I finally got the parts I needed (or close to it) and got my engine up onto a stand. I did it a little differently, but I think it has some advantages.
I started by removing the aluminum transmission adapter. Previous poster's and pics show that it can be left on, but a) I wasn't comfortable with 600# cantilevering off a thin aluminum plate, and b) if I need to pull the crank it would be in the way. After pulling the adapter here's what it looks like:
I decided to bring the mountain to Mohammed and mount the engine stand plate to the block while it was still on the dolly. This made it a LOT easier to mess around with location and configuration. Unfortunately I took this pic after I mounted 2 of the engine mount arms, but you can see the 6 holes available: 2 with the arms attached, 2 above, and 2 below. Also notice how they are not symmetrical - the passenger side middle hole is substantially outboard in relation to the others. Normally not a big deal EXCEPT that if you try to use these 4 holes you cannot center the engine stand plate - the left 2 arms interfere with each other. I tried.
There's another reason to use the upper holes as well - center of gravity. You want the center of rotation of the engine stand plate to be at about the same location as the CG of the engine, else it will try really hard to turn turtle. The CG looks to me to be about 2/3 the distance up from the bottom.
So here's how it looked after I mounted everything:
As you can see, the bottom 2 arms are installed conventionally, but the top 2 are flipped so that the mounting bolt goes straight through the mounting plate. I could have used some other kind of spacer, but this now allows me to use the upper arms as lift points. The plate is also mounted higher, and
just about clears the rear seal carrier. It also puts less stress on the upper 2 mounting bolts, which is important because:
a) The holes are tapped 11mm
b) 11mm bolts are apparently made from unobtanium (the adapter mounting bolts are too short). But here's a fun fact: the engine stand bolts are M11.
c) So I used 7/16x4" UNC bolts, which are *almost* the same dimensions as the 11mm threading, and
d) I don't like it. Not one bit. The bolt threaded in loose, and in tightening it just didn't feel right.
I'm not too worried, as most of the time the engine will be inverted which takes the tensile stress off those bolts. And I can put a jack under it while upright to take some of the load when I'm doing the timing belt and turbo work.
Here's a side view:
The 7/16x4" bolts were about 3/4" too long, but I bought a LOT of washers as shims. You can also see the shackles mounted on the free end of the engine stand arms to assist with the lift...
... which I wound up not using anyway. Lacking a spreader, the chain I had would have been at too tight an angle. Next item for shopping list: chain lift spreader. Also, pay no attention to what appears to be a cheap cargo strap used as a lifting sling - it's just an illusion. I picked the engine, and then mounted the engine stand to the plate instead of
vice versa. The angles were a little wonky but judicious application of a blunt object got everything lined up, and TA-DA:
It's pretty secure, and didn't seem to be stressing the stand much. After I took the pic I put a floor jack under the oil pan and took just a little of the stress off those upper bolts. It can stay that way until I get the turbo off.
As a side note, mounting the stand is a lot easier if you remove the rear EGR tube. I did so, and look what I found.
Bleh. If I had any doubts about paying the money for a SEGR, this dispelled them.
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