bobb

Hi Guys,

What does a completely bare 455 block weigh?

thanks,
bob

507OLDS

About 300lbs. I can lift one into my truck,barely,but if/when I do,I can't do anything else the rest of the day.I can lift a rear,which is 225-250 with brakes,and it isn't as much of a struggle.

bobb

Thanks Brian!

Definitely sounds like a two man job. I can just see the look on my chiropractor's face when I tell him why I can't stand up straight and need his help. )

I didn't realize a rear end weighs that much!

thanks again,
bob

507OLDS

When shipping rears,if the rear does not have brakes on it,I enter it at 225lbs,and it clears that,or weighs under it,but if it has brakes,it goes over that,so I enter it at 250lbs with brakes,and it clears.You also have to figure in the weight of the pallet,so the rear itself is not a full 225 or 250.

allyolds68

My 400G block weighs 191 lbs. A 400E block weighed in at 202 lbs.

A 455 should weigh slightly less

These weights are without main caps

These numbers come from highly calibrated bathroom scales

Should be pretty close though....

http://www.realoldspower.com/phpBB2/...scale&start=45

507OLDS

Mike,
You tryin' to say I'm a wimp?
Maybe the blocks do weigh the same as a rear,but I sure have a hard time picking them up by myself.Could be the akward shape/size.They don't exactly have handles.

allyolds68

They suck to move. Dead lifting a bare block isn't too bad because you can grab the top of the cylinders on each side. You just can't go anywhere with it. My back will never be the same after helping another guy from ROP unload a BB Ford shortblock that I brought back to MA from BTR. I'll NEVER pick another engine up, bare or not, with help or not. I felt the disc in my back squish out on that one, not a good feeling.

To tell you the truth I couldn't pick up that rear I got from you. I had to have my brother-in-law help me put it in my basement. When I finally got around to installing it last spring I gently end-over-ended it to get it out of my basement and up to my garage.

joe_padavano

I personally put a bare 455 block (with main caps) on the finest Chinesium bathroom scale that WalMart sells and it came in right at 200 lbs. FYI, a bare 403 on the same scale was 170 lbs.

507OLDS

The 403 has big bores,no main webbing,plus shorter deck,so that makes sense.
I wonder what my NOS raw DX block weighs.The cylinders are small enough to make a 260.The walls are at least 1/2" thick.

bobb

I've got to meet a guy in a week or two to pick up a bare 455 block. We're going to be doing a pickup truck to pickup truck transfer. I'm thinking the best way to do it would be to have him put the block in an old tire and then we can slide it from his truck bed to mine. But I'm open to suggestions from those who have done it before. I'm looking for ways to avoid physically lifting it. My chiropractor is a cool guy........I just don't like paying him. )

thanks,
bob

66400

Just last week I transfered by myself a complete 67 400 Olds from one elcamino bed to another elcamino bed. Covered the tailgates with a piece of tin. Used the oil filler tube and the right side exhaust manifold for hand holds. Slides easy enough on the metal floor.
A tire may make it harder to slide.

Henry

MDchanic

Yeah, I wouldn't use a tire. Rubber = traction.

I'd use a handtruck - you or he or a neighbor, or someone must have one - it may not hold it perfectly, but with two guys you should be able to roll it pretty easily.

Other alternatives include a wooden moving dolly (easy for two guys to "roll" the block onto the dolly), and a piece of carpet, rug-side down, to slide along the bed.

It shouldn't be too tough to do - I'm not a big guy and a few weeks ago I singlehandedly hopped a 425 block attached to an engine stand down and then back up a 4" step to get in and out of the barn to degrease it. My back was better-behaved before years of overuse, though, so I would not want to lift the whole thing clear off the ground, alone, either.

- Eric

AZ455

I agree with the guys stating a tire will only make it more difficult to move. Carpet does work very well!

I haven't moved big blocks like the 455 by myself, but have moved quite a few transmissions around. They are a bit lighter though, unless they got a transfer case on em still.

bobb

See......that's exactly why I come to you guys for advice. I would have been out there looking like an idiot with my motor on a tire that we couldn't move. Good suggestions from you guys! Thanks. I'll definitely bring a heavy duty hand truck and some carpet with me. I don't think I have a piece of sheetmetal big enough, but you never know what I might find in my shed.

thanks again,
bob

MDchanic

If you use sheetmetal, be VERY careful - a hard grip on a piece of sheetmetal followed by a slide to the wrong spot can be followed by a trip to the orthopedic surgeon and lots of subsequent "therapy" for the tendons you cut.

- Eric

bobb

Hi Eric,

You are absolutely correct. I worked in a sheetmetal shop while going to college. I've seen some pretty nasty stuff happen with sheetmetal. It took a few years for my hands to starting looking human again. )

regards,
bob