Engine Stand for X1/9 1300?

RZSR X

RZSR X

True Classic
My 1300 engine which has been at the race shop for the last 10 months is now finished!

But of course my X is not ready for the installation so is there an engine stand that fellow forum members use and recommend?

The 1300 is fully assembled from the IDF's to the pan including the transmission.
 
When Denny, 7982X, shipped me a 1500 a while back, he made a stand for the motor to sit on inside the crate:

79EngineBase,02.jpg


My original plan was to get a more conventional stand, but after I got Denny's creation on top of my work bench with the motor, I could see it had some advantages. Since I did not need to do anything on the bottom end that would require flipping the motor over, a conventional stand offered little advantage. When I did need to get in there, I just hoisted the motor up a bit, and slid the stand out of the way.

One of the things I wanted to do was thoroughly inspect the motor before building it up and putting it in the car since neither of us knew the detailed history of the motor other than the mileage on the car it came out of and that it was running fine when removed. After visual inspection of the top and bottom end, I wanted to do a compression test. This required a starter motor which required a transaxle. I make some mods to Denny's design so that the transaxle could be mounted and the starter installed.

After a successful compression test, I built up the motor. It then became clear that I could easily turn this contraption into an engine run stand and test the new engine before installation:

Completed engine-transaxle on bench - Right - 2018_01_01.jpg


Here is a short video of the thing in operation: http://www.leahlubin.com/archive/1500_First_Start_2018_01_11.mp4

The other convenient feature of this stand is that I just lowered the whole thing on to a dolly, rolled it under the car, hoisted the motor up, and it was in.
 
RZSR X said:
The 1300 is fully assembled from the IDF's to the pan including the transmission.
Click to expand...
I believe you are asking about a stand to secure the engine AND transmission as a unit? A typical engine stand won't allow that. Seems like it will have to be a cradle of some sort. Someone here cut the rear section off a trashed X body to use as a mock-up stand. And someone else made a engine testing stand (to run it on) from steel angle, etc, but I don't recall if the trans also fit on it. Don said he got his wooden one to do that (previous post). Don, do you happen to have more pictures of it after the mods and without the engine on it?

Can you fabricate something like this, but custom fit for the X's mounting points:
imagejpg_869599e3-b0bf-4346-9bf4-301b1653234a_300x.jpg
 
Your question about a engine/trans stand bring up another question I've been considering. What are some ideas for storing extra engines and transmissions (not joined together) that won't take up a lot of room? Preferably something that can hold/stack two or three units safely and still allow access to retrieve them when needed. Hope I haven't gone too far off topic.
 
Don's comments about putting his wooden cradle on a dolly also reminds me of using a cheap furniture dolly. I have one with a piece of plywood screwed to the top that I have put a complete engine and trans assembly on and wheeled around the shop. Even with just a ratchet strap across the top it is fairly stable. But if you added a couple pieces of wood to help support it similar to what Don has, then it would be very stable. Might even make the supports match the stock mounting points (like the lower mount), along the lines of the steel Honda cradle I showed in my earlier post.

I'm talking about one of these, really cheap at places like Harbor Freight, and holds the weight surprisingly well:
image_18681.jpg
 
Yup, a simple wood cradle on a move dolley is the best way to "store" a motor and takes up the least amount of space, If you design it right you can even leave the flywheel/clutch attached.
 
I missed the part about the transmission being attached already.:rolleyes: The HF moving dollies work well. I used the small HF dolly when I was installing my drive line years ago. I used the small dolly for the engine, since I had to attach the trans. Once assembled, I left the small dolly on the engine and put one of my wheel dollies under the trans.
IM003077.JPG engine behind 78.JPG
The larger version Dr Jeff shows would certainly be better if the unit will be out of the car for a long time. I recall the two dollies had cooperation issues when it came to rolling in a straight line.
 
Looks like 2 different size dollies would be an inexpensive solution.

Jim - I was looking at buying the exact same engine hoist (although in red and from Northern) to drop the lump in from above since it is completely assembled and won't slide in under the wheel well. How do you like the hoist?
 
