I'm going for it

[CowboyPhD]

I picked up a couple of A-4's for cheap, and have a great running one in the boat. I've decided to be proactive and build one "brand new" engine out of the two I bought and parts collected over the last several years. I'm gonna buy a couple of engine stands this weekend, and need to know how to mount the A-4 to one? (I've never built or rebuilt an engine before, obviously)
I'll take heaps of pictures and log all the costs and hours associated with the rebuild.

How do I mount the engines on the stands for disassembly?

[lat 64]

I've built a few V8s and 4-cylinders in the past, and the a-4 is much smaller. you can pick up the bare block with one hand.

A fully dressed a-4 is about 300 lbs to 350 depending on transmission.
The a-4 doesn't have a bolt-up bell housing like a car motor. it would be frustrating to adapt an engine stand to this motor.
Not to worry, as you assemble the block it is still manageable to rotate on your bench. Just watch out you don't bend the valves!

When you put 'er back together the pan becomes the "stand".
I think what you might like is a mockup of the bed rails like what's in your boat. I just used a couple of 2x6s and some 2x4s to cross underneath. Just use some lag bolts or sheetrock screws to hold it to the 2x6s. this makes a good cradle to move the engine right to the boat. I made a cart to move it around in the garage. it was just a box on four casters.
I used the cradle right up to the point where I slid it into the engine bed in the boat. I sortof disassembled the cradle as I slid the motor off on to the engine mounts—no drama—no smashed fingers.

Here's s link to the post where there is a picture of my new motor in the wooden cradle sliding off the cart into the back of my Toyota Camry.
http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3110

cheers,
Russ

[superdave474]

Cowboy, when building my motor I bought a used engine stand and didn't even use it. I found it much easier without it. Before installing the oil pan, the the engine is easy enough to move around. After the oil pan was bolted on, I went to a Tandy leather store and got a nice piece of rawhide about 18" square and laid that on my bench under the motor. That kept the paint from rubbing off, and I could rotate the motor with one hand.

After most of the assembly is complete, mount it on two 2X4 boards with about 12" extending fore and aft. Two reasonably fit men (or women if you're lucky) can move it around with relative ease. To get it down to the boat, I strapped it to a piano dolly. As for getting it on the boat, there are several ways to do it, but my best advice is to be careful. I almost dumped my 'new' motor in the water!

Have fun! I'll try to attach a spreadsheet I made with most of the hardware required. It isn't everything, but its 90% correct and complete. It will save you many trips to a fastener store.

I've also got tons of photos I'd send to you if you pm me. I don't want to bore all the people here with them yet again.

David

[CowboyPhD]

Huge help!! I've been a stranger on this forum for a while because all of my engine issues were solved and she runs like a champ. Thanks for the help.

[lat 64]

Here's a shot of my brother at the bottom of ramp with the engine strapped to a hand truck. This worked well. You need to get the kind with fenders cause the little poky bits on the engine stick out and rub on the wheels.

Yank it clear, load it up, strap it down, move it out,

RAWHIDE!

[ghaegele]

I rebuilt this last off season and also bought an engine stand and never used it. Two sturdy saw horses next to each other did the trick. I backed a pick up truck with the engine in it into the garage, threw a come-a-long over the ceiling joist and winched the engine out of the truck, pulled the truck out and then lowered it onto the sawhorses. I ran it on the horses before disasembly. Then, once the engine was broken down I put it on my work bench without a problem. My advise: Work deliberately, take a photo-essay of disassembly to remind yourself how it looked through reassembly, and also note where every single nut, bolt and washer came from and you'll have no trouble.

Good luck, Greg

[sastanley]

Greg is right..I rebuilt an engine for my Honda Civic...it was a 5 year affair. There is no way I would have remembered which nut/bolt went where without labeling.

I bought a fresh roll of blue (painters) masking tape, a sharpie, and a box of ziploc bags. If you group the obvious things (identical nuts for head studs, oil pan bolts, fuel pump bolts/plate, manifold nuts/studs, etc..) into bags, it is much easier to re-assemble. When a grouping was done, I sealed it and wrote on the bag what it was with the sharpie.

5 years later when I FINALLY got to install the motor, I distinctly remember those pesky nuts for the header & down pipe were conveniently still in their bag together! This worked for all other groupings as well...that was just one of the last bags to get opened. :D

[rigspelt]

I bought a fresh roll of blue (painters) masking tape, a sharpie, and a box of ziploc bags. If you group the obvious things (identical nuts for head studs, oil pan bolts, fuel pump bolts/plate, manifold nuts/studs, etc..) into bags, it is much easier to re-assemble. When a grouping was done, I sealed it and wrote on the bag what it was with the sharpie.
A huge ahmen on this one. Ziplocs and labelling are so important they are essential in a boat. Saved probably dozens of hours of frustration for me when we rebuilt the boat last year. Same for summerizing.