Gregski

Not all of us can afford the PRW 1300111 Low Profile Racing Engine Test Stand for $1599.99 plus shipping. I bought cars for less than that. So I decided to roll my own sorta speak, (pun intended) for a fraction of the cost.

The Goal:
1. Cheap - quality metal, but I'm not gonna chrome plate it.
2. Simple - don't need the complexity of making it adjustable, I won't be tuning an LS1 any time soon.

Materials:
I decided to use 2 inch square tube, and 2 inch angle iron total cost $127.24 (casters and hardware included)... and they pre cut to length for .50 cents per cut.

Tools:
Although you can get by without a metal cut off saw, this project requires a welding machine. I know what you're thinking, well there you go a decent Lincoln or Miller MIG jobbie will run you $500 bucks. But wait I bought one for under a hundred bucks, it's a Flux Core but it will work. Justification, I already have another project that I will need it for, and now that I own one, I'm no longer limited by what projects I take on.

Optional:
Gauges, I plan on picking up some from Harbor Freight at a later time.

You may follow the build here: http://www.gregandsandy.com/302/teststand.htm

luckythirteen13

is this going to be for carb motors are do you plan to have a computer and wiring harness on there too?

looks like you have a good start, keep us updated

GreyStang

Looks good man! Hey with a couple extra braces I'm sure an LS1 will fit right on that thing too

Gregski

thanks, and yes it will accomodate both I hope, the plan is to first fire it up with a two barrel carb which is what it came with, then put on the EFI components off of a late 80's 5.0 Mustang and see what happens, you can follow the evil plan at this link: http://www.gregandsandy.com/302/302.htm

Gregski

I hate to say this because I will sound like one of those glossy paged car magazines, but a project like this can be done in a weekend. Provided two things:

1. First you don't have to stop what you are doing to take pictures of every single step to share with others on some forum later.

2. Second you don't choose to do it during World Cup weekend. [May not effect non European decent fabricators]

So all in all it took me about six days. Most of which were weekdays spent in the garage after work 2 to 4 hours depending on the task for that day.

I invite you to see PAGE TWO of the build, where we start out by building the motor mounts for the test stand.

Building An Engine Test Stand

Gregski

Now that I had the engine legs sorta speak, I had to give them something to stand on, so it was time to make the base. This involved bolting on the casters and building a jig out of 2x4's to hold the metal in place while I did the welding. More repetition and nothing special to write home about:

Building An Engine Test Stand

Gregski

Time to put it all together and answer all those questions. Will he use the bell housing to have something to attach the stater to? Will there be any gusets? Will there be a battery tray or a gas tank?

Well check it out:

http://www.gregandsandy.com/302/teststand3.htm

Gregski

Here is the final page of the build. I remove the casters and clean it with ACRYLI-CLEAN DX330 solution then paint it with Home Depot's RUST-OLEUM Painter's Touch ULTRA COVER 2x Coverage Dark Gray spray paint. It is by far the best spray paint I have used in my illustrious spray painting career, and I highly recommend it. The paint comes out nice and even in a wide strip, the top button is also comfortable so you don't need finger surgery or one of those plastic snap on triggers you swear you own but can never find in a time of need. Then I put the casters back on.

Some pictures of the engine finally in it, and even with the radiator. The unadjustible, unfoldable, non universal, non dicing, non slicing, inexpensive engine test stand.

After I get the engine running I plan to revisit this post and provide you with an update on the Harbor Freight gauges I would like to add.

Building An Engine Test Stand

GreyStang

Nice work Greg keep updating the thread. I wanna see a Youtube vid of an engine actually running on the stand

So are you gonna build your own hoist/cherry-picker too? Shouldn't be too tough lol

Gregski

Thank you, and I will, and you can always jump to my web page to follow the progress, sometimes I post updates there before I post them here.


funny you should ask, check this thread out

https://mustangforums.com/forum/clas...ine-crane.html