I am thinking about dead lifting a sbc short block into a engine stand.I was wondering what the wt. of that would be and if two people could handle it??.:confused::eek:
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I am thinking about dead lifting a sbc short block into a engine stand.I was wondering what the wt. of that would be and if two people could handle it??.:confused::eek:
get 2 more people to be safe........unless you were on the strong man show, you're taking a huge chance trying to lift it on your own.
BTW..you are going to need a cherry picker to take it off the stand and into the car, why not have a cherry picker now and save yourself.
A few tips...bolt the stand adapter to the engine first, then back the stand against the wall so it doesn't roll away when you try to put the engine on it. And find a BIG dumb friend to help! SBC short blocks aren't all that heavy, but lining things up on a stand is a lot different than just putting it in the back of a truck.
I did it with a 351W - and will NEVER do that again. A couple trips to the chiropractor, a bottle of aspirin and two weeks sitting carefully (couldn't bend over)cured me of even thinking about doing it again. Two guys - works fine. Oh yeah, 180 pounds for that bare block (the Ford was "only" 165#:CRY:)
at least make sure you have the right size and length bolts for the engine stand---its a good circus act to balance the short block under one arm/on knee while you screw the bolts in, also seems that it always ends up that that is on my left side and I'm right handed, then I left the racket on the floor-------
I do it just the way that Ron Pope suggests, bolt the engine to the adapter plate first, then all you have to do is feed the entire assembly into the big round hole. I also put grease on the snout of the adapter so it spins easier when you are rotating the engine for work. I use my engine lift to pick the motor up to put it on the stand, but I have done it with two guys, three is better, two lifting and one feeding it onto the stand.
What IC2 says about injuries is a very real concern. I tore the bicep off of my arm bone just lifting the corner of my 39 Dodge cab to put a shim under it one time.......something I had done a million times. It only takes that one time to cause you some serious, long term damage to your body. The older I get the less I lift without some mechanical helper.
Don
Some of my "helpers"
1 2T come-a-long
2 2T chain falls
1 very long 4X rope pulley arrangement
4 2T jacks
1 12T jack
2 scissors jacks.
2 very long 1.5" nylon rope
1 long 1" nylon rope
several various lengths of case chain
I also have 'points' in my shop ceiling to hook up the chain falls
My back - no problems now since I use my "helpers".
Since it next to impossible to find help when I want to do something, I figure out a way - my car body went on with one chainfall and the come-a-long;
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...Going-on-1.jpg
Dave's got the plan, and Pops suggestions are what I follow with the engine stand thing.
The other alternative? When I was MUCH younger one of the things I did to make a few extra bucks was move pianos. My partner in this operation was about the same size as me, say 6', 175#. Most moves went smooth because we didn't fight each other, teamwork is always better. On those rare occasions where we had to move one out of a basement we'd get one of my pards employees to help. He wore a size 3 hat and 54 coat......we put him at the bottom.:D
Ya, and make sure the stand has the wheels locked or blocked, a few years back when I was younger and dumber, a buddy and i chased the engine stand across the shop trying to shove the head into it.
If it's a full dressed block it'll weigh in at about 535 to 575 pounds depending on if it has w/alum. intake or not. It will even less w/alum. heads. So unless you want to be picking your balls up off the ground when you do it I wouldn't even think about it.
That is unless you're about 20-25 or so years old & have the muscle to do it.
I know when I was in my 20's I could do it, but now a days I ask for help w/just the heads, unless I'm having a really good day & even then I am very cautious.
My advice even to the young ones here & I have said it several times.
USE the K.I.S.S. method "Keep It Simple Stupid" and my advice is use a chain hoist..joe
I just sat the BBC block in the camaro this morning by hand. It had the heads, mid plate & motor plate attached also. It was a piece of cake. But then it only weighed about 30 lbs. :LOL::LOL::LOL:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...wall7-5-10.jpg
I did set a bare block in a P.U. & assembled it in the truck because I didn't have a cherry picker available at the time. I was younger then.
A two ton cherry picker is only a few bucks to rent, and about 149.00 to buy at harbor freight. Money can be tight, but a broken foot or a strained back can plague you a long time, and make money even harder to come by. When I was a kid, I didn't have a lift and had to pull my 289 out of the mustang. We took the heads off, and all the peripheral stuff and then mounted a chain across the intake bolts. We then got a strong 2x4 and hoisted it out between two of us. The bad part about doing what you want is trying to attach it to the stand! That's hard even when the hoist is holding it! I'd take Don's suggestion about having the backing plate already bolted to the engine.
yep but your spring rates are too strong for that 30 lb block
Yea, I am beginning to wonder if they are too strong for the "real" deal too.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerry clayton
with cast iron block & heads they still barely compress & I have the adjustment rings completely backed off. :whacked: Maybe when I put water in the radiator it'll level out. :LOL::LOL::LOL:
Another one of those "I used to do that" guys here. The short block will weigh about 400 or so, so were I you, I'd definitely get a friend, best in the form of an engine hoist - unless, of course, you are one of those "Worlds Strongest Man" competitors. If you do decide to do it by hand, turn the thing top side down and grab it in the cylinder bores; also, fastening the stand head to the block first is a must. As a qualifier, I was a power lifter in my younger days, up into my forties, and I only hung a SBC short block on a stand by hand by myself one time; said "never again", just too much awkward bulk and maneuvering for a safe lift. Be real careful.
Yeah, you're nuts.:D For the cost of a cherry picker, even renting one if you are really strapped, it's just not worth the possibility of having back problems for the rest of your life. As Rrumbler and others have said, it's not just the weight, it's the awkward position you have to lift from that can and probably will do damage to your back.
