To Assemble, or not to assemble....

That is the question....Both the cranks are away for a re-grind and I got to wondering if the second engine would be better left in an un-assembled state, rather than being left assembled and unused for another six months?

Opinions?

Steve

Assumeing youre not storing it in a leaky shed or tropical jungle , Damp Moist high humidity dungeon , it'd be fine .

PROVIDED its all lubed & oiled generously .Use the specification Pratt & Whitney used for the crated sea plane engines.
They tossed them off the ship & towed them ashore. No Jettys . Er Now where was I . :cry:

Did a ford V4 with the Pressed in Gudgeons where they heat the rod to fit , Stored in truck engine bay for 12 weeks outdoors , the dew / humidity meant the dry gudgeons froze in the pistons .Required Crankshaft removel to remove rods ,
free off & oil . i.e. near a complete strip .

Now where was I . ! YES the point being , Some people recomend DIPPING complete assembled pistons in a can of OIL .
( pistons , rings & rod Fitted .
ALSO the timing chain .
THEN theres the Cam Lube ,
AND Primeing the Oilways.
COMPLETELY .

A paranoid Neurotic , or decadant capitalist could fill entirely with ( good) oil.Drain off and swing through plugless before start up .
Chain Oil aerosol is good INHIBITOR for all steel componentry .( valve seats etc )

Moreys heavy duty oil stabilisor would do if not turnig it into Alli Babbas lamp .Camoline is sheeps wool oil , R.A.F. issue .


For storage of Maserati's and the like , daining used oils and filling all cases is recomended for lng term storage .

Am I correct in assuming that you are asking about the wisdom of reassembling the 2nd engine without it's crank, which is away being machined? I see no benefit in this whatsoever, but regardless of this you should keep the parts somewhere clean and dry. If on the otherhand you are asking about whether to build both engines once both cranks are delivered back I would say yes emphatically for the following reasons. Once you are in engine-build mode it is practically as easy to build 2 engines as one, particularly the same type of engine, secondly building engines is fun and something to do over Winter while there is little prospect of a decent ride. Finally you can ascertain whether there are a few missing bits and pieces that inevitably seem to 'escape' whenever you dismantle an old bike. Good luck with it.
Dave

Hi Guys,

The garage is damp during the winter especially, so in that case it might be better greasing/oiling up those vulnerable steel parts, pack them away carefully.

Matt...I was thinking that if I assembled the second engine I could block of things like the inlet/exhaust ports, oil feed pipes, effectively sealing the internals of the engine. I seem to remember(talking of aero engines) Spitfire engines being mothballed by filling them up with oil, or something...

Dave,

I was wondering if I assembled the second engine completely (With crank), I could store it safely without running it up till later next year.

I can only see one other option. Assemble the second engine, tell my Mrs it's going to have to come 'indoors' for
the winter :mrgreen:

Wish me luck! :roll:

Steve, It should be perfectly fine to keep it for quite a long time without firing it up, as long as you liberally oil it during assembly. fresh engine oil with no hydocarbons dissolved in it will do no damage at all if left for even a year or so I would say. I myself have a bottom end with pistons that I assembled over 6 months ago and it wont go into the bike for at least another 6 months or longer. I generally take a year or longer to undertake a restoration, normally the engine is one of the first things I do, as that is usually the unknown quantity until it is apart, so even though it might be back in the frame fairly early in the process I wont start the bike for a long time after - essentially I am storing the engine in a frame instead of on a bench and I don't think there is any difference at all to either scenario.

If its steel or cast iron you sure want to seal it up against vermin and moisture which means real tin or heavy plastic containers or heavy grease as the spray on stuff can not be trusted, damhik. There is something to be said for having a hollow mocked up engine hanging around to glance at. There are few power plants that just look so right assembled.

Dirt floor & the water runs through each time it rains ? , :lol: Buy a shovel ( not H.D.) :?

A tin box with a 60 watt light bulb inside would be a good dehumidifier .
( Tell the misus you need a dehumidifier in the house 8) ) :mrgreen:

Up off Groundlevel would do , if theres electrikery in the shed .

