Reply to "Shipping Engine"

It would take a heck of plastic tote to ship a long block or complete engine with one. I’ve had mixed results shipping with plastic totes but have shipped ZF transaxles and heavy induction systems with them successfully. I always add some wooden structure inside to reinforce and mount/suspend the item being shipped in the tote. On the transaxle box, I also added cleats so it could be easily forked or moved with pallet jack. I’ve also shipped bare engine blocks in them in the similar manner but they were aluminum blocks and the reason was to use UPS instead of common carrier. When using UPS, I would say more than half of the toughest totes I’ve used have been damaged and not reusable with corners bashed off of them, but the wooden internal structure was always sufficient to protect the item inside.

I bought a long block a few years ago and it was mounted on an engine dolly that was attached to a standard 40x48 pallet, and then completely boxed in with chipboard. When I removed the plywood, I was dismayed to see the engine stand had been mounted straddling the center section of the pallet instead of bearing across it, had fallen through the flimsy pallet wood, was sitting on the ground, and the 10qt Pantera oil pan mounted on it was now about a 7 qt pan!

I’d suggest you make your own pallet by doubling up a couple of pieces of ¾” plywood and then attaching three 4x4 cleats on the bottom so it can be easily forked or managed with a pallet jack. I think this is wise because it lessens the likelihood some dock-jockey sticks a fork into your engine. Then either use an engine stand to attach it to the base or build up a stack of 4x4s on each side of the engine, then hang the engine on them with the motor mounts making sure all is anchored well to the pallet. Then just wrap the engine in plastic or tarp so the engine can’t be easily viewed and well enough that you’d be OK if it got rained on. Or, if you have a lot of components on it, I’d say box it in with plywood to prevent theft in route.

If you are anywhere near someone who does a lot of kit car completion, make a phone call and see if they have a shipping container from a factory crate engine.

Good luck,
K