Thanks guys for the advise.As stated a short block with a wt of 400lbs is a deal breaker to hand lift it.Now if I could only get the seller on CL to get back to me,the cherry picker issue would be resolved.
I wouldn't say you're nuts, Gary, but to attempt to handle it that way wouldn't work unless you want to get a back like the one I have, then it still wouldn't work.
Beg, buy, borrow or steal a proper lift. Over my lovely wife's objections I bought one at Sam's a few years back. It wasn't expensive. I have since found a lot of uses for it besides hoisting engines.
An inspection of my magnificent body will reveal a sort of ugly scar on my left forearm I got when I decided to change an automatic transmission by myself without a transmission jack. Also, I'm short a piece of a finger I got while replacing some rear springs.
I still try some dumb things occasionally but I haven't repeated those two adventures.
Use the correct equipment!
Jim
A friend of ours once sold a complete flathead Ford to a big goomer. It was in the basement, and we were scratching our heads trying to figure the best way to get it up the stairs and out the door. The big guy grabbed it by the exhaust manifolds, heaved it up and walked to the stairs. "Open the door", he sez, without drawing a deep breath! He walked the sucker right out to his truck and dumped it in the back like a sack of groceries.
By the way, even if you use a picker, it still don't mean you're not nuts! Haha.
Can't you borrow a cherry picker from some one in the area? A broken body and back never are the same after lifting something to heavy, I know from experience. :eek::eek:
I make mine (cherry picker) available to anyone in the area.:D
I persoally would not try it. BUT if you have to pick it up with a friend and put it in the back of a truck. Then bolt the engine stand to the block while it is hanging off the tailgate. Then just lift it to the ground with the stand already bolted up. Works purty good in a tight spot. But your back can cuase very bad pain it's not worth it.
Creep
Yepper guys,I know full well what a bad back is all about.I took a careen ending fall on the base of my spine crushing one of my dics at the GM engine plant at Tonn,NY.I have lived with that almost my whole life.(happened when I was only in my early 20's and I am now 62 yrs old)
So the deal I was working on in CL came threw.
A like new 1 ton(wanted a 2 ton,but what the heck) fold able leg cherry picker,750 lb four leg engine stand and a HF never used in the box item number 5402 load leveler.
All for only $130.00 bucks.
I think I made a pretty good deal.When things work out like this,it just seems it was meant to be.Kind of like someone above is looking out for me.
So now back to tearing down my V8 Ole Yellar engine to take it as a bare block to the machine shop with the crank,rod/pistons assemblies.Depending on the measurement of the bores,might make it a 383.Woo.woo!!!!.
Woo.woo!!!!. does that mean you hope it is bad?????Woo.woo!!!!
Nawwww.I just really like wrenching Jerry.We are hoping for a standard bore even through it is claimed to be a crate engine.Lots of them rebuilds where odd sizes like .040 over etc.In that case we will just freshen it up and buy a different top haft and cam.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerry clayton
Gary,
I'm with the others, get help or better yet, get a cherry picker. I myself could ( I think) at 67 still dead lift 200 lbs. but to hold it there while the bolts were tight, no way.
If you don't mind a trip down memory lane, one of my friends needed a Ford flat head block to replace the cracked block in his 46 ford (50 years ago), we went to the local WR/YD and found a complete engine, block, heads, internals, pan and intake. Did I mention my friend was an animal.:D He lifted the complete engine up to his chest, then 2 of us helped push it to the top of a 6' fence and we dropped it on the other side. The 3 of use went to the counter and bought maybe 8 used spark plugs, drove out to the side fence and loaded the engine into the trunk of my Moms' 53 Chrysler. Don't mean hijack but this thread brought back memorys:):).
Jack.
I think he's got it covered.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack F
Quote:
A like new 1 ton(wanted a 2 ton,but what the heck) fold able leg cherry picker,750 lb four leg engine stand and a HF never used in the box item number 5402 load leveler.
All for only $130.00 bucks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack F
LOL-Jack,want a funny story???.I worked the dyno rm at the Chevy Tonn engine plant and they where having engines showing up missing.Well the head of the guards there told me they heard a story about 5 guys in a pick-up.That they fought hard to get this engine out a side door of the plant and down two sets of stairs.The guys in the pick-up where driving down river rd which is in front of the plant and is right next to the Niagara river and saw behind them some distance away the guard's Suburban loaded with guards.Now this all happened at night after dark.So the 5 guys pulled over and busted their hump to get the engine out of the truck and dumped it in the river.So the head of the guards asked around and found out who was in the guards truck that night.All the guards said they where going to get pizza for lunch and saw 5 guys on the side of the road and just went around them.One of the guards wanted to stop because he thought the 5 guys where broke down on the side of the road,but all the other guards stated they thought those guys where just "fishing".:LOL::LOL::LOL:
Yeah-after that the engines stopped showing up missing.And no-it wasn't me,just passing on a funny story.
So guys,if the story is true and your into treasure hunting,somewhere near the Tonn,NY engine plant in the river is a tri-pot 427 aluminum head engine.It's the one missing from that day.Yeah it's been there for awhile.
[QUOTE=1gary;391558]Yepper guys,I know full well what a bad back is all about.I took a careen ending fall on the base of my spine crushing one of my dics at the GM engine plant at Tonn,NY.I have lived with that almost my whole life.(happened when I was only in my early 20's and I am now 62 yrs old)
Just exactly how many dics did you have anyway?