RZSR X said:
Looks like 2 different size dollies would be an inexpensive solution.

Jim - I was looking at buying the exact same engine hoist (although in red and from Northern) to drop the lump in from above since it is completely assembled and won't slide in under the wheel well. How do you like the hoist?
Click to expand...

The hoist works fine. I even use it for other odd tasks like pulling fence posts. :)

When I put my drive line in, I used the hoist to lift the rear of the car high enough to slide the unit underneath thru the wheel well. Then I lowered the car back onto the jack stands and lifted the engine into place. Going over the top just seemed like it would entail more precision than I wanted to attempt.

It looks like Northern Tools only offers a hoist that includes the load leveler. Maybe I am just not searching their site correctly. Anyway... I found the HF leveler very useful for tweaking the position of the engine as I tried to maneuver it into place during the lift.

Good luck and be patient! It could go easy or you could be cursing for hours. :)
 
JimD said:
I recall the two dollies had cooperation issues when it came to rolling in a straight line.
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Good point; the larger furniture dolly will not fit far enough between the legs of my hoist/cherry picker. The smaller one will, but it is too small to carry the engine and trans together (securely). So for around the shop the larger one will be better, but for installation a pair of smaller ones is better.
I would add some supports to keep the engine sitting upright. Having it tip over won't be good for you or it.
 
Straying off topic a bit again. If I want to store three or four trans and two or three engines/blocks. These dollys will only hold one unit safely on each, so are not ideal as far as floor space (having a lot of them sitting next to each other). I'd like to stack the components on top of one another some how. Perhaps two or three trans, or two blocks, etc. Any ideas how to make a better storage rack? One that allows access to retrieve any one of them without having to shuffle the whole deck?
 
Once I got done putting the 1500 in the car, I took the engine stand and added a couple of wheels and a caster to it. Now it allows me to easily move the old 1300 to a corner in the basement:

Fiat SOHC Mobile Engine Stand with 1300 block.jpg
 
Thanks Don. I'm still fishing for ideas to store my stuff and might use wood for the cost and ease of fabrication.

This will hold the engine straight vertical, not slanted? That should be more stable (from tipping).
 
When it comes to the lifts i'm confused on the lift range. The 2 ton HF Pittsburgh one says a boom height range of 73-5/8 in to 89 in. https://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-capacity-foldable-shop-crane-69514.html While the Northern 2 ton says 1 in to 82.5 in. lift range. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200640934_200640934

I can understand how 73" to 89" could possibly work. I will need to lift the engine off the floor and up and into the bay with the X sitting on jack stands. So does the top of the motor need to be close to the 73" on the Pittsburgh? Or is the Northern lift miss represented?
 
Not sure the answer to your question. But to lift the engine over the top of a X on jack stands you will need to go VERY high up. That is why everyone goes from underneath. I realize this does not help, sorry.
 
RZSR X said:
When it comes to the lifts i'm confused on the lift range. The 2 ton HF Pittsburgh one says a boom height range of 73-5/8 in to 89 in. https://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-capacity-foldable-shop-crane-69514.html While the Northern 2 ton says 1 in to 82.5 in. lift range. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200640934_200640934

I can understand how 73" to 89" could possibly work. I will need to lift the engine off the floor and up and into the bay with the X sitting on jack stands. So does the top of the motor need to be close to the 73" on the Pittsburgh? Or is the Northern lift miss represented?
Click to expand...
I think the HFT spec may be the range of maximum boom height depending on what length you have it set to. I've used mine to pick the engine up off the floor with the hook lowered to just above the cam box, but it should go down to the floor. In fact, mine is folded up now for minimum footprint and the boom at minimum length is folded down to near floor level.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Thanks Don. I'm still fishing for ideas to store my stuff and might use wood for the cost and ease of fabrication.

This will hold the engine straight vertical, not slanted? That should be more stable (from tipping).
Click to expand...
If you have the right size caster, it would be vertical. I had a big old one lying around giving it a slight rake. It is still quite stable. In fact, I now have the head and cam box on it and you would really have to work to knock it over.
 
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