Hello
Rather than think outside the box I thought inside the circle in this case. I been meaning to replace the big end bolts in my engine for a while. I have an engine stand but was worried about it taking the full weight of a fully assembled engine. It is a cheapy from you know where.
So from my metal scrap heap I built the rotisserie, works well for what it is.
Regards Peter
Hi Peter,
Sure, that’s nice. But I have replaced big end bolts (and bearings) on a couple of Jaguar engine with the engine in place, not that big of a hassle really. But of course your rotisserie will make it easier,
But for a complete engine rebuild (that I recently needed to do) you would need something different, the traditional engine stand makes it a bit easier to do work without the front or rear plate, but of course to take the crank out or put it back in you will need to have both of them off the block. I thought one could slip the crank in from the back through the front plate hole but there was not enough clearance.
Cheers!
I can see the exhaust manifolds and carb flanges so the head was on it when I rotated it for this last picture.
Pretty creative. Is it stable enough to apply the high toque of the bearing caps without skidding?
I like the barrel frame - you can roll it anywhere. I have rebuilt a 3.4L on a conventional engine stand as shown here but I had concerns about the integrity of the swivel trunnion for the amount of cantilevered weight, and the amount of springiness in the whole frame. I would have preferred it to be a longer trunnion to reduce the amount of binding and galling inside. This also occurs at the turn handle because the engine bracket is trying to work its way out of the sleeve every time you turn it. To roll the engine over, I had to do so by lifting the free end to take the load off the swivel. Low friction bushes and a thrust washer system would help. It would be a lot easier to use for a small engine. They are made to a price and to the lower limits of strength. In saying that, I’ve not heard of any collapsing.
Ah Rob, you might have your manifolds & carbs on but I have my flywheel, clutch & pressure plate on. 
Peter
