So last night I am cleaning out my old truck to get ready for the ride to Boston with the new owner this week. I rolled back the bed cover to find the 455 bare block and long tail TH400 I was given by a co worker and few months back. I have not been driving it and I sort of forgot it was back there.

Well my hoist is buried on the other side of the shop and it was late. Move 15 things to get it to my truck or unload it in 2 seconds. Sooo I picked them both up by hand and set on the ground to move with a dolly. The TH400 was not to bad but the block was pretty heavy. So how much does one weigh? Not something I think I should do on a regular basis.

 

Who was there to pick your sack and contents off the ground!....I would not have attempted either. As for weight.....heavy enough.....in the hundreds I would guess.

 

I would say not to bright of a move. The bare block I would guess near 300 lbs. Tranny around 150-175 both are back breakers. I was sore for a few days doing a similar thing when I loaded my 455 bare block in the trunk of my cad to take to the machine shop to build for my 57. Took 3 days of advil to get back to normal and I did not have to lift my as high as you did

 

I had to move my 427 Chevy block by myself when I initially bought it. I thought my legs were going to snap. I'll never do that again. Unbelievably heavy.

I think you and I can fall into the fairly stupid category.

 

bare big block is just shy of 200 lb, unless early 400 which is just over 200.

 

i done this with a 394 engine and i would guess with that bell housing being part of the block it would be close to the 455. what i did was to get a 2X10 8 foot long and sit it in the bed of the truck. i rolled the block on the middle of the 2X10 and slid the 2X10 out with the block half way between me and the edge of the bed. i lowered my end of the 2X10 down to a 1 foot block of wood. then took the other side out of the bed and pivoted it to the side and to the floor. then back to the other side. only thing is, you have to keep it balanced or you will dump it. not saying this is the way it should be done but i got it done this way in a pinch.

 

That's exactly what my Chinesium Wal-Mart bathroom scale says.

 

I know I can carry a 350 trans no problem, but I don't know about a 400. As far as blocks, I could lift my bare 350 block a couple inches off the ground to move it around, but I never tried any more than that.

Just yesterday, I needed to move my bare 455 block from the stand to a work bench. I just kinda tried to see if I could lift it while it was on the stand, but I don't think there was any way of me doing it without it pulling something or it pretty much just tipping me over I only weigh around 160, so I need to be a little more careful. I just ended up tipping the stand on two wheels so I could get part of the block on the bench. Once it was on there, I took the stand off and I just maneuvered it onto the bench.

When I got my 350 long block home, I needed to get that on a stand and I did not have a hoist. What I ended up doing was bolting the stand to the engine while it was on the bed so it was just hangin there. I jacked up the front of the truck up so the back wheels of the stand were touching the ground. I was then able to just slide it off the bed and set it on the front wheels of the stand.

 

I wish I could be so lucky to have someone just give me a block and a tranny.

 

The older one gets the more likely they are to look at a tranny or block needing to be moved and simply exclaim........naah, I think I'll breakout the engine crane.

Back in the '50s there was a guy we called "Hands" who frequented Dallas area drag strips. "Hands" was a moose of a man who could grab a complete engine by the headers and effortlessly lift it right out of a rail dragster. Darn makes my back hurt just to think about that......

 

I would've been in the hospital for sure!
Too bad you're not coming to Boston with the rag top
I'm about 50 miles south

 

When it isn't snowing out you have to do something as strenuous for exercise...

 

Well I am also in the stupid catagory since I was trying to load my 455 bare block from the stand to the truck. I had loaned out my hoist and needed to get the block to the machine shop the next day. I had this bright idea that I would just lay the block over on it's side and then unbolt it from the stand and lift it into the bed of the truck. I was not bright enough to make sure the pin was in place and the engine rolled while I was laying it down and it landed on my toe. Yes it broke my toe and 3 months later, it still lays sideways.

 

The engine or your toe?

 

We have a saying down here. Do you know what the last words of a redneck are? "Ya'll jes what dis."

nuff said

 

Texascarnut
Hands, should meet the guy we had working on the nursery. He would carry 4 cinder blocks 2 in each hand. He would pinch them together with his thumb and his first 2 fingers.
Larry

 

OOHH to be young again... If I tried something like that today, Id be crippled for life. Watch your back. One overload is all it takes for a lifetime of not so subtle reminders. Trust me on this

 

Hehe... Been there done that. Regular bricks the same way, but I would stack them higher. Why not use the dolly in the shed i always wondered? It was laziness.

Trust me on one other thing - being younger will not always be better...

Five years ago when i was 33, I was building a small workshop in my back yard. I had a 75lb A/C unit crammed into the tiny trunk of the Caddy and it had wedged in well on the drive home. At the end of a day of wiring the place, I was tired, hungry, getting dark, and the neighbors had all gone in. I forgot about that thing still in the car, so then it was up to myself to get it out so i could drive to work the next day. My back was already hurting from a long day worth of work. I hunched over into the trunk and pulled and heaved and when the %$&! thing came out into my arms, I felt and HEARD a distinct and PAINFUL POP from my lower lumbar. It hurt like hell, and it did for over 3 years. For most days I could hardly get out of bed. I could barely travel and I could no longer do much in the yard. I could not have been restoring a car, either! Shots of steroids helped a little. Therapy was a total waste of time and $. Finally, while hiking on a trail in Oregon (fall 2007) I slipped on some muddy wet leaves and I fell right on my butt, and I felt even worse as my back collapsed onto itself again.
As soon as I got home, I scheduled a serious Dr. appointment. MRI showed one of my disks in my lower lumbar had ruptured in two places, the liquid oozing out.
Since microscopic surgery was so successful (and that was the only route I would take), I had that done in late 2007 and I feel good as new now (I think). Through a 1" long hole in my back, using tubes, cameras, and long instruments, they cut away the stuff that came out of the disk so that the holes could heal. I was out of work for over 2 months and I hated it. Noone was really here. The drug combos made me almost suicidal. I requested to go back to work early and did.
I am now much smarter and efficient when it comes to lifting and moving stuff. Unlike suspension bolts that can be inspected and replaced, your back cannot be.

