Fleathead Engine Stands

Ryan

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You know what I got a thing for? Flathead engine stands... But I know absolutely nothing about them. I'm betting some of you fellas know everything there is to know about them. ...
 
Almost every Ford dealership had one or more of these engine stands made by K-R Wilson. Who was one of the major suppliers of equipment to Ford dealers at the time 30's to 50's as I remember.

They are very heavy and safe to work with, now days expensive and expensive to ship. Well worth the investment if you are going to do several engines or more. Could be a club project.

Mark
 
I have 2 of the K.R. Wilson engine stands like the one pictured. One has the base and the other does not. I am looking for a base . If push comes to shove I could fabricate one out of heavy gauge steel. Makes working on a flathead V-8 or V-12 nice. The whole engine can be assembled exept for the exhaust manifold.
 
K.R. Wilson X-6000 engine stand. I wish I had one. These are the only thing that will provide a safe, secure stand to work on the flathead engines.
 
I love those things...and have been thinking about picking up an old kr Wilson catalogue so I can check out more of their stuff to put on my wishlist. Wondering what catalogue would have the most flathead v8 related items?
 
K.R. Wilson X-6000 engine stand. I wish I had one. These are the only thing that will provide a safe, secure stand to work on the flathead engines.

True, the KR Wilson is a solid stand but not the "only" one, Clayborne built a solid stand for the flathead engine that works well!
Will post a photo of mine later!
 
This one mounts on the exhaust manifold a lot of modern ones mount on the bell housing and the engines have been known to brake of .That is the engine bell housing can crack ,This job has the 16 holes for when you are doing a valve job ,A nice piece to have in your Flat-head shop .
 
I have a KRW stand that is missing the parts tray and the base.

According to the 1940 KRW catalog they had sold 14,000 of them in the last 20 years. In the catalog the base looks like it was an option, also the base in the 1940 catalog is not cast like the one in the picture, it is made from a 30X30X1/4 steel plate. The tool tray is also different.
 

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I converted a cheap-o 3 leg stand into a wide base 4 leg stand, and built the engine holder out of 1/4" plate drilled to bolt onto the exhaust ports. The plate is welded to a thick angle-cut tube that rotates in the stand.
Actually patterned after a HAMB post I found.
I can take pictures and post em up, if you'd like.

John
 
P2230006.jpg

Great thread and thanks for the pics.
I have one of those that I have beem trying to soak free to get the head to turn. I had no idea that there was a base for them. Looked like it would have to be fastened to the floor to be stable. It is good to see all the attachments that were available. I will have to be on the lookout for some of them. When I get mine loosened up and working I plan to mount an old flattie on it for display. It would be a good use for a cracked block that would have no other value.
 
I've had one of these stands for about 40 years now. Mine also has the worm gear box for rotating the motor on the stand. Very nice! You can position the engine at any angle you want. It came with the cast square base, but I took it off and threw it away and built a T-shaped base from 4" channel. The square base was too wide to fit between the legs of my engine lift. This all happened 40 years ago. If I had known how valuable these bases were, I would have kept it!!
 
Here are two KR Wilsons, One with and one without a base. Then there's another that we made.
 

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I would love to have one of those KR Wilson stands.

I built my own adapter to mount my flatty to my crappy modern chinese engine stand.

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I might be wrong, but those welds don't look like they have enough penetration. You might want to clean and reweld them so you don't drop an engine. Don't ask me how I know.... :(
 
I know we're getting a bit off-topic from the KR Wilson stands, but here's mine...
 

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here's one I had powder coated...coater did it fflat black...would have looked much better hi gloss
 

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