Engine Stand
Well, it's getting toward the end of Summer, and I'm getting closer to putting this Whizzer engine together. Unfortunately, things are also starting to heat up at work, and my spare time will be very sparse in the coming months. Oh well, this is a spare time project, and the proper amount of time for its completion is exactly how long it takes. The important thing is to relax and enjoy the process, and so far I have.
Seeing how some other Whizzer enthusiasts had made engine stands got me to thinking that I might like to do the same. Such a stand would serve to hold the engine securely during certain assembly operations, and for display and testing purposes (and also just for the fun of building it.) I took inspiration from various designs I have seen on-line, including the one displayed by our own "nutz4vws":
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?34759-what-year-is-this-pacemaker&p=332826#post332826
One design that I saw even used a section cut from an old bicycle, so that the engine could be mounted in exactly the same fashion as it is in actual use. The bicycle section was then welded to an old bumper jack base. A clever idea! Another design was the epitome of simplicity: a bent U-shaped bracket mounted to a piece of 2 x 4 -- just the ticket if all you want to do is display the engine, as it only attaches to the lower mounting point on the crankcase.
I thought about doing a 3-point mounting design, but finally decided that attaching the engine by the bottom and rear mounting points was sufficient. For stability, the stand has two 9" angle-iron crossmembers with removable rubber-bumper feet on the bottom. The rubber feet can be quickly removed, leaving holes for bolting the stand to a bench or other surface, if needed. While the lower slotted mounting bracket is fixed, the upper bracket is removable, and has a height adjustment to accomodate slight variations in engine dimensions. Here is a CAD view of the design:
If anyone is interested, here are detailed drawings of the stand, free to use:
Front View
Top View
Upper Bracket
Height Adjuster
The main part of the stand consists of 1-1/4" square steel tubing, and 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 3/16" angle iron. The 45-degree gusset which supports the vertical frame member is 3/16" thick. The "height adjuster" part was sawed from a piece of 2-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 3/8" angle iron.
The first part I made was the upper bracket. It's also the most difficult, with the milled out portion on the bottom. Fortunately, I had a few tricks up my sleeve.
To form the 1/2" radius, a piece of scrap material can be clamped alongside the part so that a 1" drill forms the radius:
Next the part is transferred to a drill-press vise, clamped in the cut-off saw, and the major portion of the material can be sawed away:
The saw-cut area was then easily smoothed up with a light pass from a face mill. All that remained to finish the part was milling the slot for the 5/16" bolt, and drilling/tapping the 3/8-16 hole for the height adjusting bolt. The remaining parts are pretty simple, mostly by being sawed to size.
The welding is straightforward. I have a fair amount of welding experience, but was my first actual project using
my new Miller welder, so it took some extra time getting used to the way it welds. As a consequence, some snag grinding of the finished product was needed to clean things up. Still, it went rather well, I think. Here's a view of the welded-up frame, and the machined upper bracket:
The welded frame was given a good solvent cleaning, followed by a couple coats of Rustoleum "Painter's Touch Ultra Cover" gray sandable primer. The topcoat is Dupli-Color red engine enamel "with ceramic". This stuff is easy to apply, and dries to a very nice finish. The upper bracket was deburred and sent out for black oxide coating (I have a "connection" at work!) I allowed about a week for the paint to dry thoroughly before assembly. Here are a couple shots of the finished stand with the Whizzer crankcase installed:
Now if I can just get the engine finished...
Paula
