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Engine stand battle

abrahamfh

Active Member
Craig was very kind as to let me borrow one of his engine stands for the 351w. Since I am preparing to remove the 289 from Fred, I figured I might as well ask. What are the pros and cons of the two different types of engine stands on the market?

This one is the engine stand that the 351w is on from Craig.
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This is the other stand that I found from a local vendor.
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I haven't done anything to the 351 and not sure what the pros and cons are for either stand so if it were better to have the 351 on the cradle style stand I could do that, although I am assuming that I could technically have the 289 with the transmission on the cradle stand together. What do you all think?
 
the blue stand on the bottom is mainly for storage of a motor. they are cheap & really flimsy until a motor is bolted on. if you are rebuilding a motor, the top one is the one you want as you can rotate the block a full 360 deg. to work on it. i like the top style, but prefer the ones with a 4 whl stance intead of the three wheel jobs. they are a little more stable with 4 whls.
 
Well, I like the 4 wheeled version when I'm just storing an engine. However, I like the 3 wheeled version when I'm working on it, because the 3 wheeled version allows you to rotate the block... it's easier to change a oil pan and gasket when the block is upside down.
 
That four wheel floating style stand does sound like it would be more structurally sturdy especially when taking into consideration what kind of engine would be hanging out on it. A 390 or 427 perhaps? :coo Definitely a stand to keep in mind for any engine size especially taking into consideration its added safety feature.
 



Thanks guys, that's exactly what I was looking for, it definitely helped me out for sure. I have just placed my order at a local shop (Broadway Lifts in San Pablo, CA) for the four wheel cradle style stand to store the 289. The 351w will be having work done so it shall remain on the floating style stand. Hopefully this will help others in the future determine what they need and save themselves some cost and shipping headaches.
 
I know this is probably a dumb question. But would the blue stand work for storing an engine with the transmission attached?
 
I would say yes, only because when we removed the engine with the tranmission and dropped it onto the blue craddle style engine stand it was doing just fine. Taking into consideration that when everything is in the car the tranmission is only hanging on to the engine which is held in place by the motor mounts.

The only thing I would do if I was leaving the transmission connected would be to place a block or something under the transmission to relieve some pressure off the trans/engine bolts.
 
"crustycurmudgeon" said:
But don't the plates at the back bolt to the back of the block where the bellhousing bolts to?

Frank

Yes they do. So no, you can't leave the trans hanging off the back. Besides, the way these cradles (not engine stands) are designed they use the engine as a key part of their structure. They are not independently strong themselves. Having an additional 100 lbs or more hanging off the back end wouldn't work out too well even if you could leave the trans attached!
 
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