• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

General Tech Preserve eng/trans that has been removed

Share this page

R

Rubicon

Senior Member
Country flag
Offline
So I’m trying to get back into finishing my car, and I found a complete tr4 engine and transmission. Since I’m not ready to install it yet, I need to preserve it so it doesn’t get frozen. It will be sitting in a heated garage, more then likely on a cement floor, maybe a shelf if I can fit it there.

The intake and exhaust manifold are removed, but everything else is still attached and I can spin it by hand, so I would like to keep it that way, what should I spray into the cylinders to help keep it that way? What should I put in to help keep the head lubricated?

Thanks for the help
 
Rubicon I would say good find hope it is a good unit. Moisture is # 1 I have a GM 350 from Summit on a rolling stand I do not know what they did for shipping. How long will it sit. Off the ground. cover any holes. I think they make a spray with bee's wax that holds a film. You must have heater tape for pipes not hot just so it does not get warm and cold in a given week It is also good to rotate if you can. A friend got a motor that sat TR 6 the rings had etched cyl a mess. As for the trans pull the top rub grease on gears rotate that should be good. Madflyer
 
Thanks for the info, once I get it out of the truck box, I’ll be seeing where it will live in the garage. It will be staying warm, in the.garage, just depends on if I can get it onto the shelf or not, But it will be sitting somewhere, most likely in my way, but....
I thought I did pretty good in finding a tr eng that is complete, plus a bunch of tr4 maybe 4a parts as well.
 
I use LPS3 on everything that can corrode. Be sure to spray in all the plug holes, intakes, exhaust, valve rockers, and bottom end if the pan is off. I also spun the motor to TDC #1, as that position is the least spring compression for all the valve springs. If you leave it between TDC marks, the some of the springs can remain compressed and take a set. I stored my TR2 motor this way for 4 years. It still started on the second spin when it came out of storage.

I saved a tranny for 5 years by just making sure it had oil, and then spinning the shafts every few months to keep the gears from drying out on one side. Again, LPS3 on any steel surfaces, like the shifter forks, shafts, and drive yoke.
 
For the few long-term engine storages I've done, I favor Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders and taking the tension off all the valve springs at the rocker arms. Turn it over a couple times a month - the same day you flush the commode in the upstairs guest room that only gets used at Christmas.
Good luck - great find!
 
Well the engine is out of the truck and into a rolling stand 6DEE89B1-DD7E-4DFD-B137-30B2D2BDAA6C.jpeg
 
A15E74B2-796C-4EE1-8558-319C5BFC8DA0.jpeg

so I sprayed lps 1 rotated the engine and then filled it up with mouse milk, and acf-50, and sprayed down the top end with the same (valve cover removed) and left on #1 TDC. just need to find some covers for the opening and a “blanket” and it should be good to sit for awhile. I need to find a good home in the garage for it, so I guess it’s clean up time.
 
Thanks for the great information. I started my engine before removing it. I did not know about turning it over from time to time or the extra lube to keep it freed up. Engine turned over by hand today, took the valve cover off for the first time , little dirty but not too bad still plenty of oil on everything. put it back on #1 TDC. Need to get some LPS3 as John suggested and spray it down. It will be awhile before I tackle the engine. Thanks for the info. Frank
 
LPS1 is the same stuff, but not as thick, so it will take annual re-application to prevent rust. LPS3 is the thick stuff that dries waxy and lasts for years.

I did not turn my engine over during storage, as I did not want to spin dry bearings, and I figured it would also scrape the LPS off the cylinder walls. Before I turned my engine over for the first time coming out, I spun the oil pump for several minutes to re-lubricate all the bearings and fill the oil gallery. Then I popped the dizzy back in and I think the only spinning I did was to rock it back and forth around TDC to set the initial timing with a test light. Then I fired it up!

Speaking of that...Redokboo never got back, so I guess his initial start is not going smoothly?
 
Back
Top