Build A Multi Purpose Twin Cam Engine Stand

If you plan on being a long term owner of a classic sports car such as the elan, then at some stage you might consider to undertake the task of doing a back to bare chassis/body restoration of your pride and joy, if that is your dream, then here is something that will pay handsome dividends.

As much as every enthusiast wishes to assemble a range of tools, plus a few select pieces of workshop equipment to make maintenance and rebuilding the classic elan more rewarding. There is real value in possessing the right tools and equipment to make the job easier, and the finished results will be much more professional & rewarding, not to mention the significant savings that can be made by undertaking your own maintenance and mechanical rebuilds, providing you have the skills & knowledge

There seems to be always a percentage of elan enthusiasts who struggle with the maintenance side of elan ownership, and that’s a shame, because with a reasonably well equipped workshop, and the required skills, the mechanical work can be much more enjoyable and relatively easy to carry out. So below, we show a DIY built engine stand, well in actual fact its a multi purpose stand.

This is the multi purpose engine stand, constructed from 2″ (50mm x 3mm wall) Sq tube, note also that the stand can be dismantled and stored away. In this image, the cylinder head holding fixture is attached to the swivel head of the engine stand.

The swivel head spindle is a very solid, purpose built unit, it also rotates smoothly because the hollow bar spindle is a machined fit into the heavy duty head, the locking screw locks into shallow countersunk holes on the main spindle.

One of the most basic items required in the home workshop is an engine stand, it is a basic piece of workshop equipment, and you have the choice of buying ready-made generic engine stand, IE, one size fits all type of stand, or you can choose to custom DIY fabricate and build an engine stand to suite your personal needs. Most people toddle off down to the cheap auto supply house and grab an engine stand for around $80 to $120.00, you might think that’s a bargain and a great bit of gear… but is it?

These cheap engine stands have often been found wanting in several areas, the first being the way they are built… cheap comes to mind, and when they are assembled, most are so darn’d loose they wobble all over the place, the swivel tube fit to the head is as sloppy as all get out, and the locking devices on the swivel head are poorly made, plus the brackets or fixtures supplied to attach the engine are generally inadequate for the twin cam engine…. you may well have guessed that the cheap engine stands don’t rate very high… in short, they are crap.

You may think differently, and if you are happy with the low price rig that you have bought, then that’s fine, but now I will explain to you some ideas that can be build into a custom made engine stand that will not only hold the twin cam engine, but it will also securely hold the ford lotus gear box for dismantling-rebuilding, and also a special swivel bracket to accommodate the twin cam cylinder head during dismantling and rebuilding, and anyone who has rebuilt a twin cam cylinder head would understand how awkward they are to handle on the workbench, well not any more.

The photo above shows the gearbox mounted onto the eng stand, note that a stout length of black pipe has been modified with a threaded plug that screws into the gearbox filler plug hole, it also has a lock nut to secure the gearbox while it is being worked on, the black pipe is locked into the holder of the stand so that it cannot move.The special threaded lug is custom machined on the lathe, which you may have to farm out if you don’t have a lathe.

The cylinder head holding bracket makes the job so easy, but that’s not all, if you have a need to rebuild the original elan radiator, there is also a special attachment (Not shown) to be made in which to hold the original radiator as well, very handy when undertaking any dismantling and re-soldering of the top and bottom header tanks…

The twin cam cylinder holding bracket is designed so that the the long bolts locate through the corresponding cyl head bolt holes, the brackets are located so that the valves can be removed and reinserted with a valve compressor tool. Small rubber pads are glued to the bracket faces to prevent any accidental scoring of the gasket face.

This holding bracket has been used for four decades whenever the twink cyl head required work. The good thing about the bracket is that it allows the cyl head to be rotated as per the rotisserie and held at any angle while working on the head, try doing that on a workbench.

If you enjoy working with metal and your welding skills are up to scratch, the custom design engine stand is something that you can build in your own workshop for much less than the cheap item that many people buy. and you’ll have a very useful multipurpose engine stand, which should last for many years.