Sonix

iTrader: (1)

I'm going to pull my engine soon, and try to find all the leaks and fix them. I want to run the engine on my H leg style engine stand.

Any reason why I can't do this?

I was thinking of leaving all the coolant out, and just running it for ~1minute to find the leaks. Can I run it without any coolant in the block or would it pooch the waterpump? (Or other?)
What about if I fill the block, but don't hook up a rad? Or am I better off fabbing up some sort of stand and putting the rad in front of the engine?

Anything i'm not thinking about?

Supervisor42

Leave all the accessories out of it.
Make up a hose setup to feed water into the drain holes (1st pic look by the #5 sparkplug). Make block off plates to bolt on where the water pump goes (2nd pic). Connect up a garden hose and go ahead and run it all you want. Connect a heater hose to the connector by the thermostat. Use a flexplate and not a FLYWHEEL.
Slow down the water flow to "warm up" the engine.
This saved me from having to pull mine back out when the "new" rear main seal leaked, drip, drip, drip ...on the test stand.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Rock on!

ok, so hook up a garden hose to the drain plug on one or the other side of the block - gotcha.
Then hook up a heater hose to the intake manifold, and just put that wherever, let the water flow out down the road sorta thing?
Water flow rate is equal to how cool the engine will stay - makes sense...

Why not a flywheel? That's what i've got....

I'd probably grab another connector that goes into the distributor, so I can wire it up to my battery charger (or battery, whatever will power it).
Then hook up power to the large terminal on the starter, ground to, wherever....
Then jump power to the small terminal on the solenoid to start it up eh? And maybe run power to the choke on the carb if I needed to.

Anything else i'm missing?

Supervisor42

!!!You have to make a hose with a "T" fitting to feed water in both drain holes.
Why the flex plate? When you rap the throttle, the engine will tend to "hike a leg" like it does in frame as it accelerates the flywheel or torque converter.
With only the crank and flexplate to accelerate it won't have anything to push against.
If you put on a flywheel don't jazz the throttle or it will fall over on it's side.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Ok, both drain holes, noted.
Well with an H style engine stand, I wouldn't think it'd be able to tip over easily...
I could always throw a bunch of weight on that leg to keep it from going anywhere, sand bags, cinder blocks, etc. I just don't want to to buy a flywheel and use it for all of 20 minutes then put it away.

Thanks again Andy!

Supervisor42

It's not as dangerous as it sounds. Nothing will bring out the neighbors like a SBC with open exhausts in the driveway with no car in sight.
I can't believe I didn't make a single video as many times as I ran it on the stand . Atleast a dozen times.
Shoot a video of yours. You don't need any exhaust manifolds or headers either. Just keep the plugwires away from the exhaust ports. The about burning valves with open exhaust is old wives tale . It will make the idle mixture seem like it is set too lean, that's all.
Once you get done running it you will see where I came up with the idea for the 3/8" x 6" bolts in the front for handles. It be hot, yea.
p.s. you did notice the tach on the fuel pump right?

Supervisor42

For future searchers: close up of water hose with "T" to block drains.
Also, I edited my previous posts.

hgffrank

I've been working with an engine my dad wants to put in his truck. We made a special stand just for running an engine. I'll try and get a vid hosted and link to it so you can see it. Works great. too bad engine has a bad miss we still havent figured out.

Supervisor42

Better to have it missing on the stand than in the truck huh?
I won't ever bolt in anything that hasn't been run on a stand first. Maybe I'm getting old and don't have as much time to waste...
~or~
I have beat my head against the G.D. wall for the last G.D. time when somebody says "it's gonna hafta come back out".
Especially when it's me saying it...

hgffrank

found the vids
http://media.putfile.com/Running-350-engine-on-stand very short
http://media.putfile.com/Running-350...-running-right this one is long, major misfire issue.

You can see in the first vid which is quick how the stand was build and how we mounted gauges on it and the radiator. All power was ran off a battery, but the alternator was connected too.

this engine stand worked great though, we used an old stainless steal shelf from a bread store, and cut the shelves off, fabbed up some simulated crossmembers to mount the actual motor mounts to. then fabbed up the rear loop to mount the back of engine. the way we did it, the engine is mounted exactly like it would be in a car, minus a few bolts on rear. Good thing the stand was heavy too, cause when hitting the throttle that engine was tryin to jump a bit, a flywheel mighta been all it needed.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Yea, I was thinking about building a stand for engine runs like this, but I don't think i'll be doing enough of that to justify it yet. Besides, I should be able to run it on my engine building stand. With the water running through the block I should be able to run it as long as my bleeding ears allow...

Excellent, I have a little tach lying around I could use for just this purpose... I suppose an oil pressure gauge might be nice too.... Maybe not now though, I know this engine has great oil pressure.

? But why do you need handles? To move it around after it's been running?

Thanks guys!

Tobias05

priceless.

Supervisor42

Yep. Can't leave it outside, it might rain. Besides, after running it you will probably be working on it.
Second picture in my posts shows oil pressure gauge with short hose on valve cover. Everyone needs one of these anyway.
Good videos! I especially liked the reel-type push mower in the second one. don't see those much anymore .
BTW, the accelerator pump and/or "power valve" (mixture enrichment) is not working in that carb. Not ignition problem or engine.
Very nice stand.
Flywheel will make the engine jump worse than a flexplate, not better.
Ask me how I know. It only costs 4 sparkplugs, 4 wires and 1 pair of underwear .

hgffrank

I guess I worded that poorly, I meant to imply "a flywheel mighta been all it needed to flip it over"

Yeah that old style mower is headed to the scrap yard...lol With the prices of scrap these days, that mower is worth more as scrap than as a working mower.

You really think the carb is the problem on that engine? You watched the entire video. I kept trying to tell my dad that something wasnt right, and then he insisted on continuing to rev it up, and toward the end of the vid it ended up completely dropping a cylinder. Can a carb cause that? We ended up pulling the timing cover and checking the timing from sqaure one, I rechecked the dizzy, and wires again. and my dad was supposed to put it all back together and I think he still hasnt. I dont know much about the carb tuning or troubleshooting. My dad thinks that Carter AFB carb is worth its weight in gold, so I wouldnt even look forward to telling him its junk...lol

Supervisor42

Well, I like fixing difficult problems. Call him over to the computer...
In perfect working order it will get consistantly lower gas mileage than others at the same power level. They were designed for big block motors. Back when gas was 59¢ a gallon they were as good as any other carb. If you run it for 2 years nowdays you will pay the price of a carb in extra gas.
Even an edelbrock is better now, and I consider them below a Q-jet or a Holley.
That doesn't mean it is junk.
Someone that is restoring an old car probably wants it badly since they don't make 'em any more (guess why). Do some research and put it on ebay with lots of good pictures and every number on it. Then get something workable.
My humble Q-jet at IDLE.
and on the DYNO.
(engine under it is definately not stock, but is the one pictured above)
So no, you don't have to spend $400 for a carb. BTW, I'm close to your dad's age.