How I Made My Engine Dolly

The base is 24"x23" in 3/4 plywood. The 24" is the dimension that is parallel to the crank.

You could go 24"x24", but I'm going to roll these under some heavy duty shelves with engines on them, and the extra inch I saved on the width may help me try to go 3 wide under the shelves.

You then get 2"x10" and cut it into two 24" lengths and then two 6" lengths. Then cut the 6" boards diaganally. But instead of making the top of the tirangle sharp, I moved it over so the tip was 1/2" wide at the top to avoid the sharp point.


Then get 3" or 4" wood screws and screw the triangular pieces to the same side of the 2 foot pieces (I made mine 6" from the ends - 7" would give better clearance to mount the caster wheels). Then drill and screw them in from the bottom using an oil pan to find the correct distance for the spread of the two 24" pieces.


Then you get your caster wheels and mount them.


You could get away with 2"x8" board for the "rails" but then it will have less than 1" clearance to the bottom of the standard stock oil pan. I used 10" width board for extra clearance or in case I have to deal with a deep sump pan. The stock oil pan hangs down 7 1/4".


The engine is pretty close to 24" from front to rear of the block. The vibration damper and pulley hang over slightly.


So if you get one full sheet of 3/4" plywood and it can make 8 bases, then get eight 2"x10"x8' boards and that will make eight dollies. Then you will need a few boxes of 3" or 4" wood screws for the wood (approx 32 wood screws per dolly). And a box of 5/16" x 18 x 1 1/4" bolts (16 per dolly) and a box of 5/16" washers (32 per dolly) and a box of 5/16" x 18 nuts (16 per dolly)[minimum grade five or grade eight]. I went to my local Fastenal dealer to get the wood screws, washers, nuts and bolts in bulk packages/boxes of 100 and can't remember how much each one was.

You should be able to find 3" caster wheels for roughly $20 per dolly. The 3/4" plywood is about $50. The 2"x10"x8' boards are about $10 each for a total of $80 for the 2"x10" boards. Then the price of the wood screws, 5/16"x16x1 1/4" or 1 1/2" bolts with nuts and flat washers (If you choose lock washers, I would recommend using the 1 1/2" length bolts.)



Then when you get them all assembled, you can paint them if you want. I didn't because I have too many to do and it will take too much time for me to paint them. I have thought about painting the stands with themes, like your favorite NASCAR driver's color and then paint the car number on the side. Example: Blue and red base with a #43 for Richard Petty, Black with white #2 for Dale Sr.... Use your imagination and be creative. Rani would probably make hers red, white, and blue for Sox & Martin...


Then when you get enough dollies, and have them all painted up with engines on them, you can position them in a circle in your garage and pretend that it is a NASCAR race.... And put them in the order starting with your first favorite driver to your least favorite... Wait, am I going to far here? I better stop now....


Give it a go Bill, it's not that hard. If you need any other info, let me know. Good luck with yours.