I will have real parts weights!

After months of subscribing to a craigslist RSS feed, today I became the happy owner of an electronic 400-lb scale (1/2-lb accuracy, or at least readings).

Now all I need to do is gain access to the engines I'm curious about (after working out a good system for putting the engines on a scale about the size of a bathroom scale).

So tired of Internet parts weights...

I figure once I finish the garage, I'll have a major beam running the length of the garage. I can put the scale on that, and then hang the engines under it. First up are the M10 and M42 on stands nearby...

This is something I have interest in. I have been considering swapping the M44 in my ti for something S-54 shaped.. but I do not want to destroy the handling my car has

I still like the big go cart idea for setting up a somewhat front heavy, light weight RWD car. Just weld the differential and run big rear bar/springs so it always lifts the inside rear. You might even want around 60% front weight for that.

HStockSolo wrote: I still like the big go cart idea for setting up a somewhat front heavy light weight RWD car. Just weld the differential and run big rear bar/springs so it always lifts the inside rear. You might even want around 60% front weight for that.

You won't need too big a rear bar,weight transfer alone will unload the rear enough to turn-in.Get carried away and you still have 1 wheel drive,either the overloaded outsude rear spins(along with the car)with a welded or the inside rear spings with the open.I ran my AE86 with a welded for a season and with some minor set-up changes it worked quite well(no rear bar),even snagged 3rd fastest outright at a rain soaked solo despite damn near the entire subaru club showing up becuase of the rain/play day.

In reply to mad_machine:

I guess that's the one remaining hole: access to all the engines I'm curious about. I've got an M42, which should weigh something very close to the M44, but I don't have an S52 handy...

I want to catalogue what I do weigh and get it up on the web. I'm still working on a format which I think will make what I do come up with fairly definitive. Something like a standard for what's attached and what's not, drained of oil, and perhaps a photo of the scale's readout next to a characteristic part of the engine. A notes field to handle the unavoidable opportunities to weigh someone's engine but not to strip it to the spec configuration...

mad_machine wrote: This is something I have interest in. I have been considering swapping the M44 in my ti for something S-54 shaped.. but I do not want to destroy the handling my car has

You'll pickup 101# (225 vs 326) - BMW engine weights and specs

The S54 is an iron block for stiffness, the alloy block M54 weighs 277# in comparison

I would weight them as they sit... intake, exhaust, but no ancilleries.. no alternator, aircon, or powersteering pumps.. if it does not bolt securely to the engine (ie adjusts) I would not include it

The BMW parts catalog that is available on several websites has precise weights for individual parts and even some large assemblies.