Engine Stands Revisited (Opinions Requested)

Looks pretty good, a few things to consider though.

You could probably do away with most of the "meat" on the end where it mounts to the engine. Maybe cut them into tabs after you have welded it together, just so its less bulky.

The one thing that would concern me the most though would be that the mount is not centered. Yea, the flat fours are not too heavy but when your spinning it around at different stages of dissasembly and assembly, it might make the stand a little shakey or just plain be a nusance.

Also its hard to tell but do you have plenty of room to work with the gland nut? My socket that fits the gland nut is long, I use an extention through the stands hole when working with it.

I added a link to a couple of quick and dirty shoptools I made when putting an engine together recently. We just got a new bed so I got a whole bunch of new angle iron to work with from the old frame WOOOHOOO!! (you'll see what I mean):

Mark Detro Englewood, FL

Yes, I did it that way simply because I wasn't sure about just having those

2 bolts holding the entire engine. I thought it would give more support to the case. So the 2 bolts that screw into the case will hold the entire engine with no problems with damaging the case?

Thanks for the suggestion. Thats why I haven't welded it yet. Even though the round part of the stand that (Yellow Part) goes into the stand that I bought has holes in so it can be pinned in several positions and there is also a bigger hole at the back for a handle to use for leverage to turn the motor then pin it at the postion needed.

There is about 6 inches between the 2 plates. Would that be enough? I can always make longer rods between the two plates if needed. This is why I am asking for opinions for this stand. I have worked on cars since I was a kid but haven't had much experience with VW motors. I am redoing a 1971 superbeetle for my daughter and I am enjoying it so much I bought a 1970 standard beetle for myself.

Thanks for the response and suggestions. In case you haven't noticed (G) I am real leary about the weight of the entire motor being supported by just the two mounting points on the engine case. I guess I am looking for assurance that the engine case will support the weight with just those two mounting points. I am sure it would be fine , but really want to here from somebody that it would be safe to pull the engine out of a beetle and mount it to the engine stand without removing anything and not have to worry about engine case damage from using just the two points on the left side of the case.

Thanks again for the input Mike Cross

71 Superbeetle 70 Standard

Photos of progress are located at:

You want the "tabs" to be pretty beefy and have the bars to be prettty close.

What I was thinking was that the engine's gonna be off balance on the stand. IT;s probably not enough to knock the stand over or anything, but it might make a tipsy depanding on the postion of the motor and how stubborn a nut/bolt is being.

just make sure you have easy access to the gland nut and room for things like installing the clutch/flywheel assy.

This is why I am

Thata how VW stands are built. I just went out a took a pic of an engine on my stand but the site where I post pics is down right now (samba) I will be happy to email it to you if you want see it

Mark Detro Englewood, FL

why not just buy the mount and modify it to fit on the engine stand?

I think you just get a kick out of building your own tools. ;-) It looks nice! I am not too fond of possibly increasing the distance of the engine from the stand's upright. And will the engine be "balanced" or "centered" when bolted to your adapter?

just some thoughts! Good luck with your project! later, dave Reminder........ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. Frieda Norris

The half moon plate and the plate that bolts to the engine stand that you saw is 1/4" plate and the round bars are 1" solid steel rod. I know they are overkill but it is what I had. I also had pipe but figured what the heck. I will see if I can get them closer

Point taken, will see if I can get it centered better.

I guess I could make longer bars, I just thought 6" would be enough.

>> ff+exact

Sure, would like to see them.

Thanks Mike

Thats what I was going to do at first. But since I had the material and thought using the mount that came with the engine stand had the ability to be pinned in several angles as you turn the motor, I would just use that instead of the "T" nut on the VW stand. Besides it's a challenge.

You're right, but I will probably by a vw stand in the near future so I can mount it to a bench to mount the spare motor on.

Thanks!

The stand I bought has a 1500lb capacity rating, but I agree that the distance shouldn't be excessive. Right now it is 6 inches. I was thinking that that would be enough to remove and replace the flywheel.. (I Hope)

I think I will work on that, by aligning the glad nut to the round portion of the mount. That seems the way the VW stands are made since Mark mentioned having access to the gland nut through the pipe of the VW stand.

Thanks Dave Appreciate the input

Mike