Engine test/run stand

Does anyone have one? If so, did you buy it? Where? 

Having one would make a couple of my future projects way easier. 

I made mine - I only used it for A series BMC motors (Classic Mini and Sprite/Midgets). I made it out of junk found on the curb in my neighborhood - namely a treadmill and a weight bench. I used a stainless shelf for the "dashboard" and switches, wired everything properly with relays and a left over Mini Lucas 4 fuse panel and it worked perfectly. I think the hardest part for me was getting the angle right for the motor mounts for Mini engine/gearboxes. I used it to run in the cam and check for oil leaks, overheating, noises that shouldn't be there and so on.

The red tray underneath was really handy for catching oil drips and water when something leaked - notice I didn't say "if" something leaks!  

I bought an "Easy Run" stand about 10 years ago. It does what is says on the box. It is designed for old Yank V8's so everything I do requires custom adapters.

When I needed a second I just tossed some square tube together on casters and slapped an old radiator on it.

It lacks all the gauges the easy run has but performs the same task for pennies on the dollar.

I will say, these days I am questioning their usefulness in my shop. They are great for checking for leaks and getting some heat cycles into the motor before going in the car, but without a load on the motor you cannot break them in. The time it takes to mount the engine to the run stand, then remove and install in the car is about the same amount of time to remove and reinstall in a car if there is an issue so there isn't much of a time savings in my shop environment.

I have moved our shop to running each new motor on an engine dyno instead of using these. These are relegated to checking oil pressure and doing compression and leakdown tests on customer supplied "good motors"

In reply to MiniDave :

That's an interesting setup

In reply to Trent :

I think I'm just going to get one off Summit and go with that. I'll never have an engine dyno but for what I'm doing this should be fine. I've been hoping to find some used ones on Facebook marketplace or CL.

If you decide to get one, get one that breaks down. I bought a set of DIY plans that has the deal break down into something like a foot deep x 2.5' wide x 4' tall. Won't take long before a 2.5' x 4' x 4' gets seriously in the way

canoe