[FC] TEST STAND my method

[N2VZD at aol.com]

i have played with test stands a long time and prefer just a bench. i now 
have a nice new bench on wheels (designed for tranny work) that fills the bill.  
my jack almost gets the engine up to bench hieght. i need help (a second 
person)  to make sure i maintain control when moving the engine to and from the 
jack but other than that its great. i have it set high so i dont bend over to 
work. i have an adapter  thng i made to work on heads and differentials.
starting engines i use a starter i made from junk years ago with welder 
cables on it. i bolt the terminals to the battery.  i have a spacer made from a 
junk differential case to keep the starter at the correct distance from the ring 
gear (are you doing that?)  i use an outboard tank and hose with sqeeze primer 
to feed gas to it. that lets me keep gas in a sealed tank away from exhaust 
flames etc. i think there are pictures of my setup on the website by thomas. i 
have a small panel on the starter with a bulb and ignition switch on it. i 
have a wire with a clip lead to feed volts to the coil. when i remove  the 
starter from it i have most of what is needed to run it in my hand. this setup has 
been the smoothest way for me to run engines before installing them in the 
vehicle i have tried..and believe me i try all sorts of stuff all the time. one 
thing you must do for sure is watch your starter spacing!  it needs support all 
around the nose to be safe.  i used to use a couple wheel nuts as spacers but 
they dont hold it good enough and sometimes the starter misses and zings the 
gears.
regards, tim colson     http://corvair.de/n2vzd/