Wood engine dolly

Vanspeed

Vanspeed

Well-known member
Hey guys, my flathead is showing up tomorrow and caught me off guard. I want to throw a quick wooden dolly together with casters to move it around. Have any of you built something similar? Measurements would be great as I do not have a flathead presently to work from. I need to build this tonight so any help is appreciated.
 
if you have a cherry picker use it, raise the arm as high as needed to get the engine off transporter , then raise the arm high enough to get the engine between the cherry pickers legs, set engine on a piece of ply wood on the pickers legs, now you can move the engine any where you want it till you have time to build a different engine mover
 
IF this is temporary and to be used on good flat pavement, and instant solution:
Home Depot sells a small dolly with 4 casters, really just 4 boards and some carpet padding. When buying look over the wood from underneath and pick one with straight grain and no obvious defects. As is, they are just barely adequate to move a flathead on a smooth floor. Spend 5 minutes and screw on some board top and bottom and it'll be secure, if not a source of pride.
 
Yes temporary. I used to have a nice one made out of 4x4's but for the life of me I can't find it. It had arms that came up and were located just under the waterpumps. My garage is pretty smooth. I do have a furniture dolly that I broke (that is what my casters are from). I have a bunch of 2x4's so I was thinking of whipping something up real quick. I was thinking of something like this, that the pan would fit into. What is the width of the pan?

 
My engine was in a crate loaded in the back of a (modern) pickup. I used my cherry picker with a tow strap to get it out of the pickup. Then when I got the crate opened, I again used the cherry picker to lift it out of the crate. I then set it down on a furniture dolly, positioned between the legs of the cherry picker until I was ready to stuff it in the engine bay of the vehicle.
 
Check Harbor Freight, they have several size dollies on sale that, believe it or not are pretty well made. The critical part is the Castors, and not matter what you use, they are all made in China I have a complete V8 60 the small one, and a partial motor on another. Cost was about $9.00 for the small one and a few bucks more for the next size up. You may need a couple blocks to offset the steps in the oil pan for a complete engine.
 
Bought a four caster wood dolly from harbor freight. Had engine on it and beat the dog water out of stuck pistons. No problems
 
Last edited:
swoopNZ said:
Supermarket trolley will work as a temporary measure.
See if your local store has a beat-up one.
Click to expand...

Love it.:D
When I was a kid we used to "Borrow" these from the local A+P supermarket. For engine carts we cut off the basket part and used the tray on the bottom with the casters on them.
Ah, to be a Juvenile Delinquent again........
Torchie
 
My flathead is getting dropped off tomorrow morning but I called a few days ago and the guy dropping it off gave me some quick measurements off of it. This is what I came up with. I can bolt it down using the waterpumps and it is pretty dang sturdy. Castors at all 4 ends and they were not the cheap ones. I am sure it might need some tweaking but it should work well.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top