Rotissery Needed, How to do it on 280ZX?

[Guest TKR514]

I need to support the 79 280ZX for refurbing now that the engine is out. Can I support the body on 2 enine stands, each attached to where the bumper used to mount?

Also, anyone have this pre-made in the Houston area that I can rent/buy/borrow?

Thanks!!!

[Wagz]

It can be done. I did it with my '71 240. There are a few challenges you have to deal with. Here's a real high-level description of what I did:

 

First, engine stands are not quite tall enough. Second, the upright on engine stands is not perpendicular to the ground, they angle backward.

 

I took care of both problems by removing the wheels and using 3 ft. lengths of 4x6 or 4x4 to mount the engine stands to. The thicker pieces on the rear legs of the stand, so the uprights would be forced to be perpendicular with the ground. I checked the pivot point with a level to be sure. If you can, use two of the exact same stand. My stands were of different makes and slightly different sizes, so I had to place shims between the legs and 4x6 on one stand to make the pivot points on each stand the exact same height.

 

Finally, you will have to fabricate your own attachment bars to mount up to the bumper attach points and to the pivot points on the engine stands. You will need a welder to do this.

 

There are a bunch of threads in the archives if you search on archives if you search on 'rotisserrie' (sp?) Several guys have built some very nice, fully adjustable stands. I adopted parts of a few plans for my attachment bars.

 

The engine stand solution is a poor-man's solution but it works.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have any good pics of the stands or attachement bars, but here is what I have: Pic 1 Pic 2

 

Good luck.

[Guest TKR514]

THANKS!

I'll try that this weekend.

Actually, I might add wheels to the stand and connect the front and rear stands together to where I can roll it out to do some sand blasting outside the garage. Probably can find some heavy 8" solid wheels at Home Depot....