The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Engine Stand Plate for Stovebolts

I planned to put this in the Engine Stand thread we had already started, but it appears to be closed. 12Port had made an adapter plate for the standard 2-3/8 round stock used for the head of most engine stands. Then, Harbor Freight changed the round stock for their new ones to 3 inches. So 12Port, if you want to sell them to people for the new engine stands, the correct OD number is standard 3 inches. For those of you who want to make one yourself, I am attaching a bunch of pictures on how to do it.

First off, use a bell housing for your template. Its so easy to transfer using a piece of 11x17 Chipboard like this:

http://devestechnet.com/Images/Projects/Project1959235/Project59235330lg.jpg

This is done by just using a ball peen hammer to tap all the way around and in the holes until it breaks loose.

Transfer the pattern to a 1/2" x 11 x 13 or so piece of plate steel. There are two pins near the bottom, use a 7/16 drill bit for that, and 1/2" for everything else. This way, if you are off a hair, and you will be, the holes still line up nicely.

I wanted a 3 inch hole all the way through the plate because I want to weld the CRAP out of that round stock. To do that, placing it through the hole, beveling the end to get a larger weld area, then weld it flush, but also weld the entire back side too will ensure you have a strong setup. Have you ever used a Bi-Metal 3 inch hole saw to drill thru 1/2 inch Plate?

http://devestechnet.com/Images/Projects/Project1959235/Project59235332lg.jpg

My Porta-Band just barely had the throat depth to do this. I got real lucky there.

http://devestechnet.com/Images/Projects/Project1959235/Project59235335lg.jpg

The round stock is 3 inch DOM with 5/16" walls. I found it in a scrap pile at the local welding shop. I like the thickness.

http://devestechnet.com/Images/Projects/Project1959235/Project59235337lg.jpg

This is as far as I got today. The bevel is complete for the welding process and its ready for welding. It has been tested and should work very nicely.

http://devestechnet.com/Images/Projects/Project1959235/Project59235340lg.jpg

Once this is done, I can move on to cleaning the engine for paint. If you want to use spacers, I found the local hardware store has the 7/16" x 1/2" spacers with allen screw for about $1.50 each. 6 of those and you can even keep your bolts on the mount and they won't come off.

Deve

Nice reading I started to build something like this but found my HF stand pipe was not standard and easy to find the pipe to fit.

But after digging in my shed I found a old NAPA stand with a different pipe size. Only issue there is it is a 750lb stand though it does have a cross tee on the front roller. I always worry on a I6 on engine stands with so much long weight.

With seeing your photos and such I think it is time to pull out the plasma cutter and start making a plate.

Ron

Ron, it was totally by happenstance that I looked at the bell housing first thing this morning. I mean, HELLO! How much more precise do you need than the template that is perfect!

This morning at the welding shop, they plasma'd out me a piece to work with. But, one thing most people learn the hard way.. Use a grinder to break through the Plasma film before attempting to use a band saw. The Plasma causes a hardening effect that ruins bandsaw blades almost right away. I just use a thin grinder disc, and hit it in the place I want to cut.

Deve,
Is the pipe located in such a way as to be in the center of gravity of the engine with the head on and crank in?
Carl

With the head on, its dead on, but with the head off, its a bit off center. Not much a person can do about that. The original plate was even worse.

In all of my research, Tims picture of how he sets his up was the most helpful. I then used 12Ports picture of his plate to see where I was in that regard. With a single pivot engine stand, I think this is the happiest medium. Good question for sure!

I got it all welded up, and tried it out. Works perfectly. The shorter profile of having it bolted directly to the plate means the engine is just about even with the ends of the legs on the stand. Very nice.

When you are making this plate, make the thin area that goes down to the lower bolts thicker than my template by about 1/4" (to the outside). It makes things stouter. I will have more pics on this later. It supports the engine very nicely, and rotates nicely without the head. (better than I expected).

Your pictures got me thinking about looking for a roached out bell housing and cut out the area which you have indicated on your template. Then the only challenge for my caveman-like abilities is boring that giant hole for the pipe. I do have a cutting torch.
Carl

Yeah! That's where I came from Carl. Old oxy-acet guys who could do car restoration with just their torch and a few hand tools. The bell housing is very brittle because its made out of Cast. That would be a consideration. The housing I use on my test stand is cracked at one of those bolt holes.

Another reason to not use it, without adding about 1/4" to the width of that, its pretty narrow there. BUT if you have a torch, just torch out a piece of scrap and go to town! Or, go to town, get the piece of scrap, then do it.

I added pictures and the entire How-To to the Project 235 article at the end (right now). It has all the dimensions you need. Read all about it:

http://devestechnet.com/Home/Project1959235

Thanks for the plug Deve, i'll see if I can find a viable source on tubing for upsizing to 3" for the newer engine stands. The pivot point on my engine stand adapters is very well centered for these heavy engines, and of course works on both the GMC's and Stovebolt engines.

New News on the Plate I made...

I am not happy with how close the crankshaft gets to the vertical post that it attaches to. When rotating from bottom up to bottom down, the crankshaft pins can hit the post. Now we know why standoffs were made. There are two solutions that make sense to me.

1) Go to the hardware store and get 6 each of 7/16"x1/2 inch thick spacers with allen screws. Put the correct length bolts in the plate, then the spacers, lock them down with the allen screw and they will always be there.

2) Make the plate out of 3/4 or 1 inch thick material. This I wont do with the tools I have, so its spacers for me, but this would also solve this problem. These fancy spacers are about $2 each and you CAN go cheaper by just using a washer then a threading a 7/16" nut to the plate.

If the 3 inch tube was longer by a couple inches allowing a 1/2 ring to be welded onto the back side of the plate so it will not push back so far, do you thing that will space it enough.

I was planning on making the plate but had thought of a spacer ring for adding a roller bearing as part of a motor drive I was think on adding.

No. I thought of adding to the tube, but no, the problem is the weight on the engine end of the tube has to be balanced so the pin the keeps it in position can be used. This is strictly a problem with offset AFTER the plate. Or as I said a thicker plate. But really, 1/4" thicker plate or the spacers will solve it. My 3 inch tube IS longer than the original one, but all that would do is give you more on the handle end due to the weight pulling everything backward.

We want to hear all about your improvements for sure!

http://www.spicetraders.com/photos/standmod.jpg

I was thinking this.

Why not? Thats the beauty of engineering things. Go for it. But please document each step carefully so we can follow along! Personally, I dont have a problem with rotating the engine the way it is. Even with my back problems, the handles turn the engine fine. A little grease in the housing, and all thats left is the spacers. But, it could be made better, no doubt!

Deve, I worked out the kinks on my engine stand plate about 10 years ago. It's balanced almost perfectly with my tube in the current position. I also have small spacers to move the block outward from the plate to reduce the crank flange interference just like all engine stands have, as well as a 1" diameter piece of long bar to slip through the end of the tube to help rotate the engine. Even with a fully dressed Stovebolt or GMC it is balanced so well that it takes very little effort to rotate it on the engine stand.

I wonder how much fun it would be to design a head that uses bearings to really free up the motor for spinning. Downside? When it is top heavy it would really take off on you!

Yeah, I am thinking that could hurt someone. If it gets away from you. I was very happy with the way mine handled the weight. I just wanted to report that 1/2" spacers are needed. Heck you can use 7/16" nuts which would also serve the purpose of holding the screws in place for next time.

But, bearings and then a motor with gear stops.. maybe. If I wasnt already busy with other things, I would give it a shot to see how inexpensive I could make it while having it rotate with a motor. Someone else do it!