prepping a shortblock for cold storage

[jveik]

well, i have this 383 shortblock and cant do anything with it until next spring when the weather's good and i have the money for some aluminum heads, so i was wondering how i can keep the shortblock and its internal components from getting rust and moisture in it. someone told me to just dump diesel motor oil all over the internals and it will keep rust from forming... it seems like they didnt oil anything when they put it together, even the cam they installed doesnt have break-in grease on it, which would suck if the motor came with an oil pan and i never noticed lol...

by the way, when i do go to fire this bad boy up, should i dump oil all over the bearings and moving parts before i put the pan on and then also prime the motor with that tool you put in the distributor hole to spin the oil pump?
seems like it couldnt hurt anything... i might try using diesel oil here as well because of its zinc content....


any tips on keeping the metal parts shiny and clean till spring? i really dont want this 1500 dollar bottom end to sieze up on me

[capriceowns]

ive seen people take those big vaccum bags you buy off tv or at like a store, get the really big ones and see if the block will fit in it, if it does vaccum seal it and hide it somewhere safe. lol

[jveik]

that would look kinda cool...

[bobss396]

I used to put motors away for years by oiling up the cylinders with Marvel Mystery Oil. Dump some into a spray bottle and give the galley a good shot, right over the cam and timing chain if the cover is off, toss on a cover if you have one around. At least temporarily install the oil pan.

Priming the oiling system is a good idea too, use something like a fairly light oil, a 10w30 should be fine. But definitely lube the cam before installing the lifters and firing it up. Engine builders don't lube them until they get to that stage anyway. I hope they oiled up the bearings as they installed them, it might be worth asking if the builder is local. That's done right before the crank gets dropped in. The bearing shells themselves are installed dry into the block and main caps & rods.

I used to bag the engines up on the engine stand with a plain old black Hefty garbage bag. Slide it over the block, remove it from the stand and tie it up. I generally stood them up on the back of the block on a couple of 2 x4s.

Bob

[jveik]

so basically, youre saying they probably didnt use any oil when they assembled the shortblock? it doesnt look like they did when you look at the internals. would i have to take the stuff apart, apply oil, and re-assemble to the right torque specs or should i just dump oil all over everything prior to putting on the pan and firing it up?

i think i will do that spray bottle thing with some motor oil just to keep things from corroding during the winter

by the way, theres a little bit of dust and stuff in the motor and other little crap... should i just ignore it and assume the oil filter will take that crap out pretty quick or do i have to try and clean it out as good as possible. its not like everything is coated with dust, its just a little from when i opened the box on the pallet and some prolly fell off the box into the block. nothing huge i assume?

[bobss396]

I hope things were oiled up when it was assembled. You would know by taking off one rod cap end or main bearing, there should be a film of oil on it if it looks dead-dry, put the cap back on and do not rotate the motor. Just park it and get into it in the spring.

But do spray everything down with Mystery oil, it has something in it that is a mild rust preventative. I wouldn't worry about some packing fuzz, but a big piece could clog an oil passage. Look into a few places with a flashlight if it makes you feel better. You can lay a clean shop rag over the lifter galley and exposed cylinders which should keep out any dust or curious spiders.

Make sure you have an oil pan and timing cover on it as well. I used to wrap a clean shop rag around the end of the crank and put the cover and pan on with a few bolts loosely. Also lay a rag around the flywheel end of the crank too.

Bob

[silicon212]

The only block I ever prepped for storage was a 305 block that was going to sit for three years(I didn't KNOW it was going to sit for three years, that's just what happened). We took the engine out of the car (this was when I was 15, it was my dad's car) and broke it down. We didn't clean it, we left it sludgy - smearing axle grease into the cylinder bores and main bearing areas and then put it into a couple of Hefty garbage bags. It sat for three years before I got it and rebuilt it. It had no rust on it anywhere once cleaned.

[bobss396]

I have a 350 stock car motor sitting wrapped up on the floor since 1984 (finished 4th in the feature the last nite of the season). I was looking for a ride to put it into in 1985 but that never happened.

I had fogged it with my favorite, Mystery Oil, while it was last running, added some to the cylinders, taped up all the exhaust ports, carb holes. Did the usual trash bag thing. A couple of years ago I reached in and it still spins easily.

One day it'll come apart and run in some form of car. I'm sure the internals are all fine, all it would need is rings, bearings and take out the race cam.

Bob

[jveik]

yeah i think they must have put at least some oil on stuff because i can grab a crank counterweight and spin it. i assume that if it didnt have oil in it, then i coulndt even budge it, becasue sliding metal across metal is very hard to do lol

[bobss396]

If you got it from a reputable place, it should be ok. If you want to pop off a rod cap and look, that's up to you. But deffo make sure you pre-oil the motor and have full oil pressure before you light it up.

Bob

[jveik]

by the way, i went out and bought a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil at autozone for something like 4 bucks and im gonna try it out. basically, ill just coat everything with it and hope for the best. Luckily, winter climates are the dryest times of the year, so it should hold up pretty good.

anyways, when i get it out in the spring, do i have to clean off the highly concentrated (100%) Mystery oil before i put the pan on and put regular oil in or should i just let it be?

[bobss396]

If you get a puddle in a cylinder or so, just sop it up with a lint-free rag. It totally plays well with regular engine oil so there is no need to remove it. Plus it smells good. I've been using it since I was a kid on bikes, etc.

Bob