Engine Stand

garyt120r

Well-known member
Hey guys, I was just wondering is it safe to put the 200 on a conventional engine stand to rebuild it? Seems like a lot of moment weight to have on 4 3/8" bolts (Grade 8 of course).
 
as long as your stand is capable of handling the load there should be no issue. on the other hand if you were to put a 240-300 on your average engine stand, it will create havoc.
 
ditto on the 2x4. It's definately a bit safer if you have a 4 wheel stand vs a 3. Just be very careful when moving it around. Once the head is off it's not so bad.
 
I'm not worried about the stand. I'm worried about 4 little bolts and thin bellhousing ears. I keep visualizing it falling off the stand.
 
That's not going to happen unless you smack the casting in that area with a hammer, the stand falling over when moving it is a real possibility
 
garyt120r":38h34snc said:
I'm not worried about the stand. I'm worried about 4 little bolts and thin bellhousing ears. I keep visualizing it falling off the stand.

those bolts are not so little. as i recall they are a 7/16 bolt, so they have plenty of tensile strength to handle the load as long as you use a good quality bolt. i used small block chevy main cap bolts for my engine stand.
 
I used a 4 wheel engine stand (from Harbor Freight) and a couple of grade 8 bolts, and it stood up to anything I threw at, including some hammering, and using the impact wrench!
 
I had my 250, which is heavier than a 200, on a Harbor Freight engine stand for months with no safety issues. It had the head on it, but was not a completely assembled engine - I put the rocker assembly, headers, intake, carb, thermostat housing, water pump, fan, alternator, and distributor on once the long block was in the car. It was rather hard to rotate the engine (upside down to rightside up) on the stand, had to get a cheater pipe to help with that.

Thanks
Bob
 
"...on a conventional engine stand to rebuild it..."
everyone seems on the mark as usual. some stands have a lill tag on them
showing the weight limit. See anything?: "750 lb"?, "1000 lb"?
 
... on the engine stand subject let's add a caution :

a typical small block six - with head on - is TOPHEAVY and a light duty ( HF?) stand usually has no problem with statically holding it's weight but rotating it on the stand or moving it needs extra caution !

ask how I know... .

have fun (keep toes from underneath)

 
The bolts are definitely not the weak link - a 3/8" grade bolt has a tensile strength of about 15,000 pounds at the shank, (based on 150000 psi material). The actual strength is less due to the thread root diameter (the smallest cross-section of material). Using a safety factor of at least 5, there is still over 1000 pounds of working strength at each bolt. With 4 bolts, tightened properly, they won't break.

Similarly, as the Hot Rod article demonstrates, even a cheapie stand will take several times the rated weight before failure.

As Powerband says, the real safety hazard is the high center of gravity and small footprint of the stand, resulting in a significant tip-over risk. The extra length of the inline six aggravates this condition, resulting in even less stability.

Bottom line, be extra cautious when rolling the engine around, or when tugging and pulling on it to rotate the block, torque bolts or what ever. If it starts to tip, get out of the way!

Work safe!

-Stu
 
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