Running an Engine outside the vehicle

[Burban]

View media item 7976So after a year or more of looking, I finally found a 6.2 for cheap. It was from a K30 that had been running but was let sat for a year, and then they couldn't start it, so they yanked it and put in a 350.

So before I stick it in the truck, I figure I should maybe check I can get it running, it turns over.

Again, for the benefit of those with bigger pockets than me:

Truck cost: $200
Truck usage: dormant since the GWB administration, if it runs will be good for picking up lumber from local store, hauling junk, maybe occasionally drag a mower. Not daily driving. Not hwy driving.
Truck condition: ******. It's an '83 Chevy in the rust belt thats been in a shed for years, it's been nested in, the tire belt blew and slapped a hole in the bed, it's been run into a parking meter.
Cost of engine: $100

It came with a strangled SBC 350, it's scarey above 55, I want a pootler.

I'd trade it all for a Lada Niva

So what's a good way to run it, without it killing me? I've never run a car engine outside a vehicle before, and certainly not one this size. I've seen videos of people doing it on a stand, on a crane?

The guy that sold me it, had it sitting in a little wooden cradle which he gave me, and it travelled back in that wedged upright with some old tires, but I don't know if the wood would be up to the rocking that a running motor might give me? I moved it using a tow rope, wrapped round the bucket of the front loader on my old tractor.

Is there another lift point on it? I found one at the back left, and then wrapped the other end of the rope round a crossover pipe at the front, that I'm guessing carries the coolant?

I might feel OK about starting it, if I could find a second lift point and use a chain instead of a nylon tow rope.

 

[Blue Ox]

I've run one on a pallet with wood blocks under the pan rails to keep it upright. We just started and ran it, I wouldn't snap the throttle with that setup.

The front lift point on mine is the eye on the P/S reservoir bracket.

 

[Burban]

Hmm, maybe I'm missing that, or it's in the box of parts the guy gave me.

I do have the big 386 page training manual on the engine, in PDF form. Maybe I should sweet talk the wife into printing it out for me, and installing it in the tech library (bathroom).

I think I need to put on the flex plate, and the starter before I can try anything?

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Be sure to make a video of it running for guys to look back on.

 

[Blue Ox]

I think I need to put on the flex plate, and the starter before I can try anything?

You're certainly not going to pull-start it.

Now that I think about it, we may have blocked it under the exhaust manifolds. Use your best judgement.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

You're certainly not going to pull-start it.

It would be funny to watch though

 

[Snoots]

Just wrap a rope around the crank snout and give it a fast, hard pull. Video required.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Just wrap a rope around the crank snout and give it a fast, hard pull. Video required.

Or mount the balancer to the floor and spin the block. More leverage. Video required for that too.

 

[Snoots]

Or mount the balancer to the floor and spin the block. More leverage. Video required for that too.

I like that idea better!

 

[Burban]

Ah, you poor innocent young things, that have never owned a vehicle with a crank handle.

 

[Paladin]

To do it safely, IMO, you need a sturdy, well built engine stand with something to cover the flexplate just in case you or one of your friends have one to many brews and decide to stumble and fall into it while running. Attached is a photo of the one I built to test run my BB build. It helps when your a welder but there are much simpler ones available to do it safely! Is a couple hundred dollars worth saving yourself or someone else from a very dangerous accident?

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Honky Kong jr]

To do it safely, IMO, you need a sturdy, well built engine stand with something to cover the flexplate just in case you or one of your friends have one to many brews and decide to stumble and fall into it while running. Attached is a photo of the one I built to test run my BB build. It helps when your a welder but there are much simpler ones available to do it safely! Is a couple hundred dollars worth saving yourself or someone else from a very dangerous accident?

You must be registered for see images attach

I build my own for the soul purpose of pissing off my neighbors. Lol

 

[Paladin]

I build my own for the soul purpose of pissing off my neighbors. Lol

Yeah, they always love it when I have some type of home project going and fire up that old Lincoln welder early on a Saturday morning!

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Yeah, they always love it when I have some type of home project going and fire up that old Lincoln welder early on a Saturday morning!

Open headers on a free revving big block works well too.

 

[Burban]

To do it safely, IMO, you need a sturdy, well built engine stand with something to cover the flexplate just in case you or one of your friends have one to many brews and decide to stumble and fall into it while running. Attached is a photo of the one I built to test run my BB build. It helps when your a welder but there are much simpler ones available to do it safely! Is a couple hundred dollars worth saving yourself or someone else from a very dangerous accident?

You must be registered for see images attach

See, this is why I attached the prices, yes $200 is too much for me to spend on something I'm gonna use once. I might as well just bolt it in the truck and hope i works, but V8's are such a awkward design to work on, I figured I might fire it up before hand.

Your stand looks lovely, but I don't plan to make a habit of this, and I'm not blueprinting or rebuilding the thing.