Im going to be starting work on an engine rebuild! before i do so i need to kit the garage out with a work bench and some specific service tools for said engine. i want to see pictures of peoples work area set up and know where people got service tools from, seen some on fleebay but not sure on quality dont want them snapping after being used once! Thanks Mike
You can buy an all steel dedicated engine stripdown bench, also known as a tear down bench. It is grooved to let oil drain away as you work on the engine. That's about as top of the range as you can go, it's on wheels so it can be moved about. Work Bench Table Tear Down Size 1220 x 585 x 1040mm | eBay Personally I have three work benches as my workshop is divided into three rooms, one for storage, one main area with access to my bikes and tools and another area where I have a lathe, drill press and a battery recharging area. It's really down to space and what you need to organise. Specialist Ducati tools will be down to the work you want to undertake, a totally full kit would probably be a small fortune.
I like the look of this tear down bench, does a bench without a vice work, i always find i need three hands if i got nothing to hold something down. I'm a bit limited on space, standard size garage half full of old belongings that nobody wants but doesn't want to throw away a Ducati 749 and an ST2 in pieces! Stripping the 944 engine right down to have it all stripped and repainted as the current paint is terrible. As for the tools just need a couple of bits to remove clutch basket and fly wheel and such as i don't want to wreck said parts trying to hold them with the wrong tool.
I got an office/lab desk from a secondhand office supplier. Its sturdy steel box framed with a 2" thick solid formica laminated top. It came with a solid shelf below too. Cost me £20. Had it years now. You could put a whole bike on it and it wouldnt moan. Got vices and bench grinders bolted to it etc. Works a treat. Take a look at secondhand suppliers.
I have a vice but it is not attached to any bench as I find it gets in the way. I bring it out and bolt it down on the very rare occasion that I need to use it. Whatever you get needs to be sturdy. Have you thought about an engine stand that fits a Ducati. There is a member on here that makes them at a decent price. You will need to fit it into the head of a conventional car engine stand but it's really all you need. He sells the head and a cradle which you can fit wheels to so that the engine fits in and which you use to jack up the engine when you want to remove or fit it to the frame. Here are some photos of it so that you have an idea what it looks like. The beauty is that it dismantles for storage so you could have a bench as well. The engine stand allows the engine to rotate through 360 degrees which is something you cannot do easily on a bench. I think I paid under £100 for the lot all in. This is my 748SPS engine being cleaned up pending a full rebuild of the bike. You can see it installed etc. in my gallery.