DIY engine trolley how to, with pics and diagrams!

Hey everyone!

Seeing how long a rebuild can take on any car, storage is always essential.

Faced with the same problem myself, I decided something had to be done.

Though this is a little intricate, it was necessary as I needed maximum space savings in the garage.

What I decided to do was build a low cost, simple and highly effective engine cradle/trolley for spare L28 that was inefficiently taking up heaps of room on a "temporary" generic trolley.

What you will need are:

Castor wheels, 4x 65kg capacity, free spinning- $16 from bunnings

Tape measure and rafter square.

Lengths of scrap steel tube and 2 bits of flat plate I had lying around.

Drill and bits.

Welder.

Grinder and cut off wheel/saw.

Angle finder/bevel square.

Basically you need to determine a few things:

1: Overall height of block including sump.

2: Dimensions between engine mount bolt centres width and height off of lowest part of sump.

3: Clearance required.

4: Castor size

5: Tube size

Here is what happened:

Pics 1&2 Got motor out from its "temporary" hiding spot.

Pics 3 Spent a couple of hours drawing up dimensions of, width, height, length, mounting bolt centres, mount angles and most overall dimensions from the block.

Researched weight of long block...160-180kg?

Pics 4 Found scrap tube, bought castors to suit weight, and drew up base frame to suit desired sump to floor clearance, and the irregular offcuts that was going to be used.

Second part of the trolley build.

Once drawn and decided on heights it was mig welded together, and completed in about 6-7 hours with breaks.

The pictures speak for themselves.

The only thing needed is a support at the back of the block, as the mounts are rather far forward on the L28.

With a bit of creative thinking this engine trolley/cradle can be made to suit any motor with engine mount.

Looks good but I would recommend larger dia castors for easier movement.

These cradles can be used to hold the engine/gearbox while an S30 body is lifted off.

Or wait till SupaCheep Auto have yet another sale, and pick up theier engine stand, i fitted mine out with a twin set of removable timber shelves ( cut down pallets) and as i dismantle, everything sits on or under the two shelves.

The stand is the one that the rear f the block bolts to, and that bit rotates.

Paid $130 for it.

I just find abandoned shopping trolleys (side of the road, drains, creeks etc), cut the basket off & weld some scrap RHS or angle iron across for the sump to rest in/on.

Costs me about half hour of my time...

Im getting one of these and modding to suit.

http://radum.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=17_376

Cheers

Let's see pics up!