I forgot to show off my cradle dolly when I had my engine out in December. I tried using the dollys from China Freight and they got me by for several swaps and maintenance purposes. I didn't like how low they were and the cradle was never well balanced on it. I decided to make something more permanent and purpose-built for the job. I just used some scrap 4x4s and 2x4s. I took the casters off one of my old furniture dollys. This worked much better. It supported the cradle much better and acted as a platform to jack up when I put the cradle back in. Also, one of the things I hated about the low furniture dollys was that the control arms and brake discs would drag the ground. This one is high enough that that isn't such a problem anymore. I don't remember if it completely eliminated that problem but it was much improved. Here's mine. Feel free to post pics of yours.

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Jonathan

'68-69 GTO Nose - The Project has Begun!
My '85 L67 Build Thread

That looks great! I usually lay 6 foot 2x4 across the furniture dolly to support the control arms and keep them from sagging or dragging. I actually had a tripod seal slip off one time because of the drooping control arm.

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Looks like mine. 2x4's and casters from Home Depot. Built to do a 3800 swap, but used extensively to do the 4.0 swap.



(It's under there somewhere)



Bob

^^^
LOL! That's crazy how much they look alike!

But how does it fit with the engine hoist under the car? I ran into that problem several times.

quote Originally posted by 87FieroSport: But how does it fit with the engine hoist under the car? I ran into that problem several times.

Hook the cherry picker to the trunk latch and position the two forks of the base on the corner of the cradle dolly.

quote Originally posted by 87FieroSport: But how does it fit with the engine hoist under the car? I ran into that problem several times.

I never felt comfortable with the latch. I used the cross support in front of the trunk, hooked on either side. I also had a large lift, in which the arm was long and the legs fit on either side of the dolly.

Don't have access to the lift anymore, so I'm not sure what I will do if the engine needs to come out again.

Bob

I have thought about modifying my dolly by removing the rearward cross beam and moving it inbound toward an I-beam position in the middle. Maybe not perfectly in the middle but just inward so the hoist could easily fit up against it.