If it is a dirt floor , keep it damp with all the bits around to keep the airbourne grit out of the atmosphere .
A compressors a good way to blow out the shed , when the winds in the right direction ( neighbours washing )
or everything above floor level to hose it out with water keeps it habitable .

In the 50s they basically ' shrink wrapped ' the entire airframe , still liable to rubber deterioration and electrical / hydraulic woes , long term . P-47s they sent over in spray on rubber suits , deck cargo .Must be a few at the bottom of the Atlantic ,
The U boat Gangsters .

Engine Shops seal long blocks & full builds in Plastic Shrink wrap , these days .Mainly to keep dust and grit out .
Thrown in a thick walled plastic bag , on a dry day , with a thingo of moisture absorber ( sachet) should see you right .

Pay to lable clearly if you have other occupants who are prone to ' tidying up ' & ' clearing out ' . :shock:

Matt, Steve, Dave,

Thanks guys

No the garage doesn't have power, not likely to either (well mains anyway), I had to buy a 5.5kw generator to power the welder and the other tools. The floor is concrete, sealed it with some of that floor paint. The other down side is it's slap bang in the middle of a block of garages, there's an air gap between them...So the damp has free reign. Anything that hasn't got a 1/2" coat of grease on it at this time of year begins it's slow decline back to iron oxide :roll:

Fortunately I don't have to worry about anyone coming in and 'tidying up'...They know the consequences! :mrgreen:

I've got to send away the other set of crank cases next week for vaqua-blasting along with the rods and outer cases for polishing, see if I can find a set of barrels in good condition. Once they're back from refurb I'll start assembling them both. Got some shelf space left...Just about :shock: I'll make a space and keep the engine off the floor, having covering it carefully to keep the rot and the bugs out.

I don't consider myself a jealous person...But I'm really envious of you guys with the 'proper' workshops

Steve

While I've been going through the process of rebuilding my 750 I have also been cleaning up parts for the 850 at the same time. Don't ask why I have two bikes in pieces at once, It's a long story. :?

Living in North Queensland, Australia means I have to deal with high humidity all the time. Something I have found that works really well is SW2 Protective Oil. It seals up brilliantly, can be thinned out and spayed on with a cheap undercoat gun and dries hard so no airborne dust will stick to it. It's part of the POR15 line of products and can actually be painted over directly with the actual POR15 base coat. I don't know how other coatings will handle it, but seeing as I'm using POR15 as a rust preventative base coat under the gloss black for the frame, etc. it made sense to use this while storing parts. I've used it on the barrels, head and other various internal parts with great effect. Before assembly I simply give them a quick wipe over with GP Thinners and then apply the assembly lube to the necessary parts.

Here's a link to the Australian supplier if you feel like a read.

http://www.por15.com.au

Kenny

Hi Kenny,

Thanks for the heads up on the POR15. I've found a company that sells it over here in the U.K. I'll grab myself a tin of that. I can only guess that it works in a similar way to red oxide?

The SW2 seems a little harder to track down, even on places like Ebay/Amazon. I'll give the company a shout, see if there's a distributor closer to where I am. From the blurb I see they say it's similar to DW40(fish oil based)

Steve

Good to hear you found an outlet over there. Yes, it is much like fish oil in the way that it's capillary properties allow it to track into crevices that you can't get to usually, but it doesn't smell like the inside of a prawn trawler.

The big thing that made me pay attention to the POR-15 was it's claims of being scratch, chip and peel resistant. I saw it used and was impressed with the way it worked, and after getting a quote from the powder coating firm of $380au just for the frame (that's if I supplied it already sand-blasted), I figured it was cheaper to go with the POR-15. I'm using the POR-15 as a base coat on anything that will be painted and the Hardnose in Gloss Black as a top coat for all the frame and attachments with the Sterling Silver as a coating for the fork yokes.

Kenny

Lanolin spray is very good, (don't use POR 15 tank sealer, it is crap,,,,their other products are very good) graeme