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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - This may sound stupid but....

Im fed up of seeing my sd1 V8 sitting on my garage floor so i bought a clarke engine stand for it. im not entirely sure what bolts to use to attatch it to then engine. i know where it goes on but dont know how long the bolts need to be or their thread sizes, can anyone help me???!!
Joe Connor

Here's what I think I know...
What I'm finding on my '85 3.5L and later 4.0L blaocks are the threads are UNC, or UNF. I'm assuming that the motor tooling didn't get get changed much since it made it's trek across the Atlanic some 40 years ago.

I don't remember if the bolts I used are fine or course and since mine is still on the engine stand I don't have any handy to measure. I believe they are 5/8" UNC (course). I can tell you that I bought 4ea. grade eight bolts that are apx. 4 inch in length. I also bought a handfull of washers (regular and lock)in case the bolts were too long. This worked well and I used two regular washers and one lock washer per bolt.

My stand has four adjustable arms attched to a 2in OD pipe that slides into another pipe (with a slightly larger ID) welded to the stand. On the end of each of the four adjustable arms is a small (2in) pipe/spacer welded. this total depth if the arm + spacer is apx 3 in. so with my washers the bolt is apx 3/4 in into the block (hence the 4in bolts).

Now take the adjustable part (4 arms and smaill pipe unit) seperated from the stand and loosen the arms so they swing freely. Line one of the arms bolt hole up with a hole in the rear of the block. These are the same holes that the bell housing use. You want two arms on the top and two on the bottem. Try to space the top, and bottom, arms (respectively) as far apart as possible. The idea is to evenly distribute the load and if this is done correctly the loads remain pretty constant as you rotate the engine on the stand.

I was concerned about hanging all this weight on four steel bolts in a aluminum block but, I've had two engines "hanging" around in my gargae for a few years while moving them quite a bit and no problems yet (haven't fallen off; knock on wood).

Hope this helps,
Hal
Hal

wow. you've really thought this one through! i didnt know it was so involved. i was planning on getting a few tough looking bolts with a few washers, locking nuts and be done with it. your stand sounds like its similar in design to mine, i'll let you know how it goes. i think i'll take the trip to my local v8 conversion shop on the way home from work tomorrow!! thanks for the advice.
J P Connor

http://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/torque2.html

Cheers
Erik
Erik

Erik,

Thanks alot for that site, You've just saved me more time and effort than I can describe!

Regards,
Hal
Hal

Hal,
You are welcome.
Erik
Erik

This thread was discussed between 04/07/2004 and 06/07/2004

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