VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 storing a newly rebuilt engine

hey guys
i want your views on storing a newly rebuilt 1930 194 engine.
i had a spare engine rebuilt last year and ran it in for about 30minutes. i don`t need it at this time. this engine is all there. from the valve cover to the oil pan. carb,gen, starter. everything. i still have the stock one in my 30 coach and it runs fine. i have the engine on a home made stand sitting in the corner in my dry temp controlled garage. i do turn it over by hand once a month or so. i did add some MM oil to each cly. and coated the water jacket with MM oil. i capped off the water inlet and outlet. no mice here. is there anything else i should do.

Put new oil in the pan, if you have not yet. I think Chip told me this, but when you run the engine you get acid in the oil, so best to change it out before storing for a long time.

i did drain off the oil before i put the engine away. so your saying to fill it with the right amount of oil and leave it like that?

I would put fresh oil in the pan and leave it there. When I stored my new engine, I slowly poured the oil over the rocker arms so that the oil would filter down into the oil pan. That way I was sure that the complete upper end of the engine was well lubricated.

thanks dog.
thats what i`ll do.

Cool man!

Having drained the oil I would loosen the drain screw so any moisture would drain away. The major consideration is the moisture that collects from condensing humidity as the temperature of the engine increases and decreases. Because your storage is temperature controlled moisture gain inside the engine will be minimal. The remaining oil film will protect for a while. The only difference by adding 5 qts of oil will be to reduce the free volume in the pan and keep any droplets of water protected against the metal on the bottom of the pan and help it corrode a hole. An empty pan will help evaporate any water.