Straight 8 Teardown

O

outbdnut

Member
I bought a 1953 straight 8 on Craigslist that supposedly is a good runner, but before putting it in my 1951 Special, I am going to pull the head and pan and check bearing clearance, valves, rings, etc. I have a heavy duty engine stand that I've had motors as big as a 472 Cadillac V8 on, so it can take the weight, but I'm wondering if bolting the straight 8 up to the motor stand - can the engine's bolt holes take the weight without cracking off as I work on the motor bolted to the stand?
Thx,
Dave
 
Engine stand.

Welcome to our BUICK world


Mine did. I have done a 248 and a 263. Like to never found a "combination" that would bolt up.

It will be DIFFICULT to rotate, due to the leverage from the length.

Where is Zimmerman?

Ben
 
firstofeight said:
Welcome to our BUICK world


Mine did. I have done a 248 and a 263. Like to never found a "combination" that would bolt up.

It will be DIFFICULT to rotate, due to the leverage from the length.

Where is Zimmerman?

Ben
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Thanks for your reply about your success using engine stands with straight 8's. Yes I think it will be difficult to rotate, but turning it over on the floor, propped in place with 2x4s and 4x4s will not be easy either.

Just to clarify I'm interpreting you right, I'm taking your answer of "Mine DID" to mean the engine mounting holes DID stay in one piece, as opposed to DID crack off.

Zimmerman is in Minnesota - about 50 miles northwest of Minneapolis. I should probably edit my profile to include the state.

Dave
 
I dnt know if you have a welder but I fabbed a quick connect extension with a swivel head to help support the front of the engine to make it easier to work on it. It helps take the pressure off the rear of the block. Easy to turn and move around the shop with casters on the bottom of the extension.:D
 
jnelson said:
I dnt know if you have a welder but I fabbed a quick connect extension with a swivel head to help support the front of the engine to make it easier to work on it. It helps take the pressure off the rear of the block. Easy to turn and move around the shop with casters on the bottom of the extension.:D
Click to expand...


I have a MIG welder, but haven't used it much, and have used it mainly on sheet metal, so I don't trust my welding skills yet when the weld has to carry a heavy load. I may look into having a friend weld me up a support....or...just thinking out loud here....I could make a support out of 2x6 boards - it wouldn't have to swivel - just prop up the front of the motor.
Thanks for the idea! I'm hoping for warm weather soon so the snow melts and I can get to work in my unheated garage.
Dave
 
I have had my 263 on a regular engine stand multiple times over the years. I use grade 8 bolts attached to the bell housing. I assemble the complete engine on there. I have experimented and if you divide the distance between the center of the head and the center of the crank into thirds and if you mount the engine on the engine stand about a third of the way up from the crankshaft centered on the pivot of the engine stand the engine will be about balanced and will turn over easy on the engine stand.
 
Another thought I would not be worried about the bell housing being strong enough but I would be concerned about your engine stand if it is from Harbor Freight or other low cost supplier, those cheap ones could just fold up. I copied my engine stand from an OTC that was designed for In line 6 cylinder Detroit Diesels. Safety is what it is all about.
 
another idea would be to get a 2nd engine stand ( same type as the first ), and make a fixture to attach the motor mounts on each side of the block to ... the rotating faceplate ... whatever they call that. :clonk:

you should certainly be well over the combined weight rating of TWO stands, and you'll be able to access the entire engine including the flywheel with it still mounted.

that also solves the problem of that humongous cantilever you're going to be supporting. it's not even so much that the Str-8 is so massively heavy, it's that it's so **** long. even a stand rated for 800-900 lbs might not actually be designed to handle 800lbs that far away from the post.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. My stand came from Northern Tool, which is a discount tool place, perhaps a cut above Harbor Freight, but if I remember right it has a 2,000 pound rating, although I'd never put that much weight on it. I would look into a 2nd stand or an engine end support on wheels if I had a bunch more engines to rebuild, but hopefully this is my last, or next to last. I'm 71 years old and have a couple old cars, but my main hobby the last several years is old boats and outboard motors form 1 to 40 HP, and I have approx 75 of those. My cherry picker comes in handy for the bigger outboards - see below.
Thanks again!
Dave

 
I assembled a 263 on a Harbor Freight engine stand (on sale at $79.99) rated for a ton if I recall correctly. It is designed to bolt to the bell housing with four adjustable arms that bolted to the stand's rotating plate. I thought the front legs were too short to avoid overbalancing the front of the 263 when assembly would be nearing completion. So I made up a 1/2 inch steel plate with holes to match the back of the 263 block, and others to bolt to the mounting plate of the stand. That put the rear of the engine block about 11 inches closer to the post of the engine stand.

This worked fine, except it went from difficult to impossible to rotate the mounted engine once it got full of its innards. I solved that problem by wrapping a sturdy rope around the crank pulley and hanging the rope from my cherry picker. The cherry picker took enough of the weight to allow rotation. Looked a bit ridiculous, but worked just fine.
 
'51 Special said:
I solved that problem by wrapping a sturdy rope around the crank pulley and hanging the rope from my cherry picker. The cherry picker took enough of the weight to allow rotation. Looked a bit ridiculous, but worked just fine.
Click to expand...


I think using the Cherry Picker the way you did is a great idea! If I was going to do this all the time, I'd want some other way, but this may be the only straight 8 I'll be tearing down.
Thanks for the tip!
Dave
 
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