Engine holding fixture

[dgagne]

Hi,
This gut on ebay is selling an adapter to fit the 911 engine on a stand without spending a fortune on P201. I want the right tool for the job but if there is something out there for $50, why not use the money for parts.
Wondering if anybody has ever seen or used one of these and wondering what your thoughts are.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2413630592&category=6754

Cheers,
Derek

[Joe911]

Have one holding up an engine as we speak. Works well - spreads the weight around adequately. Not a nice as the factory unit and can't install the flywheel. BUT HOLDS THE ENGINE OFF THE FLOOR WHILE I REPLACE SOME GASKETS AND ADJUST THE VALVES.

[dgagne]

Would you trust it to remove the cam nut and for complete tear down and rebuild or as you put it to change gaskets and adjust valves?

[snowman]

See the cam timing thread for the ulitmate engine holder.

[Wayne 962]

The factory stands have a lip that actually supports the weight of the case - the bolts do not support the weight. I believe that if the bolts are left to support the entire weight of the case, it can either pull ou the bolts (magnesium cases), or damage the lip of the case. If you take a close look at the factory case, it becomes apparent why you should use it - you see that the case is supported uniformly by the lip - not the case bolts...

This topic has been debated to death.

-Wayne

[Joe911]

At the risk of Wayne’s wrath - the four wide-V brackets spread the weight around the lip of the case quite well. They are hard to see from the picture. I am happy with it for my purpose. However, the factory unit uses less that 180 degrees of the lip allowing ½ of the case to be mounted which the econo-unit will not allow. For a rebuild, I will buy the factory stand. The $232 for the premium stand will not be missed in the context of $7K+ spent on the rebuild I would definitely not use a four bolt/standard engine stand on a Porsche mag case..

[snowman]

Wayne is probably 100 percent correct but no one has presented any real analysis to support it one way or the other.

[Wayne 962]

Joe, you're confusing the lip that I am talking about with the edge of the case. Those four V-brackets do not even touch the lip that I am referring to. Let me see if I have a better pic - it's really tough to absorb if you haven't seen one. The first time I saw it, I said, "oh, I get it now..."

Got it:

[Wayne 962]

Here's the pic:



As you can see, the engine's weight is supported by the lip on the stand, indicated by the green arrows. The weight of the engine in this case is supported by the lower part of the lip. This reduces the stress and force pulling on the case studs (which did pull out in my magnesium case, apparently from someone else's rebuild).

This lip extends all the way arround 1/2 of the case, providing excellent support by supporting the case on the lip, instead of at two (or four) localized points.

Hope this helps explain the mystery.

-Wayne

[jim72911t]

The main drawback I see is that it would be impossible to split the case with that setup. The other drawback is price. I could make that "engine stand" with $5 worth of steel, $5 worth of hardware store bolts, and a drill press. Heck, you wouldn't even need a drill press!

Would I trust my motor on that stand? Probably not. Once you see how effective of a job the "correct" 5 arm stand does, you'll see that it's worth the money.

But I'm a sucker when it comes to buying tools.

Jim

[snowman]

Wayne,
If the arms of the support are all on the up side, and the unsupported side of the case is down what difference can it make, its all in the bolts then. It seems to depend on orentation of the case with your stand with the worst case being the same for both the 5, 4 , and 2 post support.

[Joe911]

So if we were to be looking at the lip at the lower portion of the stand (which can not be seen as we are looking at the top) that lip is actually sitting on the stand - just like the transmission does.

Just what you said - I get it.

I never thought of the engine actually sitting on the lip of the transmission - but that it was just held in shear and the lip just sort of centered it. So the factory stand is like 1/2 of a transmission. I never really looked at how the ecomony stand held the engine at the bottom - could engine lip also be actually sitting on the the v brackets - probably not.

[power]

I'd save my money and buy the proper yoke. I thought about fabricating one myself (I used to be a fabricator/welder when I was younger) but decided to purchase the proper one instead, the time and effort added up to get it right would have been approx what I could buy one for.This yoke adapter does not look like it will do the job. I have seen engine cases damaged by people using/abusing the universal stands/yokes, I actually bought one with deformed trans mounting lip and stessed stud from P.O. using improper yoke on magnesium case. It's not worth it to scrimp here if you are doing any kind of major rebuild/teardown work.

[dad911]

A good tool is an investment. I bought my stand a few years back, and I'm sure someone would buy it tomorrow if I wanted to sell it. That thing on ebay won't bring $10 at a swap meet. BTW, don't PM me, mine is not for sale.