Standalone engine (bench testing)
 

hey all, i'm interested in getting a 13b (NA) to do some tests on, i have a few ideas on how to improve a few aspects of the engine, and i was wondering what model would be best to go with?

also what would i be looking at needing to have the engine running for bench testing, i.e. running the engine outside of the car?

starter motor, fuel lines/pump etc...

Water cooling ,battery , gas tank , Ing coils ,transmission to hold the starter . MY mechanic has a friend that has a set up to do that . They use an old trans to hold the starter . The test stand is on locking wheels . It is set up for the rotary motor , chevy v 6-8 and ford v6-8 engines .

the bellhousing off an older rib case or t2 tranny will also work without having to use the whole transmission. just think what the engine needs to run in the car and that's what u need to run it out of the car. let the fuel pump draw the gas from a small gas can. depending on how long u plan to run it, a gallon jug should suffice. one other thing, make sure u have at least the stock exhaust manifold or header on it.

yeah i was thinking down to the headers at least, for tests anyway i would want the headers on.

We use an old 1974 bell housing. It bolts to ever engine and is easy to mount to the table. Takes about an hour to hook everything up and start the engine. We've got three different carbs/intakes. One for a 12A, 13B 6-port, and 13B 4 port. We also have some basic guages to keep us posted of temps and pressures.

So if you were to actually do this to a fuel injected motor, you would have to have an actual fuel tank to hold the fuel pressure right? I'm anxious to fire up my 20b when I get my ecu. This way I can can make sure the engine is running ok before I tear up my car before the install.

the fuel pump creates the fuel pressure, not the tank. practically anything can be used to hold fuel.

Thx for the reply! I figured so because how fuel injected cars need the gas cap on tightly so it doesn't trigger the check engine light and keeps the entire system some-what pressurized.

i think the preure is used for a fuel guage reading???

Yeah, I think tank pressure is just for the fuel level gauge reading as well.

The fuel tank pressure is for the fuel vaper recovery systems (revac ) on some newer cars . Not the fuel gauge reading. Think ,how can a fuel gauge read the level from vapor pressure or the vacuum pulled on the tank ?

I’m looking into building a boat utilizing a 13b. The boat plans usually utilize a sb Chevy or ford. and a bell housing as u mention. To hold the starter. But with a direct drive coupling. Basically no neutral or reverse. U start it and go. Do u think it would be feasible to attach some sort of direct drive coupling to a 13b? Maybe a transmission input coupler modified? Any advice is much appreciated as I would love to be able to pull this off. There’s a lot of videos on implementing rotary motors in boats but not much info on how they couple the motor to the drive. And none I’ve found use a direct drive inboard configuration. If anyone’s curious the boat I’m building is the Glen-L cracker box.

as far as a cooling system goes, most inboards pump fresh water from a pickup in the hull and dump the hot water into the exhaust. But idk if the water pump of a 13b will handle this. Or if I need to look at other options

i don't know about boats, but i played a pilot...

is there a maximum RPM for the boat propeller? with a plane there is, and it needs some kind of gear reduction. other than that i'm sure you can just direct drive something from the engine (flexplate?)

automatic transmission or FD/T2 bellhousing should be easy enough

stock water pump should be ok, i'd start there at any rate