89 Renix engine weight?

Anybody know how much a complete 89 Renix 4.0 engine weighs?

~550-600#, fully dressed. Drop, say, 75-90# for bolt-ons and bracketry.

Why for do you ask?

I droped one on my foot, LOL. Just kidding.

Seriously, I am expecting a delivery from WI (I just bought kent's 89 Renix 4.0 from WI) and I needed to know about how much they weight since I do not have a forklift or other equipment set up for unloading it (yet).

Probably gonna park it at my shop for now, but I need to come up with a plan real fast for unloading it. Kent's father is going to drop it off on his way cross country making other deliveries. I have a 1 ton chain hoist in the box sitting on shelf that have not used in ages, and maybe some neighbors who can help, but I have not had to deal with anything over about 150 lb in this shop in many many many years.

I may just drop by Harbour tools and buy a rig for pulling engines, engine hoist? They have some fold up ones that are real inexpensive.

I bought a local partly parted jeep a few weeks ago. The engine has a huge hole in the block. I was going to finish parting it and then sell the shell to someone for a beater or scrap it. The more I looked it over the more I thought of possibly restoring it. Plus I worry that the lifter/tappet noise in my DD Renix engine may be something worse that might blow up and surprise me, so when a known good engine came up with not too many miles on it yet, I decided to grab it.

But now I need to tool up a bit to be able to handle something this heavy. Don't think three or four big guys are going to cut it, unless they hang out at the WWF.

Any suggestions on a fast set up for unloading a pallet/crate/engine or should I use a chain lift setup right on the engine?

This will actually be a first for me doing this on my own without a forklift and other real material handling equipment.

Don't know if I can set the chain hoist up in an accesable location.

What to do????

Three of us lifted a short block into the back of my 88 a while ago - granted, I was probably the "big guy" there (6'3", 265#,) but the other two were fairly healthy as well, so we got it in with a little effort.

A stripped short block probably tips around 350-400#. Expect about 60-75# for the head. Another 60-75# for accessories.

Bolt-ons can be stripped off in a few minutes with hand tools, and the head comes off in about five minutes as well, when you've got it out in the open. I've lifted heads on and off lone-handed with the engine in situ, so it's fairly easy to do out "on the pallet." Roll the block over and strip out the crank (and possibly rods/pistons) in about 15 minutes, and you've got it knocked down to a block that two healthy people can lift fairly easily.

Q: "How do you eat an elephant?"
A: "One bite at a time."

The job isn't so daunting when you break it down into pieces. Sure, you end up making a few more trips, and you have to strip the engine down, but it can be done out in the open - with care! - in about a half-hour, so you'd have the thing stowed in about an hour.

Hell, I had to wrestle that block out lonehanded when I got back with it - that was a chore! I do need an engine hoist... Old tyres help catch the thing tho - I usually have a couple around.

Anyhow, if you've got a chainfall or a hoist rated for 750# or more, go ahead. However, a little creative stripping can reduce the job to muscle power - and the only thing you need help with, once stripped, is the block proper.

If you're going to have a head lying about, and it's not a 2686, would you let me know? I'm trying to collect at least one of each for comparison and experimentation - and I don't care if it's cracked or warped, since I'm going to run it through a bandsaw anyhow...

go to harbor freight and get a folding 2ton engine hoist. you'll thank yourself later. trust me.

+1

engine hoist was the best $100 (used) i ever spent. ive pulled more motors than most people change tires....

as for the weight, novak's website lists the longblock @ 515 lbs (in comparison to the LS1's 407 )

I must have missed it at Novak. I got the 550# stat from AACNC (a casting number reference,) that lists the AMC258 ~550#. The bore on the 242 is larger, but that is usually offset by the thickness of the cylinder walls - particularly in earlier blocks.

Good to know I wasn't too far off...

Suspension & Engine Weight
You'll be replacing one of three factory engines. Their nominal estimated, accessory loaded weights are:
•2.8L V6, 365 lbs.
•2.5L I4, 340 lbs.
•4.0L I6, 515 lbs.

