Bike Work Stands: Buy Or Build?

I want a bike work stand. I want some degree of portability. Park Tools stuff is awesome, but man...are they proud of their gear!

I think I can cobble together something cheaper and more sturdy.
I'll start with this car engine stand inherited from dear old dad.

I won't be rebuilding any more small block Chevrolets, so I thought, "Why not figure out a way to use this boat anchor as a bike work stand? If it'll hold a car engine securely, it will sure as shootin' hold a bicycle."

I figure I could bolt a wall-mounted/bench-mounted bike repair stand to this thing.

The engine stand has wheels, so it has some measure of portability, but I won't be picking it up and putting it into my pickup truck bed anytime soon.

This bike repair stand could be easily removed from the engine stand should I or someone else need the engine stand for its designed purpose. (unlikely)

Or maybe something like this, to also include a fit and adorable Welsh lass!

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As the holiest of holidays approaches, #2 son and his wife come through big time with a birfday gift of the Park Tool PCS 9.3 !

Thanks, kids!

When it rains, it pours! Apparently, my wife and #2 son do not coordinate much...but it's all good. If one is good, two is more betterer!
Lovely wife gifted me this Bike Hand work stand today. I did my research, and this and the Park Tool were at the top of my list. Good materials, fit and finish, and workmanship. Solid and sturdy.
I would recommend, and I have to say I like it as much as the Park Tool.

Mucking About With The Pure Fix

Yes. I did it.

The destructive kid (and his parents) a few doors down donated some parts.
A couple of ragged out kid-sized department store BMX rigs. One that looked like it got run over by mom's minivan, and the other that appeared to have been dragged from the river.
I scrounged the handlebars, amongst other things, then did the unthinkable.
Spray bombed a disgusting neon green set into a gaudy gloss banner red set, and bolted them onto my fixie!
The BMX bars are the same width as the straight bars, so why not try it?
Sacrilege? I think not. I also added a set of rear brakes.

It pleases my eye to gaze upon it.
The bike fits me now and is very comfortable.

Before:

After:

And no, I do not ride it fixed.
I am old and not nearly cool enough.

What In Tarnation Did I Just Bring Home? Some Kinda Rig I Wouldn't Understand Rescued From The Trash Man! 2003 Quintana Roo Triathlon Bike!

 All sorts of scary stuff I know little about!

Aired up the tires, screwed in a pedal somebody had almost cross-threaded, tightened the wheels, raised the handle bars and removed the bull horns and arm rests, lowered the seat....and she's a runner! Gears all work using the shifters on the brake levers!

It was sitting out front of a home in my hood. I knocked on the door and asked the lady if she was throwing it out. She said she was.
I had some idea I was seeing something special(ized). 
Score!
It is VERY light weight. Carbon fiber fork. I think the frame is aluminum.

I gots me lots of learnin' to do!

Funny part is, I rode my MTB across town to get a haircut one morning in order to test out my new Under Armour cycling app. Before doing so, I installed two new inner tubes. 

After the haircut, I took a different way home and got less than half way and developed a front flat.

During my long walk of shame I came across the Quintana Roo. Once I got home I hopped in my pickup and retrieved the bike!

So, I'm kinda wrapping things up for the year and closing up shop because winter's coming and I have to do most of my bike work and painting outside.
But, I can't leave well enough alone, so I take a closer look at this thing and try to figure out what exactly is wrong with the drive side crank which I mentioned in my OP that seemed to be damaged.

Well, it's damaged alright. In fact, it appears to be FUBAR. Pedal threads are hopelessly stripped, and the arm appears to be slightly bent. The sprocket seems OK, as does the bottom bracket. A quick innerwebs search kinda tells me this Truvativ ISIS Drive Elita (F2815E/1725) set is unobtanium in new condition.

I'm thinking about dragging this heap to my local bike shop to see if they can recommend a new crank arm set which doesn't bankrupt me.

Crank is FUBAR.  But I have part number, size (172.5mm), and the intardwebs.

Looky here! New old stock. From Italy. Just under $90 including shipping. Awesome. This is an exact replacement!

It arrived in beautiful, brand new condition. To say I am pleased would be an understatement!
Awesome.

A set of Wellgo strap-on pedals for the Roo, ordered, paid for, and sent to my addy by #2 son.
I ain't the kinda guy who straps on anything, but the bike's for him and these are what he wants.

My work here is done! Handed it over to #2 son!

Freshening Up My Daughter's Vintage GT Outpost.

 A buddy gave me this thing years ago. It had those gawd-awful bull bars, no grips or tape, thin, dry rotted gum wall road tires, destroyed pedals, and a worn out and gummed up drive train.

I decided it was time to show my one and only daughter some love this time! 

New Kenda City slick tires, new Oury grips, new composite pedals from Wally World, suitable MTB handlebars of unknown origin from my stash, replaced brake levers from used parts bin, cleaned and repacked front wheel bearings, and a good de-greasing/cleaning of the chain, drive sprocket, derailleurs, and cassette.

Removed the hideous and yellowed plastic pie plate, and gave this rig an overall good scrubbing. Didn't do anything to rectify the worn teeth on drive sprocket, though. Nothing in my stash to fix it.
It's fine for what daughter does with it...casual cruising the neighborhood.

It's kinda beat up, but it's got character!

Garbage 80's Huffy Mountain Bike Gets All Dolled Up

My neighbor sees me puttering around with shitty old bikes all summer, so he brings on over this old thing for me to do with as I please.  He must really hate me.

It is an 80's or 90's vintage (I think) Huffy 10-speed MTB with rust, dry rotted tires, and a horrendous battleship gray with white sprinkles paint job.

At first, I was gonna leave the paintjob because it was in pretty good condition.  But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to give it an eye-popping makeover.  I had already done a drab camo bike, and I wanted to do this one up nice and give it to my new daughter-in-law.

Mechanically I was again gonna go with simplicity and relative cheapness...replace the multi-gear rear wheel with a single-speed coaster brake, and eliminate all the hand brake bullshit.  I like a clean, simple design.

To do this I was gonna have to close up the rear dropouts because the original setup was too wide for a single speed wheel set.

I fabricated a tool with threaded rod, nuts, and washers, and got things squared away and aligned so that my single speed wheelset would work.

The original double geared front sprocket I would swap out to an old Huffy single gear sprocket and one piece crankset I had in my stash.  With this part of the resto-mod figured out, I stripped this turd in preparation for paint.

Sanded down, and with a coat of primer, and it's just about time for the magic to begin!

Lower portion of frame painted with satin creamy vanilla type color.

Upper frame painted a delicious, mouth watering, tangerine/orange hue, with a groovy fade job between the colors because it's cool!

Then I hose the whole mess down with several coats of a satin clear.

A few weeks later to let the paint cure a little, and it's time for reassembly.

I'm using the original front wheel.  It gets a good de-rusting, bearings get cleaned and repacked with grease, and new tube and tire.

The new Husky coaster brake rear wheel gets a new tube and tire.

Repurposed crankset, pedals, and chain installed, as well as original fork, repurposed handlebars and stem, cleaned and repacked original bearings, and slid on some new bitchin' orange Oury grips.

I have some sick orange Fooker pedals on order, but I install some old pedals just so I can test drive the bike and sort it out.

I think it turned out really nice.  It rides smooth and quiet with no apparent problems so far.

I'll test drive it intermittently for a week and then turn it over to its new owner. 

I almost hate to give this thing away, but I need another bike like I need a hole in my head. 

I hope my new daughter-in-law likes it! 

New daughter-in-law happily receives her bike, while her cute-as-a-button twin nieces look on!