I have a stupid question but I've never stored a pulled engine.

I recently swapped motors and I have my old engine (86 32 valve) with timing belt failure sitting on a modified stand (few 2x4 supports) and I'm trying to figure ou the best way to store the engine long term. I will eventually dig into it and rebuild as a project but not for at least a year.

Should I put it on a engine stand fully assembled or leave it on the ground? If I leave it on the ground fully assembled can I rest it on the oilpan?

 

yep, just rest it on the oil pan. i usually suppor the back of the oil pan with a block of wood and have the front on a shorter block of wood to keep it level. if its open, pour a little oil in the cylinders and wrap it up, or if it is a complete engine, just wrap it all up and tuck it away.

 

Always wondered about this- for storing an intact engine, would you crack the coolant drains and flush the coolant passages with water and blow it out as dry as possible, or ???

 

Water and oxygen = corrosion. So ... I think either blow it out and get rid of ALL the coolant, or leave it totally full with no air pockets.

Probably easier to blow it dry and then run some heated air through from a heat gun for a while .. and repeat the process a few times. It's easier to dry it out on an engine stand as you can rotate it around to make sure it's all gone. Long term I think dry is easier and better. That's what I've done (oil drained, no coolant, oiled bores ... on engine stand).

My opinion .. but interested to hear what others have to say.

 

Make sure you get all the fuel out of the fuel system.

 

I would fab a roller stand out of a few 2x pieces and some HD casters. It will be a LOT easier to move around compared to on an engine stand, and will store under a countertop. It's also easy to forget.

Drain the collant passages completely, flush with water and dry the block. Think shop-vac on the galley drains, with the engine tilted a little nose-up. Drain the old oil and install fresh, then spin the oil pump with the drill motor for a while to get all the passages full of new. Pull the plugs, and squirt oil in the bores, then roll the engine a few times by hand, squirt again, and put the plugs back in finger-loose. Drain all the fuel from the engine piping if it hasn't been done already, and let that system air-dry for a day or two. I layed up boat motors for the season with a heavy spray of CRC marine preservative. I think it's 6-56, available by the gallon at any serious marine store. You can do the bores again if you want, but the trick is to spray the whole outside to completely displace moisture and coat the whole thing. Since you will be bagging the motor anyway, think about putting the bag underneath, spraying with a garden sprayer inside the bag to contain any overspray, then closing it up with a few big dessicant bags. Get a serious plastic bag or two, not trash bags but maybe chemical drum liners that will be airtight and durable enough to survive the casual push and shove needed to move the engine once in a while. Carefully fold and tape the bag closed with something like good stucco tape or premium duct tape.

Better is to do at least the teardown now. Start the hunt for heads and parts or just parts, easier when you know what the damage is and what you need. A motor that's well pickled will sit for many years before you finally forget while you have at and send it on it's way somewhere. Do that now, either fix it or part with it, so you won't have it in the way between now and those years. Just a thought.

 

Drain the coolant and flush with distilled water, blow dry.
Drain the oil and fill with fresh oil.
Remove the spark plugs, mist oil into each cylinder and rotate engine a couple of time.

They make special spark plugs that are filled with silica gel, get a set, Aircraft Spruce may have them.
Install them in the motor

Get a few bags of silica gel and place in the air intake, oil filler, PVC system, and at several other places on the engine.

Get a couple of engine bags from your local machine shop and wrap it up and tape.

With the exception of drying the silica gel out every once in a while in the oven, they will last pretty much forever.

The key is to keep moisture and dirt out.
Or you can just do what DR Bob said, same basic thing.

 

Thanks for that tip, Greg.

 

My spare is pretty much dis-assembled but I have the block resting on some very solid saw-horse like items using the motor mount flanges

 

I bought a cheap Chevy engine cradle and had some local muffler shop reweld the mounting plates to match a 928.

I think doing a big preparation for long term storage invites long term storage instead of fixing the motor. I would put it on a Harbor Freight furniture moving dolly as pulled, with maybe plywood or something directly under the motor to catch the drips, and 4x4 etc to balance it, then be annoyed by it until you decide its time to pull it apart and fix it.

After its been fixed, then wrap it up like a present from granny.

Engine cradle.

 

Odds are the "new " engine in your car will run forever making rebuilding the original one rather pointless....... and expensive. Very high probability that when you do pull the heads the cylinders will have a few scratches which although they MIGHT be all right most will want to bore and hone to oversized pistons so it is like new. Just be sure to oil the cylinders /rings well for storage.

 

Thank you for all the great tips, I may have a change of heart on rebuilding the engine but I like the thought that I have a spare block just incase something catastrophic happens to the replacement. Plus it adds untold annoyance value to the in-laws