OK, you guys are a creative bunch. I'm wanting to build an engine run stand for Chevy V8's. Simple enough right? Sure, I can buy one, but all the commercially available ones seem HUGE and run from $800-1500. The one engine in particular I have in mind is already sitting on a low rise dolly that mounts to the motor mounts and bellhousing flange. I have a radiator and gauges, I can come up with a fuel source and a battery. I did some searching already and most everything I saw looked pretty sketchy. What have you guys built? Devin
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/7651289d-25ec-4126-98ae-91a61a624120.582600/ trying to make a picture work
Yes, that's the one I'm specifically concerned with, including the dolly it's on. Although I'd like to be able to use it for other engines since my son has a bad habit of blowing them up drag racing. Devin
I just used my engine with 2x4’s legs off the engine mounts. Garden hose with ball valve for cooling, an oil gauge and toggle switch’s laying around the garage.
I built this one a couple years ago, but with the price of steel, gauges, rad, etc. that $800 price for a pre assembled unit might start to look pretty good.
I made one from an engine stand. Just cobbled together from scraps I had laying around. It wasn't meant to be a permanent run stand, but it worked surprisingly well! Used it for my Olds engine and my big block Chevy
One here for $550..last time I built my own, about 15yrs ago., I spent that same amount then. Mobile Engine Motor Testing Test Station Gauge Meters Stand | eBay
I don't have any photos of it but if you poke around my YouTube page there are a few videos of mine in action. I built it mainly to break in SBCs. I could whip up mounts for other engines if needed. I tried to keep my total under $275 to $300 including ebay radiator, parts store gauges and ignition switch.
I wish I could help with a budget option, but I realized years ago that a engine run stand would be a good investment so I purchased one from Easy-Run.com about 5 yrs ago. Sure makes it a breeze for getting motors broken in, especially on Mopars since you have to have the trans connected to hook up the starter. I see on their website that the same stand now costs $3300 and that's a bit more than what I paid back then, but still a good investment if you build motors or want to see if a motor you bought it a good runner as-is before having to tear it down for machining. https://easy-run.com/product/54-pro-series/ Perhaps you can at least take inspiration from how they have things laid out and build something similar. I know with the weight of a BBC, I'd want a pretty sturdy frame to avoid twisting something from the torque. ~Peter
My friend built one that uses a bellhousing from an unknown year Chevy Monza, that fits both Chevy and BOP engines. It has come in handy lately, since another friend of ours has finally broken the SBC mold, and purchased a Pontiac.
I don't like the Chinese motor dollies, I've got one under a 289 that thinks it needs to self destruct. I've only moved it one time after setting the motor on it and before I was able to do the ten feet needed I had to get the welder out.
I built mine a little higher than most. I can stand up straight and work on an engine. It will accommodate almost any engine, V8 or V6 configuration, inline 4's and 6's. Everything adjusts and I can use the same motor mounts for Chevies or Flatheads. Radiator mount adjusts for fan height and clearance. Almost all my material was surplus from gate and fence jobs we've done so my only real expense was cutting wheels and welding rod. If I could figure out how to download a video I made with a running flathead, I'd put it on here.
Here is one I cobbled up years ago. Object was to use what I had and make it as generic as possible. Basically at the rear, The idea was to have a "dash panel" and use a lawn mower throttle lever to control speed. A starter switch and a cut-off. The support holding the dash also has a tray to support the battery and if a transmisson is on the engine, it just protrudes thru the frame supporting the dash. Just forward of that is another frame that supports the rear of virtually any type motor. It has two bars that hang down and are moveable due to a lot of holes in them. Just loosely bolt them to where the transmission would mount, and insert bolts in the other end wherever they line up on the arch support. Fits any pattern. OH, look closely and you will see that the arch support slides along the bottom frame rails to accomodate any length engine. Then there is a sliding support under the engine to mount motor mounts. Probably should use box tubing for uprights and then slide the mount adapters on them. (Hindsight) Last is the radiator support. Its adjustable as well as removable so you can work on the front of the engine and install a cam or water pump, or get your correct pulley set up aligned.
For Mopars, you can use this plate rather than adding the entire bell housing. They're usually found on eBay for roughly $25.
I bought this restaurant table for 35 bucks a while ago and am planning to turn it into the engine stand in the second picture, Wish me luck.
I had several of them in the High school shop that I taught in that looked real similar to what Blake and some of the others showed. Basically a table without a top with 4 inch casters on it, brackets for a radiator at the front, a battery holder, gas tank (1 gallon can) and a simple dash board for a Temp and oil pressure gauge with some of them having an ammeter or volt meter. They had various engines in them that we had rebuilt in class except the 289 Ford that Ford had donated a few years before. They replaced three subframes with the engines in them that had been cut off donor cars and had the enigne and maybe the trans from te donor car, Those just took too much space and were hard to get the students around to do certain hands on procedures. When we weren't using them for class we could roll them all over in the corner side by side and not take much space even though we had a large shop with 26 bays. The stand doesn't have to be any certain size as long as the engine fits and preferrably the exhaust can be routed down and out the back. It doesn't have to be of any specific material except it needs to be strong enough to hold the engine safely especially when you are moving it around. I don't like bending over to work on something so it should put the engine at a comfortable height to work on it at.
I am getting ready to build none. My plan is to buy a used cherry picker. plenty of metal, a set of wheels ,and cheap to buy used. cut it up and start welding.I also get a spare lift cylinder and a few more pieces if I am a good shopper.I have a chevy and a ford cradle that I will use for the mount. something else to trip over lol
My "run stand" is similar to what someone else posted earlier. I used one of my engine stands, added a radiator on a separate stand that was attached to the engine stand just to make it stay put, added a temp and oil pressure gauge, switch and done. I figure why have another thing sitting around that might not get used very often and save the cost of materials to build a dedicated stand. Lynn
Good ideas guys, keep them coming. Why not drop it in the car? Sold it. not sure what I'm going to do with this engine, but I'll never get a chance to build another like it. Devin
One tip I learned from building mine, be sure the hoist can reach over and get the engine. Mine is to wide for the hoist so I have to use an I-beam and chain hoist to mount the motors. Also use the biggest casters you can find.
I worked with a guy who would start up engines while hanging from a chain hoist. It was a dealership and once in a while we would put a used engine in a used car. Old Chester would make sure they would run before dropping one in. They dance around pretty good on a chain hoist.
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