Best way to store an engine block.

Hi Guy's,

Whats the best way to store an engine block. I picked up one last weekend but won't be using it for a while. Its a shortblock and at the moment I have just covered the bores and mounting surfaces in Lithium grease and black bagged it. Is this the right way to do it?

Thanks

 

That's pretty much what we do at our shop. We just coat it with oil and wrap it up in 2 big garbage bags just to be safe.

 

That's how I've always done it, but most of mine will need future machine work anyway. I just try to keep them from rusting and getting a bunch of crap in them.
I have all of mine standing on end (no room for dollies).

 

Keep it off concrete directly and put it somewhere without vast temperature swings. A cold block condensating in warm air is your biggest enemy, and if it's on concrete directly the warmup process will slow down and condensate harder. K&N aerosol filter oil is a great way to coat weird surfaces easily, and stays for a couple years. Good luck

 

I was going to say keep it away from the concrete, especially if it wasn't bagged. I use atf to seal everything up, it won't dry out like oil and easier to clean up than any kind of grease. Ever pull apart and old auto trans? It's clean and spotless from rust inside.

 

I seem to remember reading that old Nascar blocks were seasoned by burying them in the dirt. Any truth to that?

 

Where's the cosmoline when you need it? Can it even be purchased anymore?

Jay

 

2 Things are good are relieving internal stresses in new castings.

First is temperature cycles. Even small swings like day to night will do something if it's repeated hundreds of times. Second is allowing the surface to corrode and blasting it clean. Many casting stresses are accumulated at the skin and the act of allowing them to fester via corrosion makes them much easier to remove mechanically.

As far as the in the dirt part.....not sure I see a specific benefit there other than not taking shop space and being hard to steal.

 

Not being a SBC guy, but I thought I recalled a "seasoned" block being a selling point back in the day.

I was told pretty much what Shifty said. They use to let the block totally rust over without it getting to the point of acutally causing pits.

 

Thanks Guy's.

The block I have doesn't look like it will need any machining. Its a 350 with a 383 SCAT rotating assembly. I picked it up dirt cheap last weekend just because. I can still see the honing on the cylinder walls. Will be a few months before I get round to putting it together. I have it up on an engine stand under my car port as I have no room in the garage at the moment.

 

I also like to rotate the crank a couple of revs once a month or so and a shot of oil in each spark plug hole.

 

After you've oiled it down and bagged it, stick the Shop Vac nozzle in the end and pull the air out...then tie the end off...

 

fold it up and put in yer wallet