engine runnin' on stand ?

im planning on buying an old engine an re-conditioning it (you know turbo etc...) and i was wondering if i can attach it to an engine stad (attaches where the dumbell housing or transmission it bolted on) can i run the engine while its on the stand ?

the dumbell housing
hummmm................dumbell housing......................
can't seem to find that part anywhere in my service manual...........
maybe mine's missing........................










J/K :smile:

yes, you can run the engine on the stand. Just make sure it's stable and wont tip over. If you plan on running it for more them a few seconds. hook up the radiator and fill it with water.

BTW it's 'bellhousing' :smile:

I have run a turbodiesel just standing on some short iron beams, I have also been running gasoline engines in a stand just as long the engine stands stable and is filled with coolant it can be runned.

With a gasoline engine it's usually quite some wiring to get it started.

As for the typical engine stand where you can rotate the engine around I think those are a little unstable for running an engine in them. Fit the engine to something so it can stand on the ground using the normal engine mounts instead.

I've done it on an engine stand that I stablized with a 4x4. I ran an 8' 4x4 under the legs of the stand and put a lag screw down into it so it couldn't fall over. Then I put a good grade 8 bolt in the head so it wouldn't turn. After I was done running it I realized that the torque of the engine had worn the bolt almost completely through, so I therefore don't recommend that anymore :)

For cooling you can put your radiator hoses into a big barrel of water. I should say that 50 gallons should be plenty. Eventually you'll heat the water and have to stop, but you'll have a while to run it. I used a thermometer in my 35 gallon barrel and ran it until the water reached about 160. I got about 20 minutes out of it.

It's also possible to hook up some hoses for water from the tap and run it. One hose feeds the engine with water from the tap, another hose regulate the outflow from the engine to the drain.

However, if one plans to run an engine for a longer period of time a pressurized coolant system is to recommend (radiator and cooling fan).