10 year old plus engine, never run=problems?

[Dico]

As above really.

I have the chance of purchasing an engine which is between 10 and 15 years old.
It was aledgedly used as an exibition piece and has its own stand with wheels.
All ancillaries are with it.
It is quite a price so therefore i dont want the expense of having to strip it down to check/replace gaskets etc. I have no intentions of fitting it at present, it may even be another 10 years before it gets fitted if i was to purchase it, so does anybody with experience feel that as long as it has been dry stored that nothing can really deteriorate, except maybe the head gasket? Or could even that be fine?

Its quite a unique oportunity so i dont want to miss out, although i also dont want to face a restoration bill on top of the purchase price.

Any ideas??

Thanks.

edit- I believe it has never had water or oil in it.

>> Edited by Dico on Monday 9th January 16:13

>> Edited by Dico on Monday 9th January 20:37

[I Cooke]

Quite possibly!

If it was always intended to be a display item it might be an old test unit. However if you are sure its a good one, the best thing you could do would be to drop the sump, rocker/cam covers off and attack everything wih a torque wrench! You'll also want to check for corrosion on the valve gear.

Without a rebuild it will always be a suck-it-and-see experience! If you tackle the things that are likely to cause damage if it does go pear shaped then you could turn up trumps. Check for corrosion and things like valve timing just to be sure before you do anything


What engine is it by the way?

[GreenV8S]

So it won't have been run in, it probably won't have any build lubrication left (so you would be advised to strip, lube and reassemble before you start it). If it was only intended to be a show engine you might not be safe assuming it has been built and set up properly. Goodness only knows what state the seals are in. Mayby they'll still be as-new, but seals are the sort of thing that seem to suffer most when an engine is left standing so I wouldn't count on it.

[Dico]

Thanks guys.

Your making me a bit dubious about this purchase - which is probably a good thing as i'm not exactly 'loaded' at the moment. I just did'nt want to miss out on this particular engine.
Its a lotus elan M100 turbo (16 valve twin cam isuzu) engine by the way.
Quite rare secondhand never mind unused.

Any more replies? Come on disuade me! lol.

>> Edited by Dico on Monday 9th January 20:36

[busa_rush]

Does it even have a crank, rods and pistons ? A display engine wouldn't need these, at least not good ones.

[GavinPearson]

Generally speaking I would avoid like the plague.

When I worked for Jaguar one of my jobs was to make sure we had show transmissions for exhibitions and motor shows, etc.

We used test parts that had ended test and torn down for inspection, they were of no further use for engineering. As parts of the transmission get cut away, or chromed, or powder coated, plus clearances are opened up to cut drag to allow parts to rotate easily, it really is of no consequence to those who see them - they just look fantastic and show the complexity of the transmission itself.

The other thing to realise is that sometimes show engines can be made out of 'scrap' and appear to be OK. For example it could be made of a block cast in the wrong material, or with porous heads, or a heat treat issue that left sand in the block. For show it would not be an issue, but I'd never want to run one.

In this case the unit is highly unlikely to be useable without a very careful rebuild, so I would bear this in mind and use it as a negociating point. You may well find that the price comes down enough to make it worthwhile.

It is best used as a show engine and nothing else.

[Avocet]

I heard of someone who bought an ex-show engine for a boat and found that it had no internals! I don't know whether it's true but I'd certainly be wary of "show" engines - especially if they're shiny!