As I think I have noted here before, I am in the midst of building a
rotisserie for my Sunbeam Alpine, using a pair of Heavy Duty Harbor Freight
Engine Stands as the basic building block for the stand itself. (An Alpine
shell weighs around 1000lbs; the HF stands are rated for 2000lbs each.) If I
had it to do over again, I would build the whole thing from scratch, but it is
too late to go down that path and I did get a great buy on the stands ($80
each) last Christmas.
Id do it from scratch next time because the stands themselves require more
modification than I counted on. I always had to make a custom jig for
attaching the stand to the car, but there are changes I need to make to the
stands themselves. One of those modifications involves lengthening the main
column by welding in an 18 extension. My original plan was to cut the stand
a few inches above the base (done) and weld in a piece of larger diameter
square tube placed over the stub still remaining on the stand. (Hopefully,
that makes sense.) Then, Id put the original piece inside the new tube, down
far enough to put a bolt through it for extra strength just in case, and then
weld everything together.
The problem with that plan is that the outside diameter of the tube on the
stand doesnt match up well with a stock inside diameter on a larger piece of
square tubing. I am not near the pieces at the moment, but I think the OD on
the HF stand is 2 <, while the closest ID tube I can find is 2 =. I have
some 2 x 1/8 stock that I can weld to all four sides of the original tube
and make it fit perfectly, but I am wondering if I would be better off just
buying some 2 < stock and butt welding it in between the base and the
original top of the stand? I could always grind the butt welds flat and weld
some of the 1/8 stock over it for extra strength, if needed.
I will probably have other questions as I get a little farther into this, but
this is a pretty fundamental fork in the road. For what is worth, I already
have the 2 = ID tube and the 1/8 stock, so it is probably easiest for me to
stay with the original plan. But, structural integrity is my #1 concern and I
would be happy to change my plans if that would be better.
As always, thanks in advance!
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S:WWL_WIN_7secdemo:122009
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