I posted this on the Dentside forum. One of the guys suggested I also post it here.

I've been wanting an engine test stand for a long time. Even when I didn't have an engine to run on it. I've got two engines in the build process. A 302 which I started several months ago, and a 460 which I just recently started. The 460 will get finished first, because I want it in my Dent as soon as possible. I took the block and crankshaft to the machine shop about a week ago, right after I finished mocking up the test stand around it.

I looked at buying a test stand, but I don't like any of the ones I've seen. Even the best rated one looks a little flimsy to me, and the price is sky high. So I started gathering materials. So far, all the metals I've used were pieces I had lying around from past projects. I built the base around measurements I took from several V8's, my 5.9L Cummins, and my 4L jeep engine. It's long enough to run an engine with a transmission attached. And sturdy enough to support a 5.9L Cummins diesel.






Those are "460 EFI Guys" motor mounts, made specifically for swapping a 385 series engine into a truck that has a 335 series engine. Building the stand around those mounts had an unforeseen fortuitous consequence, which I'll hit on later.



When I first started this project, I didn't have a spare bellhousing, so I built the tailstock to attach to the rear of the block.



I made the control panel from a piece of scrap 3/16" steel, racing dash switch panel, battery cutoff switch, some donated cheapy gauges, and a lawn mower throttle lever. And I used the original radiator from my Dent just for mockup. The control panel can be moved to any part of the base I want. I'll just need to fabricate and weld on more attachment pockets. But I think it'll work just fine where it's at. I didn't consider that I'll need a to attach my ignition box. I'll probably mount it where the decal is. Shucks.





Yes, it's tilted to the rear on purpose. That's so the carburetor flange will be level. Just like when it's in the vehicle.



Battery tray is a store bought weld on. The battery is grounded to the frame. I'll make a bracket for the starter solenoid, and weld it to the frame, so the solenoid is grounded.



I lucked up and found a bellhousing. And I was fortunate that all I had to do was turn the tailstock around, and weld on some flat bar. Now the tailstock can be attached to the block or a bellhousing. I'm happy about finding a bellhousing. I wasn't comfortable about having an exposed 50 lb spinning wheel of death. I also got a new radiator. It's a Summit 4 row that fits my truck. The truck currently has a Champion 4 row. Now I have a spare. I need to make lower brackets for the radiator. It'll be tilted rearward to match the fan. I also plan to make a fan shroud.





After I removed the 460 block from the test stand and took it to the machine shop, I got the 302 out of the shop so I could build the motor mount perch. This is where the 460's custom motor mounts paid off in an unexpected way.....The perch and tailstock I built for the 460, will also work with 335 series, and Windsor blocks! 302 pictured below.




That's where the stand is at now. I need to add a couple of small things, finish wiring, maybe paint it and stick a bunch of speed decals on it. The 460 build has now become a 501 build. Parts are scarce right now, so this won't move as quickly as I had planned. But I'll update this as I go.

 

Very nice work!

 

Thank you!

 

That looks pretty cool. I built the stand that's for my dyno and I can probably share a few thing that might be helpful to make the stand more versatile. The motor mounts which have to absorb no torque just hold up the engine; that I built use a piece of 1 inch all thread and I have a nut with a bolt welded on to stick straight up like a stud. The rod goes down through a solid piece of steel with a slot at one end. The slot fits over a 1/2 inch bolt that can slide back and forth in a slot that's milled into the top tube of the stand. This way they can swing in or out and move forward or back very easily and this allows me to accommodate just about any engine, Fords, Chevy, Mopar etc.

For small block Fords I use a 7/16 bolt welded to the top of a 1/2 inch nut, screw that into the motor mount hole and then thread in the top of my stand mount. For big Ford, FE or 385 I use a 90 degree angle bolted to the top of the stand mount and bolted to either the front of the head or the front of the block just depending on what works out.


A radiator and a fan is a pain. What I use on the dyno is a cooling tower which is very simple. The tank has a stand pipe where water can overflow and run out through the yellow hose. There's a thermostatic valve at the bottom that allows in cool water whenever the temperature gets to the set temperature for testing(usually 185). Hot water just overflows and runs out. For a water pump I use a CSR 12 volt remote pump that's mounted on the stand right by the cooling tower. I can test and cool the engine endlessly with this setup and I just use the water pump on the engine as a manifold with no drive belts. When I do cam break in I like to run the engine under about a 20-25 horsepower load for one hour. Getting enough airflow to allow this to happen would be very difficult with the average radiator especially with a large low compression engine that generates a lot of heat.

 

Yeah, I considered using acme threaded rod to make the stand quickly adapt to other engines. But I decided to make more robust engine specific perches, because I need this stand to be mobile over uneven surfaces, with the engine on it. Same for cooling system. I need everything rolling as one package. Only exception to that is the fuel tank. I was gonna mount it on the stand, but there's really no need to do that. I will however make a more universal tailstock when I get into other engines. I've got a 318 in a van that I may pull and run before deciding what to do with it. Probably the best reason for having engine specific perches and tailstocks, is that there's no adjustments needed in order to line things up. That's certainly not practical for a dynamometer though.

 

It is tough to make a stand that'll fit everything and be as versatile as possible. My dyno uses a bell housing that bolts to a plate and the absorber mounts to the back of the plate which sits on a pedestal so that it can be tilted all around when installing the engine.

The open cooling system would require a source of water. That's no problem on the dyno because its already there on the stand to feed the absorber. My fuel system is mounted to the dyno stand, two Holley black pumps in a return system using a Braswell regulator. I have it set up using a relay so that I can run the pumps using a momentary switch to fill the bowls after a jet change and then there is also an on off switch and a pressure switch in the circuit which allows the pumps to only run when there is oil pressure automatically. That works really slick and I can also turn off the switch with the engine running to empty out the bowls if needed.

 

Gotta make a bracket for the MSD box, then wire it up. Engine is ready to run. Won't be long.

 

Really nice stand you built. Mine is just made from scrap. It has new wheels and a battery box since this picture.

 

Look at that beautiful Y-block! I love it. Mine's made of scrap too, except the casters, radiator and battery tray.

 

Thank you.Yours look so much better made. Mine really wasn't intended as a test stand, that engine has about 3000 miles on it tested in the car. I built it out of many of my old left over parts and ran it in the car while I did trans, rear end and suspension work. Then I rebuilt the original engine and this one ended up on the garage floor. The bottom of the stand was just a cart I used to move around blocks, trans and other heavy items. I wanted to be able to keep the engine in running condition rather then just being stored so know I fire it up and listen to it about once a week, I never get tired of the sound of a Y Only really cost was two new wheels and I just bought a new cheap battery. I should take an updated picture.

 

I got the engine installed on the test stand last night. I still have several little detail items to take care of before I fire the engine. Gotta make a throttle cable bracket, a short exhaust system with mufflers, wire the MSD box, etc..

 

Great design and craftsmanship, I really like it.

 

Thank you!

 

I wish I had built something like yours years ago but at my age I think the last two Y blocks will be the last engine builds I do.

 

That looks great. It is a real luxury to be able to start and run the engine before it leaves and goes into a vehicle.