Preventing corrosion in stored engine

[shirt]

I’ve bought an engine from a breaker for use on a project. It will be stored over winter in my parents garage which is cold and damp. Anything I can do to prevent / minimise corrosion?

[bgunn]

Keep it in a warm and dry place

[shirt]

I’d love to, but until I can ship it out to my place I can’t. It’s their garage or outside. Plus I haven’t told my dad it’s coming yet!

[airsafari87]

Coat it with ACF50 or the XCP equivalent

[Pothole]

Would they make you store a small old style portable TV in the garage? Surely there's room enough in the house for a bike engine much the same size if not smaller. Where in the country are we talking about?

[podman]

A winter will be fine but the best way would be to remove the plugs, first pop a teaspoon of oil down the bores, turn it over , then change oil and filter, brim the engine to the very top with fresh oil( this stops condensation building up in the engine)

[shirt]

thanks. i also think it should be fine for a couple of months but i don't know how long its been with the breaker or how its been stored there.

next to no chance mum will allow it in the house! they're in their 70s and its a small house, only place it could go would be the dining room and that's out due to xmas.

[Krikkit]

I'd be tempted to get a big plastic crate (e.g. totebox), shove a couple of big desiccant packs in then duct tape it shut until you need it

[fred bloggs]

Coat it with WD40 , loads down the ports, stuff oily rags in the ports. Done.

[Drawweight]

fred bloggs said:

Coat it with WD40 , loads down the ports, stuff oily rags in the ports. Done.

I would do the same but also as suggested above take the plugs out and put a spot of oil down the bores, giving it a turn over by hand.

As well as lubricating the bores it will also give you a reason to find out if the engine actually turns over (if you haven’t done so before)

[David Beer]

Hi,
My z650 has not been run for 15 years, has been garaged and took the plugs out to inspect the bores, clean ! So squirt of WD, slowly kicked it over , no sticking, so put plugs back in and great compression so on Monday new coils and give it a go . Oh it’s a 1978 with 36k on the clock.

[Biker's Nemesis]

Buy a tin bath and fill it with old engine oil then drop the motor in there.

Should be good to go by spring.

[GG33]

Buy a dehumidifier and try to seal any obvious air inlets to the garage. I have been using one for the last 12 years. Never any signs of corrosion on my car, bike or tools.

GG

[Biker's Nemesis]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[Tardigrade]

Unless your certain that it was delivered from dry storage, I would firstly want to remove any moisture that's already in there. Keep it indoors for a few weeks or at least waft a blowtorch over it for half an hour to warm and evaporate any condensation.

To protect internal parts, I would use XCP Professional - like WD40, but better. A bit more cling and creep, more protective additives. But the killer reason is you can then use XCP's flexible extension head. Only £3, and it gives you 2ft reach with a dandelion spray pattern at the tip. I would snake that extension deeply into every opening - spark plugs, oil filler, inlets and exhausts, oil drain, etc. Also look for easily removable covers for valve adjustment, cam chain tensioner etc and worm the flex extension into every opportunity. Dump a full can of protectant into the engine, ideally.

External protection is tricky because you can't easily move it after this, but I would bag the engine in a heavy gauge rubble sack or drop it onto a clean tarpaulin and wrap it over. Before closing up, give the outside of the engine a sheen of protectant to reduce condensation rust, and lay a reusable silica bag on top. Close it up as airtight as you can, and check the silica bag every month or so.

https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/...
https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DEHUMIDIFIER-MOISTURE-ABS...