Rebuilding the spare engine, are any of the generic stands okay?

Had my buddies hooked up but could only get three of the four bolts in because of how his bracket lined up. I'm assuming you want to use all four bolts on the back of the block?

 

I used a cheapo generic one, worked fine with the right bolts.

 

The bolts are a pain to source -- I got them from boltdepot.com.
Just about any generic stand will work.

 

I have cheap powerbuilt from auto zone / checker .

It has worked just fine for many rebuilds.

 

Harbor freight has a pretty nice heavy duty one for under $100 that's got a wide 4 wheel base. It's rated to 1000 or 1200 lbs if I remember correctly. Not so much that the capacity matters, but some of the cheaper 3 wheel "tricycle" type stands can be a bit questionable (i.e. you're thinking the question "Oh ****! is this thing gonna tip over on my foot?) when you're spinning the motor on the stand. There's also the financial penalty for dropping an engine on the floor that you'll probably run into. If I was to buy a new one that's what I'd probably get.

 

z3bra makes a good point, DEFINATLY get a 4 wheel one. Much less nerve wracking when youre going all Jackie Chan on a tough bolt or just working on the engine.

 

What special bolts are needed? I am probably going to pull my engine this winter.