<VV> Engine Stand

[Cliff Tibbitts]

One drawback to RK Henry's plan.  If you do need to replace the main
bearings, and you probably will, then you will need to remove the engine
case from the stand, in order to separate the engine halves.  This is easily
done once the heads, carbs, cylinders, et al have been removed.  The case
with only the crankshaft is not very heavy and easy to work with on the
bench.  

I did my whole engine on the bench moving it by hand, but honestly wish I
had purchased the engine stand.  It would have been a lot easier.

Cliff Tibbitts
Lexington, KY 
66 Cpe 140/4sp

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of RKHenry
Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2006 2:34 PM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: RE: <VV> Engine Stand

When I rebuilt the engine in my '65 180, I ended up going to Advance Auto
Parts and buying an inexpensive stand. I think I paid about $80 at the time.
I called the local rental places and estimated that the weekly rental
charges would exceed the cost of buying a relatively inexpensive stand in
just a couple of weeks. As it turned out, the wait for parts far exceeded
that time estimate, making the stand purchase a significant economy.

An ordinary stand like you'd use for a V8 works fine. The Corvair is much
lighter weight than most of those engines. Just bolt it to the flywheel
housing and you can easily flip the engine over to work on any side, making
all parts of the engine easily accessible so that the work can be done
properly. It's far too heavy to move it by hand and you run the risk of
breaking something delicate. Working on the bench is clearly not an option. 

I pulled the engine out of the car on a floor jack with a piece of plywood
between the engine and the jack. More elegant solutions exist, but this
procedure worked without breaking anything. I then used a chain fall I
bought from Harbor Freight to lift the engine from the jack so I could
install it on the stand, lifting it by the lift points on the engine and
hanging it from the garage door rail, which proved sufficient to carry the
load. Plan on a place where you can roll the stand & engine out of the way
for storage while you wait for parts.

I disassembled the stand when I was through with it and stored it in its
original box. A few years later, I used it again on a Vega engine. I sold
the Vega, but I still have the engine stand and the Corvair.

RK Henry
'65 Corsa 180 Convertible

> Have been 'lurking' for some time now but have a question for those of you
> who may
> have rebuilt an engine.  I recently acquired a 140 engine in unknown
> condition.
> Looks good and turns free.  I got it to take apart and reassemble as a
> learning
> experience and to correct any problems.  Its possible that it could go
> into my 66
> Coupe someday so I want to do it right.  Question is: Is there a preferred
> engine
> stand to mount it on....or just lay it on the oil pan on a bench. I've
> been reading
> 'Classic Corvair' and appreciate the directions from Mr. Helt which I'll
> follow as
> best I can.  Any input accepted.
> Bill Kronen
> '63 Turbo Spyder 'vert
> '66 Coupe 140/PG

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