Engine Test stand

[Miskatonic]

Has anybody here fabricated their own engine test stand to run the motor on before putting it into the car? I've seen a plan for one on ebay that looks decent enough. When I had my 69' Catalina I borrowed one from a guy who'd made his from scratch, very nice thing to have. Saves you from a few unnecessary headaches.

[soybean]

Here's mine with the engine that is currently in my brown Gt. This picture was taken before I painted the engine. On the drivers side that can't be seen has a place for all the normal hookups for the Tach and oil etc. This engine wasn't run on the stand, but the other one that's on there now will be. I made it all on rollers that lock so I can roll it outside to run it and not blow my eardrums out. When it's not holding an engine, a piece of 3/4 plyboard laid on top serves as a table. These pictures are a couple of years old. My shop is cleaner now too.
Jarrell

[Miskatonic]

Very nice.

After being around and seeing so many V8's, the Opel engine is taking some getting used to. Lol.

And no offense but from that picture it looks like a group of seagulls snuck inside and hung out above the engine.

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by Miskatonic And no offense but from that picture it looks like a group of seagulls snuck inside and hung out above the engine.

Jarrell, I have to agree with him. Opel or not the engine is UGLY.

Harold

[soybean]

Yeah, Yeah, yeah. I knew I was going to get ragged on that. That was after it had been preped with Por-15s Metal ready, then POR-15 and Engine enamel was applied. Here's a picture of the newest engine on the same stand. It's painted too. Jarrell

[hrcollinsjr]

Much better. What is that some type of krinkle paint or the lighting? I'm just poking fun cause I haven't done any better.

Harold

[Washout]

Nice Jarrell, I like the stand, do you hang a radiator on for runs or what?

[davegt27]

My I ask what size tubing you used?

Also I see the front mounts but how is the rear supported?


Davegt27

[namba209]

Here's what I used on the V-6 I put in Willit? way back when. Just a regular engine stand with all the peripherals C-clamped to the stand. I had to know if the E-bay engine was any good. This was a very primitive setup and extreme care needed to be used when running the throttle so the engine would not torque over and end up on the ground. It worked quite well for what I needed.

http://www.opelgt.com/photos/showpho.../1979/cat/3068

[blancojp]

We purchased a stand from Summit several years ago which has a radiator, battery, twin mufflers and a small control panel with an accelerator. We use it mostly to tune and do cam brake in on new engines prior to setting them into the vehicle. I believe they go for about $600 for the small block and $900 for the big block.

It is quite handy but it also vibrates like crazy. If you are not carefull, the running engine will vibrate itself all over the shop floor. It happened to me one time, went to answer the phone and upon my return, the engine had traveled to the other side of the shop.

[soybean]

The stand itself is made of 1 1/4 inch tubing. It sits in/on the 4 lockable rollers for movement inside and outside the shop. When its outside to be run, I made up another set of stands that can be lagbolted to the concrete. Both the moveable and non movable mounts at the bottom, have bolts running through them to hold the mounts in place.
The uprights that the engine mounts to, are adjustable to raise and lower the engine to simulate the lean of the engine. The rear with the transmission in place, bolts to the main frame. I messed that part up and will have to cut and reweld that part to accommodate the differences in the 4 speed and 5 speed transmissions.
I still have to weld up another set of tubing to hold the radiator at the same distance as the original is, in order to use original upper and lower hoses. The front grill is openable for access to the water pump etc, and also to hold a fan to blow air in when you run in a "new engine".
I still have to make a battery tray.
For the engine throttle, I was going to try to adapt a lockable throttle like we use on irrigation pumps so once it's up to speed you twist it to hold the engine Rpms.
What you see in the photos is still a work in progress. Most is done, just needs a few minor mods to fire it up.
When I pulled the original motor from my Brown Gt, it was running so I didn't need to fire it on the stand. I just needed to be able to work on it from both sides and underneath, plus move it out of the way if needed. So far it's worked well for me. I've got maybe $200 in it, not including my time. This was made before steel skyrocketed, so todays price will be more.
This engine has been painted with wrinkle black paint from aircraftspruce.com and is supposed to be able to handle 300 degree heat. It does look better than the first engine, not splattered from the "pigeons"
Jarrell

[jtb]

If you just want to test run the engine out of the car, and don't want to buy a stand (because you're cheap, like me), you could try making friends with your local high school/ vocational training/ community college as they often have test stands with radiator, battery, and gauges already there. Maybe they'll just tell you to take a hike, but it's worth a shot.

jtb

[timemachine]

I think the original pics look like a Jackson Pollack painting. What do you bet the tuners will come up with designer engine paint jobs?
Jim