Thanks for your help in the decision. 
Storing engine block/heads over winter
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,028
Likes: 2
From: North NJ
Storing engine block/heads over winter
I have a 454 block, 396/427 crank, original big block heads & snow flake intake for a date correct 68 vette that I'm not using at the moment. Not going to sell them just yet until I have an engine in my car. If anything I will need to store the block for a while, what are the proper storage steps to take to prevent rusting & damage due to time? Does anyone sell block storage bags that seal? I know summit sells storage bags to just put over your block while its on the engien stand but it doesn't seal. What type of oil or moisture absorbant products should i seal in the bag with the parts to prevent any damage while sitting in storage? Or is this a lost cause and no matter what damage will occur? I don't want the cylinder walls to start pitting.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,739
Likes: 630
From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina
Coat em, bag em & get em off the ground &onto some boards. I like an aerosol product called LPS 3 Heavy-Duty Rust Inhibitor that I get at local hardware/industrial supply ... www.LPSLABS.com ... it's alot like "cosmoline" of old. I really don't see the need to seal bag ... might actually be best not to seal bag so that any condesation can evap.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,137
Likes: 51
From: Cartersville GA
Coat em, bag em & get em off the ground &onto some boards. I like an aerosol product called LPS 3 Heavy-Duty Rust Inhibitor that I get at local hardware/industrial supply ... www.LPSLABS.com ... it's alot like "cosmoline" of old. I really don't see the need to seal bag ... might actually be best not to seal bag so that any condesation can evap.
As an extra precaution, you can get some dessicant bags to put inside the bagged motor to absorb moisture. It worked for my SB, and it had been stored for several years, no rust at all. I would pull it out of the bag every now and then, squirt a little oil in each cylinder, and turn it over by hand a few times. Mine was on an engine stand, so I could rotate it too to assure coating of the cylinder walls.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 7,720
Likes: 12
From: Chattanooga TN
Coat machined surfaces liberally with grease. I would buy a tub of generic grease from Wal mart and coat bores, cam bearings, and mains on the block. On the crank, coat all the journals with grease and store standing up on the flywheel end. Heads, I would spray liberally with WD-40. Another product that might be better is hydraulic cylinder lube. You would get it from a heavy equipment dealer. It is used to protect exposed hydraulic cylinder rods for overseas shipping among other things. It is very clingy.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,028
Likes: 2
From: North NJ
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,028
Likes: 2
From: North NJ
I appreciate your advice as well as others in the matter. Thanks
I'll post pics this weekend...hopfully.
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