Engine stand help

Cortinaphile · Post by **Cortinaphile** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:39 pm

Hi,

I'm a bit embarrassed asking this but how do I connect my 71 Ford 302 block (from a Torino) to the engine stand I have bought?

The engine stand has the four connectors but I don't know how to bolt it on or what bolts I need.

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm keen to get building!

Thanks,

Phil

HairbearTE · Post by **HairbearTE** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:54 pm

Get bolts made up for the job and use the spacers that come with the stant (if they did). I had colne valley fasteners make up some grade 8 bolts for me. Basically I leave an unthreaded shank on the bolt that is equal in length to the length of the spacer tubes+the thickness of the 'arms' on the stand and then minus a mm or so. This is so that you can get it tight enough to let the spacer tubes do their job. I'll post a pic of some of my stand bolts tomorrow if I get a chance.

ppyvabw · Post by **ppyvabw** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 12:29 am

I don't understand. What size are the bell housing bolts? 3/8ths. Just buy some. If the shank is too long, put lots of washer's in or some tube to fill the gaps.

Cortinaphile · Post by **Cortinaphile** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 12:44 am

Thanks for the replies!

So it really is just a matter of (grade 8?) bolts through the holes in the stands 4 "arms" to the bellhousing connections?

I wasn't sure if some bits (extensions to the arms say) were missing or if 4 bolts would be up to the job of supporting the weight... and didn't want to find out the hard way!

This is the stand I've got (although this only shows 2 "arms"): http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... gine-stand

Some pics would be great HairbearTE!

Cheers

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 6:21 am

Ive had a fully dressed rover and a chevy on one of those. Although I'm worried about the weight of the cast iron heads i'm about to fit onto a big block chrylser engine with just those four mountings.

Pocket rocket · Post by **Pocket rocket** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:05 pm

Here's a picture of my V6 (sorry guys

) on an engine stand complete with well dodgy spacers on the bolts (more

)
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HairbearTE · Post by **HairbearTE** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:12 pm

Here are some of the bolts I have had made by colne valley. The smaller ones are for use with shorter spacers and were for a four pot I once built. The larger ones are Rover v8 fitting. In the other pic you can see the spacers in use. The spacers are important bacause when fitted properly they take the strain off the bolts and firmly locate the engine on the stand. Without them the engine would hang loosely on the stand. When I needed bolts made up I drew a scale drawing of what i wanted and posted it off with a bellhousing bolt so they got the thread right.

Cortinaphile · Post by **Cortinaphile** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:20 pm

Thanks for all your help!

Do you mind my asking how much it cost to have these special bolts made up? I've asked Basil's Bolts and was told that it would be "mega money" to have some made

Still, I don't want to skimp and have the block drop to the floor!

Thanks again

HairbearTE · Post by **HairbearTE** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:30 pm

Last time I got em it was £30 for two sets for RV8 (8 bolts in total) not mega money for 8 custom grade 8 bolts i'm sure you'd agree! I don't even know if colne valley fasteners are still around, it's been a while since I had some made, but have have a look - they're good guys to know.