'60 engine preservation

[Matt F.]

Can anyone offer me some advice on preserving my original 283. I don't know if or when I'll ever get it rebuilt, but in the meantime, I'd like to keep in in the best condition possible. It's on a stand in the garage (as it was when I bought its car), block/heads/valve covers/oil pan/all internals, nothing else. I live in an arid part of California, if that helps.

thanks
-Matt

[Craig S.]

Re: '60 engine preservation

Matt - make sure you have clean fresh oil in the crankcase, remove the plugs and squire a couple teaspoons of oil in each cylinder, and rotate several revolutions with the plugs removed. Install the plugs, and stuff some paper towels in the exhaust and intake ports to avoild debris getting in the ports, or critters. I am assuming your intake manifold is off based on your post, so I usually set an old intake on to cover up the lifter galley and all intake ports, and tape off the carburetor mount with duct tape to keep debris out of there too. I then try to remember and rotate the crank a revolution or so every month, to vary spring pressure on the valves. I live in dry and arrid Tucson, so the process above has worked fine for me storing engines for years. Of course, I have also stored bead blased cast iron without protection in the garage with little or no care (WD 40 or prelube etc) and it usually doesn't rust much unless the swap cooler douses some humidity on it, so we have the best storage situation going Craig

[Allan Wicklund]

Re: '60 engine preservation

Lots of oil all over place, schmear grease on any mating surface that you aren't going to tape over and maybe charge the lubricating system by revolving the oil pump throught the distributor port. Get an old distributor, remove the gear, cut of the weight portion and just spin it with a drill. Be careful of oily rags as they are a combustion source all on there own! Use plastic! And YES, do rotate periodically.