I have noticed with the newer hoists that the booms are shorter than the older ones sometimes requiring removing the front bumper to get it to the center of the engine with the hook! Something you should be aware of before you try to stuff that engine in a car. Make sure you do a no engine test run to make sure the boom will reach as far as needed.
And make certain that, when the engine is lifted, the crane doesn't tip forward. Some guys mount an engine block, or other weights, on the back of the hoist as a counter balance.
That happened to my folding harbor fright hoist (6 casters) with a dressed 426 hemi on it. I had to stand on it as two guys rolled the car underneath it. Got scarier the higher it went too! ws
Actually, I'm so paranoid... Er, I mean "cautious" that I always remove the (expensive) recently-chromed bumper and (expensive) NOS Skylark/GS grill prior to attempting to remove the engine or, especially, an engine/trans combo anyway. Even so, a dry run is a good idea anyway. Your "...tip forward" warning makes me wonder exactly what criteria the hoist manufacturer uses to determine the overall capacity of the hoist (2-ton in my case), along with the capacity at each extension point of the adjustable crane boom (1 & 1/2-ton. 1-ton and 1/2-ton positions). Are they determined by the maximum capacity of the lifting cylinder assembly prior to failure (O-ring failure, structural failure, etc)? Or is it determined by the ability of the hoist assembly to remain upright when lifting a load? Even though we should never exceed the maximum capacity of any lifting device... I wonder how much of a "safe overload weight before failure" is designed into these hoists. 10%? 20% Or, none whatsoever? Hopefully, it's not "None".
Just pulled the engine out of the Regal this afternoon using my newly purchased pawn shop 3 ton(100.00) Carolina hoist. Trick is to not send the boom out ant further than the legs in front. This crane has extendable legs. Fully extended I'd bet its 8'. Picked it up with little effort.
I decided to have an engine run stand made this summer so I can get my motors all figured out before installing them into my cars.Plans from Ebay and my buddy Bruce worked it out for me.I have to get it painted and wired up this winter..
Wire what? The stand? That's something i need to make. Where do you put your battery? Can you share the plans?
Yeah I have to finish the MSD wiring route, as well as a starter switch from the stand to the motor as well as the wiring to distributor and starter. If you look in the first picture,there is a bracket that holds the battery down made from diamond plate. It will mount the battery on the pan on the starter side so access to the starter wires will be easier.
