I noticed Larry Schear recommending care in fitting a Jag engine to an
engine stand, due to the long heavy block putting excessive loads on the
head of the engine stand. A few years back (then) Jaguar Quarterly did a
series of articles on an XK motor rebuild. I noticed in some of the
pictures they had a piece of square tube with what I assumed were old motor
mounts welded to each end, and atached to the engine stand in the middle.
When this bar was bolted to the left side of the engine, by the front and
rear engine mounting points, it allowed one to fasten the engine to the
stand such that the rotating axis of the engine stand was perpendicular to
the crank shaft, instead of parallel to it. This had the effect of bringing
the center of mass of the block very close to the upright of the stand. A
much safer way to go. Does anybody on the list have a drawing for building
an adapter like this? Or, even know of a reasonable commercial source?
Lots of us who may like to tackle engine work with the manual, may not be
expert fabricators!
Dave Gomes
97 Land Rover NAS D90 SW
51 Jaguar XK120 OTS 670640
Colorado, USA
I did the cheap and dirty fix. I put a length of 2x4 between the oil pan and
the front leg on my 3-wheeled stand. I could stand in front of the engine
lift real hard and it would fall out, but in my mind, it reduced the torque
on the back end of the stand so I didn’t have to worry about it going crash
in the night.
The engine is now on the floor for testing purposes.
“Mark 1” Mark Stephenson
1958 3.4 Litre Saloon
Jaguar Club of Central Arizona (USA)
Internet Service Provider, TV & Phone | Sparklight Message-----
From: Larry Schear twincam@voicenet.com
To: xk@jag-lovers.org xk@jag-lovers.org
Date: Sunday, October 18, 1998 9:23 AM
Subject: Re: [xk] Engine stands
Excellent idea, Dave! I missed that article; I’ll research it, and
possibly be able to provide such. The commercial guys may think the
potential market to be small, but we know better! Remember, the XK-120
Shop Manual told the reader how a top timing chain adjusting tool should be
made, and directed the reader o go to the local blacksmith to have one
fabricated! The tradition is alive!
Larry Schear
Twin Cam, Inc.
“Grace, Space, Pace!” (whatever order!)
At 10:52 PM 10/17/98 -0600, you wrote:
I noticed Larry Schear recommending care in fitting a Jag engine to an
engine stand, due to the long heavy block putting excessive loads on the
head of the engine stand. A few years back (then) Jaguar Quarterly did a
series of articles on an XK motor rebuild. I noticed in some of the
pictures they had a piece of square tube with what I assumed were old
motor
mounts welded to each end, and atached to the engine stand in the middle.
When this bar was bolted to the left side of the engine, by the front and
rear engine mounting points, it allowed one to fasten the engine to the
stand such that the rotating axis of the engine stand was perpendicular to
the crank shaft, instead of parallel to it. This had the effect of
bringing
the center of mass of the block very close to the upright of the stand. A
much safer way to go. Does anybody on the list have a drawing for
building
an adapter like this? Or, even know of a reasonable commercial source?
Lots of us who may like to tackle engine work with the manual, may not be
expert fabricators!
Dave Gomes
97 Land Rover NAS D90 SW
51 Jaguar XK120 OTS 670640
Colorado, USA
Excellent idea, Dave! I missed that article; I’ll research it, and
possibly be able to provide such. The commercial guys may think the
potential market to be small, but we know better! Remember, the XK-120
Shop Manual told the reader how a top timing chain adjusting tool should be
made, and directed the reader o go to the local blacksmith to have one
fabricated! The tradition is alive!
Larry Schear
Twin Cam, Inc.
“Grace, Space, Pace!” (whatever order!)
At 10:52 PM 10/17/98 -0600, you wrote:>I noticed Larry Schear recommending care in fitting a Jag engine to an
engine stand, due to the long heavy block putting excessive loads on the
head of the engine stand. A few years back (then) Jaguar Quarterly did a
series of articles on an XK motor rebuild. I noticed in some of the
pictures they had a piece of square tube with what I assumed were old motor
mounts welded to each end, and atached to the engine stand in the middle.
When this bar was bolted to the left side of the engine, by the front and
rear engine mounting points, it allowed one to fasten the engine to the
stand such that the rotating axis of the engine stand was perpendicular to
the crank shaft, instead of parallel to it. This had the effect of bringing
the center of mass of the block very close to the upright of the stand. A
much safer way to go. Does anybody on the list have a drawing for building
an adapter like this? Or, even know of a reasonable commercial source?
Lots of us who may like to tackle engine work with the manual, may not be
expert fabricators!
Dave Gomes
97 Land Rover NAS D90 SW
51 Jaguar XK120 OTS 670640
Colorado, USA
Mark Stephenson wrote>
I did the cheap and dirty fix. I put a length of 2x4 between the oil pan and
the front leg on my 3-wheeled stand. I could stand in front of the engine
lift real hard and it would fall out, but in my mind, it reduced the torque
on the back end of the stand so I didn’t have to worry about it going crash
in the night.
The engine is now on the floor for testing purposes.
Du-uh?
Did the 2 x 4 drop out then?
In the immortal words of Bill Clinton, “it depends on what you mean by”
then.
If you mean “then” like, “So you’re leaving me for another man, then” as in,
it fell out and I had no control over it, no. If you mean “I rented an
engine hoist and lifted the engine, then the 2x4 fell out. Then I unbolted
the engine from the stand and lowered it to the floor so I could install the
torque converter and bell housing and test it”; “then” expressing the
temporal sequence of events; then, uh, yes. 
“Mark 1” Mark Stephenson
1958 3.4 Litre Saloon
Jaguar Club of Central Arizona (USA)
Internet Service Provider, TV & Phone | Sparklight Message-----
From: John Morgan suka@intergate.bc.ca
To: xk@jag-lovers.org xk@jag-lovers.org
Date: Monday, October 19, 1998 12:25 AM
Subject: Re: [xk] Engine stands
Mark Stephenson wrote>
I did the cheap and dirty fix. I put a length of 2x4 between the oil pan
and
the front leg on my 3-wheeled stand. I could stand in front of the engine
lift real hard and it would fall out, but in my mind, it reduced the
torque
on the back end of the stand so I didn’t have to worry about it going
crash
in the night.
The engine is now on the floor for testing purposes.
Du-uh?
Did the 2 x 4 drop out then?
In the immortal words of Bill Clinton, “it depends on what you mean by”
then.
If you mean “then” like, “So you’re leaving me for another man, then” as in,
it fell out and I had no control over it, no. If you mean “I rented an
engine hoist and lifted the engine, then the 2x4 fell out. Then I unbolted
the engine from the stand and lowered it to the floor so I could install the
torque converter and bell housing and test it”; “then” expressing the
temporal sequence of events; then, uh, yes.
“Mark 1” Mark Stephenson
1958 3.4 Litre Saloon
Jaguar Club of Central Arizona (USA)
Internet Service Provider, TV & Phone | Sparklight
Okay, OKAY!! Jeez- you must’ve had the same English teacher as Bill Eastman…
Enlightened, JM