Moral of the story is that it is not your age, but more of how much you have been through over the years. I admit that I have done way too much heavy work at home for the past 10 years prior to that accident.
If your back hurts already, that is a warning sign to let it rest.
So never take chances with big things like that - get some help or use machinery of some kind...

 

Years ago I gave myself tendonitis or something lke that from hoisting a T400 in and out of my trunk. I thought that was a pretty good weight, then I met a C6....yikes. Them old Olds motors are heavy brutes. When I stuck my 455 into my 66 it instantly dropped probably an inch and a half on those poor old coils.

 

If you think a C6 is bad, try an FMX.........

We were pulling a 400 Pontiac out of an '83 Cutlass years back when I was in the Army and we had a guy that had bigger muscles than brains. We got the motor unbolted and ready for pickin. Well, 'ol Rudy told us that he's pulled many a 350 Chevy out and thought the 400 Pontiac wouldn't be a problem. He told us to stand back and watch. Up into the engine bay he went and lifted. He got it about a foot up with us in shock and then we all heard the POP from his back and dropped the engine. He still ain't fully recovered from that, I think he got medically discharged from the Army for it.

 

No kidding! With its cast iron case the FMX was the last of the truly tough as nails Ford trannys. They may appear to be more or less a cast iron C4 but are sure as hell a lot tougher than any C4. Remind me a bit of the old Ford PBA and PBC automatics, talk about heavy cast iron monsters those were.

 

Like I said, Famous last words. "Ya'll watch dis."

Serious guys take it from someone whose been down the road. Back troubles are no fun for a L-O-N-G time. I've seen guys get serious injuries caused by nothing but clowning around in a garage.

Please be careful and look after yourselves. You are in charge of a personel department ONE [you]

Prove you manhood in the boudoir not the garage.

 

Oh so true!! After playing strong man games and getting rear ended a handful of times in my truck when I used to drive OTR, it's rough now, and I'm only in my 30's. The road itself will wear you out faster than you can imagine.

 

I don't want to brag but, I lifted a 455 block myself. Now I'm 58 years old and weigh 160 pounds. I had no problem. The hardest part was keeping the handle in the hydralic jack on my engine puller.TeeHee
Alb

 

Omigosh! What was he thinking????????????????? LOL

 

Now that's what you call OldsMoBalls!

 

I am 77 yrs old and if I knew I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself. Tried young and tried old young is better by far. Andy

 

Lift with your legs and don't twist your torso and it isn't that hard and won't hurt...............too much.

 

Famous last words? I have done just about every stupid injury due to trying to lift something or carry or drag something etc. etc. etc.
I have a permanetly bad back , given myself a hernia with the scar to prove it , have severe tendonitis in both shoulders and elbows , suffer from arthritis in my spine plus some fingers i have damaged and toes I broke , the last one recently when i dropped a tractor hitch on it while wearing sandles ( the one and only time) I am only 51 but my body feels much much older. I also played a lot of sports when younger and suffered knee injuries from hockey , torn rotater cuff from baseball , broken ankle (baseball) broken hand (hockey) broken thumb (skiing) broken ribs 3 times (work) broken colar bone (work) crushed discs in neck plus 3 vertabrae out of place (work).
my retirement should be lots of fun.

 

Yeah, I was being facetious of course. Been where you have too. Bad knees, sore elbows, sometimes a sore back, joints and knuckles get swollen and sore with weather changes, etc. I had an uncle that passed away within the last decade that had worked hard all his life and was also a big guy. During his last ten years I saw how he got all bent over and could see the grimace of pain when he moved. In my mind's eye he was always big, strong, invincible. Funny how age does things to a body......

 

On a dare one time i jump out of the back of a pick up truck holding a bare Olds 350 block ..........It was the last time also......Not recommended so much......aaaaa to be young again and in shape! lol

 

I guess we all did stupid things when we were young.
I like to call it " The strong but stupid syndrome "
And the only cure is age.

 

I used to lay under a car/truck/van and lift a tranny into place ...

That was '69 ...

B C ...























Before Chinese ...

 

I've had to pass on about three th400, because I can't find anyone to help me. They where at the junk yard and still in cars. It's at a pull a part and they don't allow you to use jacks. The one time I did have help they didn't have any trans.

 

Yeah I am paying now for my gung ho go for it attitude I have learned to take it easy the hard way , my body just don't work like it should anymore.

 

Do what I did and get some tires under it and kinda let the trans drop onto the tires. I pulled a 200-4R by myself that way and it worked out pretty good. It was kinda a pain to get it out from under the car with the tires, but I eventually got it.

 

Didn't think about that. Thanks for the advice.