I am getting ready to start cleaning parts and doing an inventory of what I may need for my rebuild (besides the obvious seals, O-rings, etc.)

I was curious how long a rebuilt engine will sit on the bench without being installed. I am looking at dropping my rebuild in during the coming winter sometime, but was curious if I have to wait until the week before I want to install it before assembly or if I can do and cover it up on the shelf until I get around to it.

 

Rebuild shelf life is pretty long, really, though there arent any exact numbers. There is no carbon present to cause anything to stick, and there should be assembly lube (oil) on most internal surfaces to prevent rust and corrosion from moisture in the air on the bare metals. IT wouldnt be a terribly bad idea to go to it once every month or 2 and turn it a little, but it isnt necessary, and I'd see no problems with letting one sit around a year or 2...

 

What do you do to control rust in the coolant passages?

James

 

Make sure everything is clean and dry before you put the motor together and then block off all passages and store in a dry place. You can even wrap it up tightly in plastic. I built a motor for a friend of mine for his project car and that was before I got married he just put the engine in the car and got it running a couple months ago me and my wife are celebrating our 5th anniversary this June. He kept the motor in a dry place always spun it around atleast once a week, he's very paranoid, and motor turned on on the first crank. Motor is a full bridge 12A and runs great. Can't wait to see it go down the strip. It will take him probably another year till he does that. He works really slow.

 

The coolant passages won't rust anyway. They're not cleaned, bare metal like the combustion chamber (think brake rotor, shiny and clean). Even after a rebuild they generally have a light residue of past coolant use. I have some irons sitting on the shelf for years and the coolant passages show no signs of rust...however, if any moisture makes its way onto the combustion surface it'll rust almost immediately.

 

The longer you wait to reinstall an engine, the harder the job will become. I've got a terrible memory and if I wait too long to reinstall something that I took out, I'll have forgotten where stuff goes and how.

 

Ha, that's my biggest problem... I have a horrible memory for that stuff.

Could one get some of that marine fogging oil they use to control corrosion and soak the irons down with that maybe? I don't know if you'd want to do it after it's all put together, but maybe if you have them siting around unbuilt?

 

The reason I ask is b/c I was going to begin the process of building my new engine. I am going to do it right and put the internals together the way I want, not with whatever is available at the time like I did when my engine blew two years ago.

I want to do some serious porting, 3mm apex seals, hardened stationary gears, FD corner seals, etc. etc.

My current engine is a rebuild, but I don't know anything about it. No idea if it is ported or not, what internals are there and what (if anything) is re-used.

When I want to install it, I will tear the old engine out and install the new over the course of a weekend.

Fogging oil may be something I look into. If it helps keep marine engines from rusting up and isn't harmful in that application, why would it be any different with a rotary?

 

Why bother? Kevin Landers just told you what was up.. just make sure you use machine oil liberally during the rebuild, and you're golden.