did everyone here use an engine stand for their rebuild? is it even that mandatory?

 

I would assume that most people have used a stand. I certainly always have.

It's not mandatory. I've seen pictures of those doing rebuilds that have used buckets, workbenches, etc. But a stand (with a rotating head) sure makes things easier. Especially when you need to torque down that front nut (to 90 ft-LBs).

 

It's very very helpful in my opinion, but no not mandatory at all. Look at the recent "my rebuild is done" and "pictures of my rebuild" type threads and you'll see a good majority of people building the engine up without one.

I've built an engine with one and later took it out to do some work under the front cover without the stand/adapter. Having done both I can say I 100% prefer the engine stand adapter. It makes this easier, more maneuverable, and a lot easier for torquing and stuff like that.

But to answer your question, no it's not mandatory.

 

i havent looked yet... but any idea on how much they are to rent? a crane too...

just off the top of your heads

 

You can buy a cheap engine stand for about $40. Or make one yourself with a welder and $40 worth of steel and wheels. It's also best to get the rotary engine adapter. I have one from CP Racing.

The cranes normally rent about $20 per day.

 

I made an adapter like Kevin's from a 8" long piece of 4" channel iron.
It mounts the front plate to a standard stand flange.

 

Here's a pic

 

This stand came from Harbor Freight for $39.

I made the adapter from 4" angle for $11 (+ my labor, which is cheap).

 

No is not necessary, but if you do, you can get an adapter for the engine stand at ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

that's not exactly the one I bought, but it will do.

 

Harbor freight rules.

I one guy I know lays his motor front down on a 5 gallon bucket. Watch so you don't tip the bucket. He then showed me a table with a hole in it for the front cover to go down into.

Had I known about the Harbor freight one I would've gone for that one. I used a $20 hadn winch to pull the motor out. Worked great.

heres a couple of pics. The aluminum straps are what I used as an adaptor to bolt to the front Iron but don't use my model cause you can't rotate the motor.

 

Here's another reason to get a stand/adapter. I just discovered I could disassemble the center iron and crank by myself (you usually need two people to do this) if I flipped the engine to it's normal sideways position, leave the dowels in the last housing and iron, and then slowly slide the E shaft out far enough to slip the center iron off. Then gently reseat the E shaft, flip it back on end and continue the short block tear down.

I don't think I'd try that on reassembly (have a seal slip or something) but it doesn't matter for disassembly.

For as cheap as they are and as easy as it makes working on the engine I think they are definetly worth it. I started without one and now can't imagine not using one.

 

i drilled a 3" hole in my workbench with a hole saw, seems to work ok for me.