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Rotisserie Build


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There's probably dozens of these posts, but I thought I would share what I consider to be a unique twist on the rotisserie.  Basically, I started with two engine stands, the four wheel kind. I decided I wanted to be able to pull the car around my garage any direction and wanted heavy duty casters.  So I said to hell with it -- I have a welder, so why not?  I wanted the option to be able to work on the vehicle's interior while on the rotisserie.  As in actually climb inside to an extent without risking it tipping over.  And so this idea was born.  I would widen the front beam of each engine stand and probably add length to the main vertical engine support to allow complete, 360 degree rotation (yes, I pass AWS certified bend tests for butt-end welds).

 

I chopped off the metal casters and non rotating wheels, lengthened the front bar, and welded on the new 330lb caster (engine stand each rated for 1000).

 

I'm in to it:

 

  1. $30 orange engine stand
  2. $35 engine stand
  3. $100 even (WITH TAX, lol!) 1.5 x 3 x 1/8 inch tube, 2 x 2 x 1/8 inch tube, 3/16 flat stock 18 x 18 inch, 22 ga CR steel sheet for body work.
  4. $50 in casters
     

First off is to get rid of these.

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Here is what I started with if you imagine it under the forward support, lol.

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Here is what I got.

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Cheap HF casters.  $6 each

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I should have used my stick welder instead of my cheap $90 HF mig.  But not bad welds for a harbor freight tool with no bottle setup.  :D

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Garage is a mess...  :-/

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's a little update on the rotisserie... It is...Done! Got it done yesterday (my day off from studying). Here are the pics. smile.gif

---------------------------------

Drilled holes for attaching to the bumper mounts.

 

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Here is the front stand with the bar attached for testing.

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The 3/16" plate has to endure 800 pounds of torsion and shear stress. I wish I would have overrated to 1/4", but the solid bead all around should hold it pretty darn good.

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Garage is such a mess I can hardly stand it (I'm a little OCD). Oh yeah....and the car rear is up. Lol, I didn't extend the hoist legs enough (because the engine stand and hoist wouldn't fit there together), and I had to stand on the hoist to keep it from tipping over with the car on it. redspotdance.gif

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A rear-end view...

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A close up (errr....). Notice the stand vertical bar looks bent inward, but in fact the top half I welded on is straight up and down. The bottom half is bent back for better balance with an engine on.

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$17 worth of mounting hardware... Worth it for the strength.

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Mildly sketchy, lol.

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The perils which the hoist and operator hath endured whilst raising the fore of the vehicle shall not be mentioned. But yes, that is a car battery helping to weigh down the hoist, lol. The problem is the hoist legs don't fit under the car with the stand legs... Since the stand can't really move, the hoist has to. :P

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Yes, the car is currently being lifted with this hoist... lol

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Ahh, but the results...

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And the grande finale:

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In hindsight, there are a few things I would do differently.  I definitely underestimated the physics of a car suspended in the air.  I feel everything will hold find, and the material chosen is rated for the weight, but...

 

1. I'd use 1/4" for mating the plates together, not 3/16" as in the pics

2. I'd upgrade to 6 inch casters.  Rolling this thing is still hard, but possible.

3. I would add corner brace supports from the vertical to horizontal leg bars.  Not just one in the direction of the load, but for side stress as well.  Basically three angles brackets per vertical support.  I might still do it, but worried about welding when the car is up.  Just some insurance.

4. I'd make both the leg bars 4 feet wide.  It's just hard to do when your garage is small and you know you have to break it down eventually

 

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Might I suggest you connect the two engine stands together using some square tubing? Here's kind of what I did:

 

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I just took a piece of angle iron and drilled holes in it so I could bolt it to the engine stand front crossbar, and then welded a piece of square tubing at a 90 degree angle to that. Wash rinse repeat for the other engine stand. Bolt those on, and then slide a smaller diameter section of square tubing into the two cross bars. A hole can be drilled and either tapped or a nut welded to the new larger-diameter crossbars so you can use bolts to tighten down the sliding section of tube.  I did it that way so I could adjust the stands distance from one-another as necessary.

Edited by Dershum
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Dershum, thanks for the suggestions!  Looks like you went for the same thing I did with the vertical extensions.  :D  I am actually thinking about adding a bar in the middle (spreader bar)...  It would make rolling it a little easier as this thing is heavy, lol. I ended up not because from a physics standpoint the stands can't tip over unless the metal kinks on the vertical bar or the whole car end is lifted up.  But when I roll it, the lagging stand always follows along reluctantly.  Just trying to decide if I wanna spend the cash...  :-/  Had my sights on a motorcycle now.

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Dershum, thanks for the suggestions!  Looks like you went for the same thing I did with the vertical extensions.  :D  I am actually thinking about adding a bar in the middle (spreader bar)...  It would make rolling it a little easier as this thing is heavy, lol. I ended up not because from a physics standpoint the stands can't tip over unless the metal kinks on the vertical bar or the whole car end is lifted up.  But when I roll it, the lagging stand always follows along reluctantly.  Just trying to decide if I wanna spend the cash...  :-/  Had my sights on a motorcycle now.

 

Lol...already changing projects? I keep getting distracted because it's so damned cold out in the garage and almost starting new ones...gotta stay focused.

 

Putting the spreader bar on helps immensely with moving mine around. Even if the engine stands are stable on their own, there's flex in the heads where they connect to the body and a little bit in the body itself so there's a lot of "give" when trying to move it. Putting the spreader on locks the stands together and makes moving it far easier.

 

It also occurs to me that this thread probably belongs over in Fab/Welding...hopefully a mod can move it.

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Lol, naw...  My parents told me before buying anything, think it over a day.  If it's expensive, think it over a week.  I've intended to grab a bike for at least 2 years now. I have the cash now, but need a bike in my price range.  Don't mind doing work to it though.  Found a 2003 Gsxr needing a clutch pack and steering stabilizer for $1700. Comes with spare side and tail plastics ready for paint. I was thinking it might be a good idea and I can have it running over a weekend.  Then back to the Datsun.  The Datsun is the long-haul project.  It's not going anywhere fast, but bikes go up in price for summer.  Need to get one soon.

 

I'll see if I can dig up some used square stock to make it with, it does seem like a good idea.  :)

 

I considered it, but it said fab and welding "on the datsun," so I figured I could get away with it here and more people would enjoy the thread.  :D

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