After the engine and prop were sitting in the shop for a while, I noticed that things felt a bit cramped. So I took the prop out of the shipping container and hung it on the wall, but I still felt that the current situation with the engine standing on the hoist was not a good solution. It took up too much space, was not easy to relocate and I couldn't fill it with oil to help protect until I can run it.

To resolve all of those issues, I decide to store it horizontally with an engine drier (parts on order). I did some digging about engine stands for an IO540 and they are all vertical. There was an example of adaping a V8 engine stand for an IO360, but that didn't look like it would work with the IO540, so I opted to adapt the shipping stand.

Here is my solution. It is stiff and sturdy and has small steel 250 lb. rate casters.

11/9/2009   Picture 79