I rebuilt a buick 455 this last winter. I have it in my garage and covered it in saran wrap. I never primed the motor with oil. I just left it as is. well my english wheel sits 10 feet away and the anvils started to rust. My question is what sugestions do you guys have to store the motor and prevent the internals from rusting. it would be a bummer to have the insides of this mill rust after spending all that coin to rebuild it. i did spray remove the plugs and spray wd40 inside.
wd40 will remove what oil there is there wrong wrong wrong. get those cylinders oiled down if its not to late already
do i shoot some oil in the spark plug holes? do i prime the motor at the distributor? how would i find out if i have a problem?
i haven't primmed the motor yet. the hydrolic lifters dont even have oil in them and dont lift the push rods yet. also the cam hasn't been broken in yet. will i cause problems scraping the moly lube off the cam if i turn it over to much. i already turned her over a dozen times during the build and while i was trying to find tdc on the #1 cylinder. i realised the lifters needed oil to lift the valves. thanks for your input. tom
WD will be gone in a few days. Dessicant bags will cause more damage unless the engine is in a hermetically sealed bag filled with dry nitrogen, in which case forget about everything except turning it. Fog the cylinders and the intake and ehaust runners, seal up all openings using wide cellophane tape. It will come off a lot easier than duct or masking tape six months down the road. Spray a light oil on the outside of the motor and cover, don't wrap, with a sheet of plastic. Don't forget to turn it 3 1/2 revolutions every couple months. Why 3 1/2? That way, the fogging oil is redistributed in the cylinders the pistons don't get put back to the same place every time. Priming will take care of startup lubrication. Good quality builder lube will still be there years from now even with the turning.
Just a note; those 455 Buick pans are REAL close to the crank forward of the sump...IF the engine is set on a block at any time to balance on the floor you can bet the crank will hit the pan and you'll think you've got a rod knocking.....thought I'd dropped something down the intake...cost a gasket set to find the marks in the pan. BE CAREFUL
Be ware of WD40. I sprayed it on a newly turned crank and wrapped it up in plastic.Months later I unwrapped it to find rust. I would use something else like F&J posted.
Do NOT use an oil too thick to fog the cylinders!!!!!!! This is only important if the engine has never been fired (rings broken in). If the cylinders have too much oil on them (say, drowned in straight 30 wt) the rings will not seal properly upon start up. If the rings don't break in right away, they never will. When assembling motors, we use a product from Total Seal on the rings (or Marvel Mystery oil), and just a dab of 30 wt on the skirts. We also wipe the cylinders with the thin Total Seal lube. Thats it! Keep it dry and ventilated. Fogging cylinders is ok on motors already broken in.
on a new rebuilt motor i don't plan on using for a while i don't adjust the valves. that keeps all the valves closed. then seal off the exhaust ports and the intake too.
As far as protecting something like a turned crank or bored block, Castle Products markets a substance called "Endura". I've used it with good results. After spraying it on the part, it gets sticky and thick, and takes years to go away, if at all.
If the motor is going to sit more than a few months- back off all the rockers so the springs aren't sitting compressed.
If it was properly pre-lubed whilst being assembled, nothing. For a hundred years. .....except cover all openings.
This is good advice from 36-3window. I assume that you properly lubed everything when you assembled. I never prime the oil pump until I'm ready to fire it. You do that by spinning the oil pump drivve with a primer tool and a 1/2 inch drill. I have seen several folks recommend WD-40 even pro builders with a good rep here lately. I never ever get any kind of a spray lube like WD-40 or Knock-er-Loose etc around my cylinders. I'm really old fashioned I guess but they used to say that the rings wouldn't seat if you used it. But its up to you evidently it was just an old wives tale. One other thing I do and this may help you can buy this stuff called DampRid at most home improvement stores. it comes in a little (about 1.5 pint) bucket. It is basically salt which attracts moisture, anyway put a few around in your garage. Things were rusting in my garage and I started useing that stuff and it pretty much cured my problem. I guess its a poor mans de-humidifier.
