How do I go about shipping a block?

 

Too heavy for most carriers ground service. You'll need to strap it down on a pallet and drop it off to a freight company. FedEx freight is competitive and will usually give better prices and delivery times than the heavy freight guys.

 

,you'll have to strap it to a pallet,best to put in in a wooden box of some kind.Try to find a friend who uses a freight company on a daily basis and just pay them to ship it,that may save you a bunch of bucks.

 

Definitely make some sort of crate on a pallet, and make sure it's strapped down good. I work in a warehouse and recieve truck freight all day, and I can tell you the guy running the forklift at the freight terminal doesn't care or doesn't know what's in that crate and that it's vitally important to you. I've also heard but havent' had any first hand experience that Greyhound will carry palletized item on their buses, you'd just have to go to the bus station to pick it up, and I heard they are significantly cheaper.

 

They do freight items for cheap but an engine block is twice the weight limit they impose.

 

Truck freight. Find the company you want to use to ship it. They will tell you how to prepare it for shipping and what it's gpoing to cost you.

 

I have received and shipped several engines on pallets. Most of this is obvious. You will need an engine crane to pick this up to get it on your truck to take to the terminal. I'm sure you have at least one buddy with one. You can usually find pallets laying around behind a grocery store or strip mall. Using some 2x4 scraps, build supports under the edge of each side of the oil pan, under the front crank shaft/balancer, and under the oil filter flange. Nail them to the bed of the pallet. Its optimal to use an industrial bander to secure it to the pallet, but you can use a couple pieces of medium chain from walmart bolted to the heads/block with one end screwed to the pallet to take up the slack. Wrap the engine in stretch wrap...a roll from the grocery store will do to keep trash from falling into the top of the motor. If there is concern about something coming into contact with it, wrap it in scrap cardboard. I have never built a crate or box around the block. I have never had a carrier refuse it this way. They would not stack anything on top of it in the trailer, so whats the point. Anyone can get a discount. All you have to do is whine about the price and ask them if they can help a brother out. They always put me on hold and come back a minute later with about a 50% discount. These are typically shipped to the nearest freight terminal on the receiving end...so you'll need to ask the receiver which terminal is close for them. A complete big block weighs 600 pounds, while a small block is about 100 pounds less. I just shipped an complete 427 from central illinois to memphis for $125. From California to memphis was $290. Good Luck