Engine building quick question

[andreic]

Just a quick question for those of you who have rebuild engines in the past. I will be rebuilding a replacement engine for my 1.8L 914, without yet taking the existing one out of the car. The issue that bothers me is that the car itself goes into storage in about a month, for 6 months (mid-October to mid-April -- very cold here in Wisconsin).

The question is this: if I finish rebuilding the engine in, say, November, but do not get to run it until April or May, is there a risk that all the building oil I will have put on the bearings, camshaft lobes, etc., will get dried out or run into the bottom of the case, making the engine dry and prone to damage when I run it the first time? Should I consider postponing the project till April? Or should I pull out the existing engine, transmission, and exhaust from the car, putting the car into storage just as a roller, so as to be able to fire up the new engine once it is ready?

Thanks.

[John Rogers]

If it were me, I would wait and do the engine rebuild next spring. Mainly due to the cam lobes and lifters drying out and that would wreck the cam when you start it. I hope you run it weekly or so even in the winter so get the oil circulated and flush the fuel system so crud will not build up?

[andreic]

With the existing engine in the car putting it into storage consisted of just an oil change a week or so before, filling up with fresh fuel and adding a fuel stabilizer, and then covering up the carburetor filter and exhaust with tinfoil after it's put into storage. The storage is dry, but not heated, and I don't have access to the car during the 6 months (hence no running it up during this time).

I have had no problems with it during the past three years I've done this, she starts right up after the winter.