side. Kept the ground on the neg post and the ign wire to the coil on the pos post. (with a radiator of course)

 

Don't get shocked

 

Was that the distributor biting him?

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They are the same as if it was in thecar.,

 

Thanks Lippy

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The smoke thing....blue smoke is oil burning, white smoke is coolant (which only shows up if you have coolant in the engine!), black smoke is a rich fuel mixture.

Oil burning is usually due to worn rings, but worn/missing valve stem seals will also cause it, but usually only when you start the engine, after sitting for a while.

 

I have less than 50 bucks in this engine run in stand. Harbor freight casters. Scrap metal from my steel barrel. Flea market gauges.

 

PUT MUFFLERS ON IT ! You need to be able to hear it run.

 

I wouldn't waste much time making a one time only 472 Cad stand.
Like Jim said, start it on the floor. Bolt a trans to it to stabilize it. Put a couple of chunks of exhaust on it so you can hear the engine. It will run better that way anyway.
Put it in front of garage, exh. facing out. Tie a half gallon of gas to the garage door handle. Siphon it down with a clear 3/8" hose from the Ace Place to a fitting on the carb.
Take the thermostat out and run a trickle of water through it from a garden hose.
DO NOT bring a battery and cables anywhere near it until you get gas to fill the carb. without flooding.
Run a wire to coil + from battery. Jump the starter and let it run for a while till warm. Shut it off . Let it sit for a while...Start it again. As stated , blue smoke that clears up, ...valve seals. Not the end of the world.
Oh, you might want to clean the plugs on a wire wheel first. Remove and plug any loose vacuum hoses.

 

Thanks Mark. Will the cold water out the hose be able to crack a Block?

I see most engines on stands being run with just headers/exhaust manifolds. So is it headers/exhaust manifolds or headers + mufflers like the picture bellow

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Doesn't matter for your purposes. Just find some pieces from a muffler shop. You want some back pressure and the noise away from the motor.
Just fill the engine ,best you can , and start a trickle through it .You want it to warm up some.
Also, screw a mechanical oil pressure gauge on it where the electrical sender was.

 

you're getting pretty fancy, there.

The most fun, is to run it without exhaust manifolds.

but the whole muffler thing is a good idea, if you want to make the effort.