I see it a lot but seems wrong

I always use the plates now. I lost one engine that the chain actually broke and dropped it back in the engine bay. One exhaust stud went through an inner fender well and broke off, the other inner fender was damaged pretty severly.

Aluminum is a pretty soft metal . I would NEVER put that much weight on those aluminum threads .

Greg

I bought a kd tool one and the upright flat bar that you hook you crane to broke at the welds. I did get another one but afraid to use it now.

I made my own lifting plate when I was 18 years old and have used it for 30 years now on countless motors without a failure.
Used a cutting torch and AC "buzz box' stick welder long before I even knew what a mig welder was. I heated up that cold rolled and wrapped it around a 2" pipe and welded it into a ring, it has never even distorted.

I lifted gasoline truck engines numerous times which are much heavier that any big block motor. I trust it now.

No I would not trust some of those cheaper ones sold. I would re-weld it myself before using one.

I have seen some real unsafe rigging on here with with chains, so pick your poison.

I made my own as well since one was not available for the dual quad intake. With 8 bolts it was very secure and it even picked up my Hemi with 727 trans and also with the K-frame attached as it was going on the dolly prior to dropping the body over it. Worked great!

I see a bigger potential problem with lifting a Hemi by the carb to intake bolts. The bolts that hold the intake to the heads are small diameter and have a low torque spec. I wouldn't want to risk pulling them out of the heads or worse, breaking away chunks of the heads which has been known to occur just from over torqueing them.

In all the years I have never seen anyone post a picture of where the intake manifold either failed or cracked and the engine fell off. Have never seen it, has anyone had the intake manifold fail from a lifting plate?

I have never lifted a hemi with a plate, I always used a chain because none of my hemis had 4 barrel intake manifolds.

I have one that was made for my 440/3x2 Edelbrock and drilled a couple of extra holes to fit my 340/cast iron intake for AVS. I am a little cautious picking up a fully assembled 440-6 but I haven't had any problem. Used it about 10-12 times on two motor jobs for loading, unloading, painting and installing. The 340 seems effortless in comparison. It's difficult to find good balance points for hooking up a chain on a 426 Hemi. I would use a lifting plate if I had one instead of a plain link chain but my chain has some bent plates on the ends that work good for picking up a Hemi. I can say that a fully assemble Hemi bent my extra heavy duty home made engine stand back in the day. You definitely need the right tools for a safe job.

That's just like mine. I think I got it from Summit Racing. Works fine on a Hemi.

I always use a lift plate ,,, never a issue,,,,