Engines you may replace these with may include:
•Chevy 4.3L V6, 425 lbs.
•Chevy Small Block V8 (Gen. I & II), 550 lbs.
•Chevy Small Block V8 (Gen.III), 470 lbs.
•Chevy Small Block V8 (LS1), 407 lbs.
•Buick 90 degree V6, 375 lbs.
•Buick 60 degree V6, 350 lbs.

from here:
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/tj_swap.htm

1) it says estimated
2) they are "accessory loaded" weights, so i was wrong, these are not bare longblock numbers.

sorry for the error.

lost honda pro said:

Suspension & Engine Weight
You'll be replacing one of three factory engines. Their nominal estimated, accessory loaded weights are:
•2.8L V6, 365 lbs.
•2.5L I4, 340 lbs.
•4.0L I6, 515 lbs.

Engines you may replace these with may include:
•Chevy 4.3L V6, 425 lbs.
•Chevy Small Block V8 (Gen. I & II), 550 lbs.
•Chevy Small Block V8 (Gen.III), 470 lbs.
•Chevy Small Block V8 (LS1), 407 lbs.
•Buick 90 degree V6, 375 lbs.
•Buick 60 degree V6, 350 lbs.

from here:
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/tj_swap.htm

1) it says estimated
2) they are "accessory loaded" weights, so i was wrong, these are not bare longblock numbers.

sorry for the error.

Click to expand...

'S fine by me - we can't all always be right (I'm certainly not...)

And, thanks for the link. Not sure how I missed that, I've spent plenty of time pillaging around their tech section. Archived for later...

My 99 engine with manifolds and flywheel was 650 lbs at the dock, but that included the pallet. I remember because the guy who loaded it in my truck wanted to know what kind of engine it was. He said it was a lot heavier than what they typically handled.

Sounds like the 4.0's have almost as much steel as that chevy small block V-8, no wonder the 4.0's hold up so well. The've got some meat on em!

Thanks for the detailed answers here. This little thread should turn out to useful to us all!

And yes, scorpio_vette, I am reallllllllly seriously thinking about picking up one of those foldable engine hoists from HT myself before the engine gets here. It could probably lift the engine, pallet (or crate) all at once and be done in time for dinner. . arty:

I really like the HT fold up design too as I ran way out of shop space about 2 truck loads of stuff ago. Looks like I am going to be needing it real soon!

HT has the 2 ton foldable engine hoist right now for $149.99 (its on sale, regular price is 199.99) and the flier has a 15% off coupon good till 4/9/07. 149 * .85 = $126.65 for a new one! Yap, I think my back is worth at least $126.

3 of us lifted a 4.0 V6 Ford Ranger engine out the back of a Ranger onto the garage floor last fall.

Ecomike said:

Sounds like the 4.0's have almost as much steel as that chevy small block V-8, no wonder the 4.0's hold up so well. The've got some meat on em!

Click to expand...

the 4.0 actually has MORE metal in the block because its such a physically long motor...

thing about it this way, in a SBC 350, there's a crank w/ 8 rod journals (vs. 6 on the 4.0) there are 8 rods (vs. 6 on the 4.0) and there are 8 pistons (vs. 6 on the 4.0), not to mention the extra valve train, but the freakin thing still weighs in 40-100 lbs less than our 4.0s, and thats because of the structural integrity needed to keep the 4.0s crank 100% straight under all engine torquing/twisting/etc circumstances...

so you have 25% more moving internals, 20% LESS weight, 200% more power, and 200% more torque... sounds like a (win)^4 to me

Well I bought the hoist, built it, used it, and got a hell of a deal on it so I guess I'm a happy camper right now. The engine showed up earlier today, piece a cake to unload.
Now I guess I need that engine stand so I can work on it with out breaking my dear-ol back :rattle:.

Speaking of weight, one thing is for sure these things are heavy enough to brutalize the cooling fan and oil pan if they get loose and roll around any. They were both damaged in transit. :tears:

Maybe you only need 5 quarts of oil instead of 6 now

Blaine B. said:

Maybe you only need 5 quarts of oil instead of 6 now

Click to expand...

No, I would use the oversized oil filter, so figure 5.5 quarts.