Dyno time versus Engine stand
 

If a rebuilt engine is set up on a stand is there much difference than being run on a dyno?
can you do all the same tuning on the stand?
Dyno time around here is very expensive but run on an engine stand is much cheaper

You cant place the motor under load on a generic stand.

You can set timing, check for leaks, lash valves hot and break in a cam. But, you can't load the engine for tuning purposes. If this is a stock engine with the original stock tune then I would do the engine run stand.

I might get flamed for this, but if you have AFR's and plan on tuning on the boat I would skip the dyno if you run it on a stand prior. You might not know exactly where your peak torque and HP might be, but with the knowledge on this board they can get you pretty close.

this article makes the dyno process pretty intimidating for a non engine guy like me

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/g...g/viewall.html

502 re-manufactured built by a marina that runs a BBC re-manufacture program over the winter.. bored .30 over new pistons mild can (dont know the numbers) apparentl massaged heads. No idea about valve train, stock exhaust. I had the holley 850 built buy a really great carb guy but I'm torn about what to do before installing it.
Frankly I bought it to satisfy my itch to upgrade the old 330 454 and chose this one because the marina was able to validate that they built it and it was still on the crate that they shipped it on. It was never installed. If I had any sense back then I would l have likely made a different decision . The dilemma now is do I spend 1000 bucks to dyno it only to find that it doesn't run right or has the wrong parts (see article above) or do I run it on a stand and stick it in the boat. There is nothing worse than being involved in a past time and being clueless. You guys have no idea how lucky you are to understand this ****.

My only argument is how much fuel are you going to burn "dialing it in" in the boat if your baseline is way off? In my boat I could easily burn 5-600 worth chasing it and then you get to make adjustments out on the water. Real fun swapping air bleeds while the boat is rocking. I say dyno it and once it's in the boat all you have to do is enjoy it.
Edit: assuming it is mild and tuned conservatively on the dyno. May need a few tweaks once in the boat to get the absolute most out of it if you choose to be that picky.

I wish I lived near a couple of the guys on this board like Mild Thunder or Mike Tkach! when I walk in to the dyno shop they will see me coming lol

The $500 for a dyno session is worth every penny. 3 hours on the water + gas running back and forth or 30 minutes at a dyno. Plus you get to find all the leaks instead of a murder scene the first time you take it out.
When someone asks how many ponies (every stop) you have an answer instead of a guessing game.

I had a friend that always built his own motors and tuned them himself. after a couple of years I convinced him to go to a buddy of mine to put the engine on his dyno. when they started it made around 450 hp. when they were done tuning it made almost 520 hp. he figured out real quick how cheap the $500 dyno session was.

I just had mine dyno tune. It took from 8am till 440 pm with a 20 min brake for coffee. Best 500 i spent on the entire motor. I would of never got it dialed in. Oh and it made WAY more then exspected. Also helps with prop tuning since you know where your juice is. I didnt want to spend the 500 bucks after spending 12k building it but once again well worth it.