I had a problem where I built a new shop and the concrete was still curing. I was away for 2 days and when I can came back, it was like a suana in there. This was after three weeks since the concrete was poured. My new machined flywheel had a sickening coat of rust forming. I bought a dehumidifier from costco and been running it every since. Its amazing how nice it feels in there.
That might be OK in Colorado, but no way near the ocean or in humid climates... The humidity and the heating and cooling cycles during the day will eventially cause condensation inside and rust everything after awhile... This is what I'd recommend if you can't store it in a climate controlled area... Coat all the internals with a good perservative oil like AeroShell 2F by running it up for at least 15 minutes (you have to break the Cam in anyway right?) then at a high idle, pour 2F into the carb slowly until it kills the engine... Remove Carb, drain fuel and fill it with 2F as well to preserve, cover all engine openings and placard crank "DO NOT ROTATE" until you're ready to re-commission it... Someone mentioned dessicant... I agree, they'll be a waste for long term storage if it's not in a pressurized can and just sitting around in a uncooled/heated building... The best thing to do if you can't run it or preserve it is to keep it in a climate controlled area...
the garage is climate controlled. but my nice new anvils which are 10 feet away did rust. i probally coated them with wd40. this is what i did today. i shot fogging oil in each spark plug hole. turned the crank 90 degrees and shot more oil into the holes. i did this 10 times. i shot some oil into the oil drain hole,carb, any opening in the intake manifold, the exhaust runners. all the holes were buttoned up. and i cover it with a few sheets. but the motor is not running. i couldn't shoot some oil into the carb and let her run for 10 seconds as the directions call for. i am only turning it over by hand. no oil is in the timming chain set. i did prelube the bearings and lifters and cam. but the entire interior of the motor had a coating of wd40. what do you guys think. am i covered? or should i do something else? tom
That's exactly what NOT TO DO. Freshly rebuilt motor with proper assembly lube, is already preserved internally. It's ready for storage. Running it introduces contaminates, acids, fuel residue, etc.
Well, you can tell Lycoming and Continental they're all wrong and to stop running engines before shipping them...
Sounds like even with climate control you still have a lot of humidity left over, you might try a De-Humidfier like you'd see in a basement... Have you ever checked how much humidity you have? That might be a better starting point... WD40 is a water dispersant and doesn't leave anough film... I think someone posted a SeaFoam product that'd be better... Running it for 10 seconds isn't long enough, but if you pre-heat the preservative oil to 200F before you put it in you could shorten the time to a few minutes... I bought an engine (O-200-A) that the guy overfilled the entire engine while still on the airframe with oil until it poured out of every possible opening and it held up ok for about 5 years except the cylinders rusted a little due to the oil draining out... I suppose if it was still on an engine stand you could fill it up with oil then rotate it and the oil would get to every nook and cranny as well... The big problem is all the places that don't have a coating of oil will start to go rusty after awhile unless you keep the humidity down to a reasonable level. Take a look at this as another option... http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/tempestAA1000.php Shoot me a PM if you'd like the full preservation instructions from Lycoming & Continental...
if i filled the motor up with oil would that remove the moly lube on the cam? it's not broken in yet. would the oil remove the assembally lube off the bearings? I do have a bottle of nitrogen. we use that to remove moisture in ac systems. do you think that would help?tom
its going into a 71 riv i am restoring. its been 1.5 year build already. at this rate it will take another 1.5 years before its ready to ride. at 4 hrs per week things go a little slooowww. and i am bass ackwards. tom
Eastwood sells bags for this, I think they have a kit. Or use a good bag, toss in a few dessicant bags and seal. Or use a good bag and fill it with nitrogen, drain the oil out of it, the oil will have water in it, WD has water in it.
Glad someone mentioned that, If I have heavy tension valve springs Ill back them off even for winter storage
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