Bought my new engine stand today....how do I store engine ?
 

Hey.

I just bought a cool little engine stand at Auto Zone for 40 bucks. What's cool about it is that you can rotate it 360 degrees so you can basically work on any angle. I'm planning to play around with the engine, cleaning it up and changing anything that needs to be changed.

I have two questions hoping that someone will answer....

1)How much oil do I keep in the engine while it is stored and just sitting there ?

2)How do I attach the engine to one of these ?

Your help is appreciated.

thanks

It may be 'cool' but make sure it can hold an engine of at least 750 lbs or so.

next get 6 8M bolts (4" long)

** hope you have a hoist or 2 VERY strong buddies ***

hoist the block up and bolt the tranny bellhousing bolts to the bolts threaded thru the stand face (the fingers that are on the plate)

next 2 weeks - build muscles using the puny Autozen handle on the plate and try to turn the engine block

ooops - did you assemble the stand with feet sticking out before step 1 ?

just kidding - ask away if you need more pointers (I cracked the rear boss on a AMC block 22 yrs ago when I did not bolt it in right, got my ass kicked by my boss then (yes child labor was legal in India back then :))

it states that the engine stand can support weight up to 750lbs. I thought it was alright for 40 bucks. :cool:

you'll do fine, BUT - when you move it beware of the stability.
Also, how long is this going to be stored ? anything more than a few months - drain the oil, spray WD-40 into the cyls thru the injetor holes and leave it.
Some even put refrigerator moistre absorbent packs (silica gel packs) in the injector holes, but I am not that anal

It will be stored for a while... I'm talking about years possibly.
Anywhere else to spray WD40 ? just in the injector holes ?

yup, glow plug holes open into the pre-chamber so thats not much use.

thanks for the quick answers ;)

You should turn the crank once in a while a measured number of degrees to be sure some of the valve springs do not stay compressed while others do not.

BIG garbage bags with some descicant in it pulled around the motor around to the stand pivot and taped closed.will help keep dry and clean. Dust has a way of finding its way into the smallest holes .....or open valves.

Around here, anything metal that sits for more than a few hours will have any hole in it plugged by some kind of wasp building it's nest (holes are filled with mud and various insects and spiders). You may not have that problem but if you can seal it up where dirt and critters can't get in that would be good.

good advice, also - what are you planning to do ? go into the armed forces for a period or be cryogenically frozen ?

I have a perfect 240D right now with only 190k on the car. I am converting that into the manual that I bought and the engine is left over. I am planning to keep that as a spare engine just in case mine decides to die in a few years. Hey, you never know when an engine might come in handy. :D

We have a bunch of home made engine stands floating around here...my favorite (which has since been dismantled) used a semi-truck front end adjusting part to rotate the engine (gear reduction)
Dad built one at work that holds a humongous detriot diesel engine for pushbacks, air-starts, and other such airplane supporing equipment. You want to talk about a engine stand...must weight 500lbs alone.
Also...be VERY careful when mounting/rotating the engine becuase if one side is heavier than the other it will literally FLIP the stand right out fron under itself...

I did this move one time with a complete V-8 hanging on a engine stand and loosened the holding bolt to slowly turn it over and WHAM it met the floor a lot quicker than I wanted it to... :eek:
Luckily my toes are still all intact!
Be careful...try to balance it along a longitudinal axis of weight and turn SLOWLY..
all else fails...spring out of the way :D

I guess all us young guys need to learn the hard way sometimes. :D

I WAS going to leave the crane attached to it (was at dad's work) but apparently he thought that it was balenced enough? I was like 12-13 at the time so its not to nessisarily be expected haha.
Makes a pretty loud sound though in a empty shop that size.
Pictures http://importtransmissionexchange.com/bug.htm