Cheap Pontiac Engine Cradle - from wood?
 

Greetings all -
I have two late-model 400s, both with the 500557 block. These are complete from carb to oil pan, but out of the car. I need to move them from my garage to storage. There are are options you can buy, but they are kind of expensive (over $100 once casters are added) considering I only need them for storing the motors., and occasionally pushing them from one spot to another. The engines are on stands, but stands are not great when moving the engines with a trailer, etc. - plus I need one stand for another project, and the other is a treacherous "three wheeled" type highly prone to tipping.

I think it would be cheaper to build something, but I'm not set up for metal fabrication (no welder, etc.). I think a suitable cradle could be built from heavy lumber, starting with the Harbor Freight dolly linked below:

https://www.harborfreight.com/24-in-...lly-59309.html

Any better ideas, comments, pics of something you've done, etc.?
Thanks!
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There is a guy on this site that sells the best pontiac engine dolly made.Stable,large casters etc.I have been buying them for years.Tom

engine cradle
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...c+engine+dolly

I have made a couple in the past out of 4X4's and used some 1/4" L brackets I had laying around that have worked well over the years, but if I had to by the materials it would be easier and probably not that more expensive to just spend the $330 on a couple of the stands tom s has linked to. they look pretty solid IMO.

That cart and a truck tire should work.

I made some simple stands out of wood for storage, pretty easy to figure out & make.

What Tom said, you can’t beat that cradle.


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I've several made from grocery carts. Cut the top off (As shown by green lines in photo) and set a big truck tire (Like a 35/12.5/16) on it and set the engine on the tire. Remarkably stable and the wheels don't flat spot after sitting for a year without being moved like most cheap wheels will do.

Throw a couple ratchet straps on it for the ride over to storage and your good.

Or put some good casters on a piece of 1" plywood with a tire.

I have several engines on HF wood dollies. I get the ones that are open in the middle so the oil pan can hang down in it. They're very stable and roll easily.

I use those as well for motors and transmissions.

I also have two real dollys from coupeute that are awesome. I save those for “good” engines!

Thanks for the comments guys -
I like the suggestions, and they're pretty much in line with what I was thinking about doing.

Just for completeness I was also looking at "moto feet". they are cheaper but not by much once you add decent casters.
https://motofeet.com/1500

I really like the ones made by coupeute too. I didn't want to spend that much, but time is money of course. Gonna look at my lumber and bracket inventory, and ponder it a bit.
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I have one of the metal cradles mentioned above. It is fantastic. Doesn't address the "cheap" that the OP asked about. Starting with the Harbor Freight dolly. I would make the trip to several GM dealers in your area and ask if they can spare one or two engine pallets. They are in the process of replacing nearly 1 million defective 6.2L V-8 engines that are blowing up right and left. Many didn't even make it through the PDI service. 15 minutes of running time. My school just got a shipment of a dozen of them. Each on a nice wood fitted pallet. There are going to be so many, I doubt GM is going to want them back. So dealers should have plenty of pallets. Give it a try.

I think if you buy 2 he can ship them in the same box saving some shipping.Tom

I've used cheap car dollies, the 4 of them didn't work well for moving the car. They worked great for engines, transmissions and rear end with no tires

I second this option. I've purchased 4 over the years and have one sitting in my garage right now. Excellent quality, stable, and they roll very easily

Very similar to the wooden engine storage pallets we used for aircraft recip engines.

I have a few myself, and they are built to tight tolerances at the mounting locations!

Hey all -
Just thought I'd post up a few photos showing where I landed on the storage cradles.
I bought two 18" x 30" Harbor Freight Dollys ($17.99 ea). The dollys came with carpet padding stapled profusely onto the frames, so I removed the carpet. These worked great and allow the oil pan to fit between the side rails as mentioned by 72projectbird - link below:
https://www.harborfreight.com/30-in-...lly-58316.html

I cut and drilled 2 x 2 x 1/8"steel angles to bolt to the side motor mount holes on both sides of the engine:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e0007e1d_z.jpg

I made side rails out of 2x6 cut to 30" long. The notch (3/4" deep x 20" long) lets the motor rest on the bottom extensions at the bellhousing flange to rest on top of the rails along with the angles bolted to the sides. I used a 2x4 cross-piece at the back end and a 3/4" plywood piece at the front end (must be notched if balancer / front pulleys are installed). I added another 3/4" plywood crosspiece laid flat, leaving an opening for the oil pan. It's all screwed together with heavy decking screws - some 3-1/2" and some 1-1/2" :
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7998f4bb_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6002f3c5_z.jpg

Once they were built we set the engines on them and added some screws and fender washers to restrain movement and hold the cradle to the engine when lifting off the trailer etc.:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...564c6392_z.jpg.

They roll "fairly" well with a complete engine on them. I plan to chock under them so the engine is not resting on the wheels during storage - so hopefully they will roll back out as easily as they rolled in.

They took longer to make than I was guessing - I spent probably six hours to make two, with help from a friend - but I work slow. I'm happy with them. Whether it would have been better to buy cradles probably depends on the individual / situation.

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Looks good and sturdy. Problem solved.

GOT WOOD?
 

For me the best part of making/using wooden cradles is the flexibility to modify as needed.

The furniture dollies I use are rated for 500+ lbs
I've been making them as my engine stock increases and when I sell any, I disassemble them for the next batch.

I also make some of them low enough so I can roll them under my workbench.

JM2C