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This topic seems to arise with some frequency. Here are the official numbers from Packard Engineering.

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Terrific chart!
Funny thing I just weighted the 356 engine block with the crank still in it, no pistons or rods. When adding the 1954 L8 block and crank together it totals 392 lbs. The weight of the 356 block and crank together is 445 lbs. So, a 53 pound difference. It makes me wonder, was the L8 block that Packard weighed a 5 main or 9 main?

Mark

Oddly they don't say except to say it's the 359 engine. The V8 is a 352.

I would guess 5 main bearing as that was the "standard" one used in all of the expensive cars except the Patrician. The same question could be had about the 55 intake for example, as the Caribbean one is heavier.

The above chart is a bit skewed as it assumes a 359 motor with an aluminum head, while the majority of later I-8's were 288/327 with iron heads. The iron heads are for sure more than 25lbs, probably north of 75lbs.

The 356 block is a good 1 1/2" taller than the later blocks and that makes up the difference. The engine in the chart is the nine-main 359.

Cast iron is 2.6 times as heavy as aluminum so figure a cast iron head will be 65 lbs.

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The 359 is a 9 main engine. It was derived from the 51-3 Patrician 327 9 main block and was a bored and stroked version of that engine.