Engine on stand starting question

[Murray]

Build your stand to accommodate standard starter.

 

[Mean416]

Kinda. What I wanted to do was start it with a belt starter (instead of an alternator, it’s a electric motor that drives a belt) to make sure it runs with a gauge on oil pressure and a coolant loop. Not for break in but to make sure it fires over and can run for a few minutes and builds coolant pressure quickly. Due to the complexity of van engine replacement. But what I’m realizing is building a run stand may not be a bad idea after all.
Thank you.
Syleng1

My setup just uses a regular starter. What you're talking about you'd need a tremendous amount of torque from a motor. Think about the gear reduction of the spur gear to the ring gear in a starter motor. And a starter motor is a beast.

What you're talking about doing.... Quite frankly...its never gonna happen.

What I'm attempting to offer here is a couple basic bolt on parts that use the starter you already have, to let a guy verify stuff is working while it's on the build stand.

Anyway, you do you. Some people want everything to be special. My brother is like that lol.

 

[Mean416]

That takes all the fun out of it in the junk yard years ago. There is nothing like riding the trans reaching over to rev the engine.

Watch out for the rear distributors. The wires back then would juice you up and throw you off like a bull. An old 354 Hemi got me when I was younger. Try picking one of them up from its side.

I can remember my dad asking us who's getting on. We would draw straws for the big Cu.In. engines with AC and Power steering. Fluid squirting in the air from the trans lines and power steering. And the fan throwing up a dust storm. A life experience all should have. Those were the days.

Yeah...sounds like loads of "fun"

Mistakes are made, even by the most careful builders. I always run an engine for the entire break in period in the build stand. Much easier to deal with any issue that might occur. To me the worst part of an engine build is the installation. It's so much work.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

Run stands are cheap, We bought a basic

 

[Syleng1]

My setup just uses a regular starter. What you're talking about you'd need a tremendous amount of torque from a motor. Think about the gear reduction of the spur gear to the ring gear in a starter motor. And a starter motor is a beast.

What you're talking about doing.... Quite frankly...its never gonna happen.

What I'm attempting to offer here is a couple basic bolt on parts that use the starter you already have, to let a guy verify stuff is working while it's on the build stand.

Anyway, you do you. Some people want everything to be special. My brother is like that lol.

You’re correct about the torque needed to start a fresh engine. Old D8 bull dozers use a gas driven motor as a “pony motor.” For starts before electric driven motors could handle it. Remember a starter does not care what end it turns over as long as it has the proper gear ratio it works. It got me thinking…I’m not trying to be special. I just do not want a run stand since most of my engines I have a professional machine shop with a dyno break them in for me. This is a stock 318 with a few items changed. I did not want to spend $1500 for the stand or $1450 for the dyno run if I can help it. Just another thing for my kids to dispose of when I pass.
But thank you for the sediment. I love to run things up the flag pole before I pull the trigger- if you know what I mean.

 

[TT5.9mag]

You’re correct about the torque needed to start a fresh engine. Old D8 bull dozers use a gas driven motor as a “pony motor.” For starts before electric driven motors could handle it. Remember a starter does not care what end it turns over as long as it has the proper gear ratio it works. It got me thinking…I’m not trying to be special. I just do not want a run stand since most of my engines I have a professional machine shop with a dyno break them in for me. This is a stock 318 with a few items changed. I did not want to spend $1500 for the stand or $1450 for the dyno run if I can help it. Just another thing for my kids to dispose of when I pass.
But thank you for the sediment. I love to run things up the flag pole before I pull the trigger- if you know what I mean.

I built my run stand with scrap and some extra wheels/gauges I had laying around. Might have $60 in it. Also, if you use a belt it will need to be cogged or it WILL slip. There is no way a V-belt will hold the kind of tension it will require, at the gear ratio necessary, to spin an engine over. One more thing, nothing builds coolant pressure quickly, there isn’t enough restriction in a cooling system to build pressure at the flow level the pump is capable of with cold coolant. You’ll need heat and flow to build pressure.

 

[Mean416]

You’re correct about the torque needed to start a fresh engine. Old D8 bull dozers use a gas driven motor as a “pony motor.” For starts before electric driven motors could handle it. Remember a starter does not care what end it turns over as long as it has the proper gear ratio it works. It got me thinking…I’m not trying to be special. I just do not want a run stand since most of my engines I have a professional machine shop with a dyno break them in for me. This is a stock 318 with a few items changed. I did not want to spend $1500 for the stand or $1450 for the dyno run if I can help it. Just another thing for my kids to dispose of when I pass.
But thank you for the sediment. I love to run things up the flag pole before I pull the trigger- if you know what I mean.

Let us know when it gets built, would be interesting lol.

Maybe it's not clear but my setup uses a standard run if the mill engine build stand

 

[9secRR]

Easy to build. Scrap materials and a welder. Only thing I had to buy was the castors. I’ve had several small blocks on my stand.

 

[67Dart273]

I've run an engine on an engine stand, with the pan supported "extra" underneath. You can make a bracket for the starter, all you need is a bell or automatic for a pattern. it really should not be that tough to find a flywheel. Does not have to be a car one, could be the larger one out of a pickup, but you'd have to make the starter bracket accordingly

I've done this, but I'm lucky. --I just used the mid plate out of my scattershield for the starter bracket.

 

[413]

Back 30 some years ago there was a starter bracket sold so you could mount the starter to the block and use flywheel and not need a bellhousing.

 

[TheGrateRonzini]

I went with wood

 

[Woody500]

You could use a hub from a blower off of a fuel car with the one way clutch, then use the same starter they use.

Those Gerhardt aircraft type starters weigh over 50 lb. Indycars used them until the early 80s.
One for sale on ebay now for $4899.99, a real ebay deal , to be sure!

 

[Woody500]

You can start it on the ground with a trans on it. It won't tip over. No need to sit on it and burn your boots, or worse. Put a block of wood under each side engine mount

You will need a radiator so you can run. It and break in the camshaft.

All this talk of making something to start it from the front, you will waste a lot of time and maybe end up in the ER. Just bolt an automatic trans to it and loop the cooler lines to each other.

You can bolt or lag to the blocks & one under trans mount, too. Mount all on a pallet if you have one.
Ran them on pallet with ratchet straps on them, too. Starter switch hanging etc.
Made a big cardboard box work to run a Continental air-cooled 6 cyl tank engine inside to cool properly .
Made cardboard dash for gauges & switch.
Still have everything in a box to run engines, weighted fuel hose w/filter, batt cables & rudimentary wiring harness, direct reading thermometer gauge(FSN new old stock)screw in, oil pressure gauge, electric fuel pump, & more.