Long term engine storage

[Projectile Dart]

Not too long ago I was gifted an engine which I planned on building up at the time. I tore the entire thing down, had the block and heads hot tanked then media blasted then the virus hit, business slowed down, and me wife and I are now expecting our first child. All that being said, I will no longer be moving forward with building it up but this engine holds a lot of sentimental value to me so selling it is out of the question. I was wondering if there was a way to not waste the media blast process and prevent it from rusting. My plan was to lightly bolt everything back together and put it back on the engine cart that it came on then roll it to the side until the day I can get to it but now I am not sure if I should do that "dry" and let it all just flash rust as it sits, or if I should rub the whole thing down with some grade of motor oil or gear oil before doing so?
Any type of input will be appreciated. I plan on prepping it for storage in a week

 

[Demonracer]

Any of it that is bare metal needs some sort of rust protection, oil, grease, cosmoline, or whatever. From there, keep it in a controlled environment if possible. If no controlled environment, check closely for rust every few days & grease it to prevent any further rust.

 

[Projectile Dart]

Any of it that is bare metal needs some sort of rust protection, oil, grease, cosmoline, or whatever. From there, keep it in a controlled environment if possible. If no controlled environment, check closely for rust every few days & grease it to prevent any further rust.

what do you recommend that I do to the water jacket areas and crevices? oil passages?

 

[Dana67Dart]

Ok kind of joking here but...

What if you got a 55 gallon drum and some new or used oil ( used might be acidic? which would be bad), the oil would not have to be engine oil, but any oil that is cheap, and submerged the block, crank and heads ?

 

[SGBARRACUDA]

Use this product. It never dries and protects for a long time. It is sold at Lowe’s and other locations.

 

[JoePole1]

Use this product. It never dries and protects for a long time. It is sold at Lowe’s and other locations.

View attachment 1715671623

I bought a new RAM in the spring and I sprayed the underneath and anywhere else I could get to before the winter salt got
thrown. N.Y. spares no taxpayer dollars on salt and that liquid death crap. Used something similar called Woolwax. My old Ram was rusting out in the rockers. Hoping to prevent again. Great idea SG!!!

Edit...I would not use it in the water jackets and I would hot tank it again when you take it out of mothballs.

 

[moparmat2000]

Use a spray can of CorBan 35 by Zip Chem. This stuff is used on aircraft. Dries hard, easily removed with lacquer thinner and paper towels. My buddy turns rotors and drums for me on his ancient Aimco brake lathe. I coat em with CorBan 35 let it dry and then shelf it. As long as the coating isnt breached, no rust.

 

[Stephen Mulkey]

I have used Royal Purple Vapor phase barrier in my work. I'm in the Gas and Oil industry and when a high pressure steam generator plunger pump needs prepared for long term storage we clean and oil all surfaces of the crankshaft, rods and internals. They are closed up. Covers and any openings. We make sure there's a small vent to allow the vapor Barrier to gas out. Last thing is to put a few ounces of the vapor fluid in the crankshaft case and check it on average every 6 months. I've had rotating equipment this way for over a year at a time.

 

[gzig5]

Lps3 is like a spray cosmoline and works great. Hose the machined surfaces down with it or grease. Get a couple desiccant bags and then seal it in a heavy plastic bag. It will stay dry inside as long as it is sealed.

 

[Murray]

Cheap and easy= drench parts in motor oil and tightly wrap in plastic. I have tried some of the spray protecters and they last 6 mos.- 1year.

 

[moparmat2000]

Lps3 is like a spray cosmoline and works great. Hose the machined surfaces down with it or grease. Get a couple desiccant bags and then seal it in a heavy plastic bag. It will stay dry inside as long as it is sealed.

I have used that too. Great stuff. Dries like a sticky waxy coating.

 

[Projectile Dart]

Great! Lots of information for me to study and look up what is in stores nearby (I like to try all the mom & pop stores first)
Thank you to everyone who responded!