Friends,

Thanks to an amazing neighbor and member of 914 community, I was able to drop my motor and trans last weekend. Trans will be shipped off to Dr. Evil via his proprietary method for servicing 914 trans.

However, I need to know what from those who know, what is the best way to ship my motor from Northern VA to upstate NY for a rebuild? I was hoping to transport it myself for the rebuild, but life had other plans (wife, infant, moving to a new state, etc.).

What's the best shipping service and method for packing for pickup/delivery?

Many thanks in advance.

Click to view attachment

I have shipped engines /transaxles (build a pallet crate) via Echo Global Logistics www.echo.com
Good prices on LTL truck freight, compared to UPS FedEx truck freight. Ask for the liftgate truck, unless you have use of a forklift

Remove mount bar, tie/strap/or bolt down to palette, get some stretch wrap for moving and wrap it all up.

Tips for shipping:
- Try website like freightquote.com, ship LTL
- notice which carriers seem to top contenders (most likely it’s because they have regular routes to and from your location).
- Play around with your drop off location (find a hub close to you, it’s much cheaper when their trucks are already there). Same goes for pick up, rather than door to door service, pick up at hub, it solves the no forklift issue at your home, saves $$$ on liftgate service too.
- Once you're happy with the cheap rate and your drop off location call up or email the top two or three prospects and ask for a quote using the locations you’ve discovered online, it’s usually cheaper cause you’ve just cut out the middleman.
- take your wrapped up and palletted engine to the drop off location- best in a truck or on a uhaul trailer, they will come out and pick it up with a forklift for no fee and take it away…

This has been my best experiences shipping a few engines or large parts, I’ve shipped several Porsche 6 engines (complete) from east coast to CA or vice versa for a bit over $300 on large brand name carriers, never had any issues. YMMV - Good Luck!

I use freightquote but I call my rep for a quote. If something changes on my side or the buyers, I just call my rep and it's fixed. They often book me with fedex freight and they seem to be the most reliable for time and following directions. I strap the engine to a pallet with some inexpensive straps from a box store or HF and wrap or cover with a small plastic tarp. I've done about 20 engines this way, maybe more, and it seems to work fine. I did build a box to cover the engine on the pallet. It was a pain but the customer paid for my materials and labor.

I usually drop off and pick up from my local mechanic. He has a forklift and room for tractor trailers. It saves my about $75 but I give him $25 for his time.

I have Followed Mepstein method for shipping/pallet /straps/freight quote and have had no issues
With the Tins removed I can fit the engine inside a large black contractor's garbage bag
estimated weight 270 lbs. find a lightweight or mini palletClick to view attachment Click to view attachment

also added shrink wrap

I would build a OSB board construction outer case for your pallet to keep it protected from most everything. Have the sides where the forks go in go all the way to the ground. Make the 2 sides that the forks pick it up by shorter so it can be picked up with a forklift.

Rip 2x4s for the corners so you can screw in the sides and that would be a good protective cover. If it gets there and they have pocked a hole with a forklift you will know. The increase of weight is not that much and it will be worth it. Tell the shop to save the crate so they can send it back to you in it. That is me but what the hell I worry on these type of things.

Bob B


Good luck

I have used Fastenal several times. Easy to drop off, price is right and easy to pickup. Strap your stuff to a pallet and head to your local Fastenal

They don’t deliver throughout the country. I’ve looked into it and they are a hassle. Submit a request and they take a day or so to get back to you. I call my Freightquote rep and get it set in five minutes. Then you have to drive it to the store and the other side has to pick up from a store. You’re doing half their job. They also have a very low limit for insurance. I’m not a fan

YRC hands down. Just sent the engine I had for sale to Bob out in CA for $300. I drop it off in Hagerstown as it saves on shipping. You can get a free quote in seconds. They can even pick it up from your house. I sent a 911 engine from MD to NC about a month ago for around $150. I almost always put it on a 48x40 pallet - $5 at southern states. 3 ratchet straps and plastic wrap and she's off. If you do use YRC, don't pick marking and tagging. I thought this was a service better than the labels I already placed on it, but it's the same thing. YRC actually credited me around $300 from previous charges because I already was doing it.

You guys rock. Looking into all of these options/suggestions now ...

YRC did a shipment for me once. It all was fine except they charged me an extra $75 because they picked up from a school. It didn’t matter that it has tractor trailer access and we forked it into the truck. It was in their fine print.

We use these guys.

https://www.engineshipping.com/

They normally give you several options on carriers, which is nice because some carriers are cheaper in some parts of the country then others due to where their hubs are.

If you need a step by step for crating I did an article years ago, you can expand it if you need it but the principle is the same. I highly recommend crating it, LTL carriers are butchers, take it from a guy who once ran a dock in Atlanta.

...or you just wait for me to pick it up from @cupomeat when I'm in DC in about 3 weeks

Currently they are not shipping cross country, but have
in the past. Most recently I had another member ship an engine strapped to a pallet with a couple nylon load binders and wrapped with shrink wrap. Arrived in a couple days, cost $130. For me it's easy to pull into Fastenal, have them load the pallet on my pickup and drive away. No dealing with lift gates or LTL scheduling

They also would not take anything valued over $5k (iirc).