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Labor Day Putting down your wrenches or time for
MORE wrenching? 
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Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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| | | | Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 123 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 123 | Harbor Freight has a few engine stands on sale. What size is needed for a 235 engine? 750lbs.? 1000 lbs? or 2000lbs/ | | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 | Bigger is almost always better!ðŸ›
Martin
'62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress)
'47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project)
‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily)
‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence)
“I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one!
Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop!
USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,742 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,742 | Pay close attention to the length of the stand. Stovebolt engines are long and heavy, and they can cause a stand to tip over at the front. The mounting holes at the flywheel end of the block are also difficult to line up with the stand head, as the ones at the top are too close together. I like to bolt a piece of 1/2" X 2" flat bar about 16" long to the top mounting holes in the block, and bolt the stand arms to the ends. Then use a stack of flat washers between the lower legs and the block to keep the engine level. Stay far away from the lightweight stand with 3 wheels- - - - -the 4 wheel stand is much safer.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2017 Posts: 480 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2017 Posts: 480 | I used a 1000 pound AC Delco stand for rebuilding my engine, and while it was stable, I would have felt better with a larger stand. Mine had four wheels, but the two front ones were closer together than I would have liked. I also found it was easier to bolt the stand head to the engine while the engine was on the hoist, then slip the head onto the stand. And I decided I should have put some grease inside the pivot of the stand. It was awfully hard to turn. Bigger is better in this case (and safer).
Tim
I am currently digging back in to a 1953 3800 (one ton) with a nine foot bed. I've owned it since 1979, and drove it until 1982 (or so). My wife got me involved in restoring it back in 2002, got the body removed and the frame redone, then things came up. Now I am retired and starting again. If anyone is interested I have photos on Imagur ( https://timwhiteblues.imgur.com/ ). I live way back in the woods in the Ozarks on 40 acres at the end of a 2 1/2 mile private road. Tim
| | | | | Joined: Jul 2010 Posts: 592 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jul 2010 Posts: 592 | I use the 2,000 pound Harbor Freight folding engine stand. I find it to be stable, and to Jerry's point, long enough for the Stovebolt engines.
I also use a two ton Harbor Freight engine hoist. The problem with the two is that the front end of the engine stand is too wide to fit into the tapered base of the engine hoist. The fix was to cut a wedge out of each side of the engine stand base to squeeze the legs together to narrow the width at the front, weld up the cuts, then add a metal caster that matches the other casters under both welds so that the mounting plate of the caster is centered on the cut and attached on both sides of the cut. The casters help to carry the load and spread it on both sides of the weld.
The compromise is that the front of the stand is narrower, but the offset is that it is a little longer. It still folds for storage. The weight is carried by eight casters instead of six. I have not had any stability issues due to the narrower front end.
The other modification that I made was to replace the handle. I found the one that came with it to be useless. I replaced it with a 24" length of 1/2" iron pipe with a cap on both ends. The caps keep it from falling out. If you center the pipe, you have equal lengths on both sides to turn with both hands. When you need more leverage, the pipe can be slid all the way to one side.
To Jerry's point, the adjustable mount didn't fit very well, if at all, out of the box. I used my die grinder to mill out two of the slots to make them a little longer on the outward side. Now it works out fine. The heads of the lower bolts that attach the mount to the bell housing holes get partially covered by the adjustable arms and the only way to turn them is with an open end wrench. To leave enough room for the wrench, I have to add a thick washer to space out the arms from the head at each of the four pivot bolts.
I have a 261 mounted to the stand now and can send pix if you want.
Matt | | |
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