[Shop-talk] clean used engine before use?

[Thomas Coradeschi]

Steve: I am firmly of the belief that the only thing which should go near the valve train or the crankcase is motor oil. For an engine that’s been sitting, making sure you have lubrication is key.

My Dad was a bona-fide MG guy for years - used one of his (the ‘78, I think) as a daily driver for quite some time in the late 80s and was very active in our local MG club. Based on what I’ve seen, those pushrod motors are pretty much the textbook definition of mechanically bulletproof. Electrics of the era? Errrr, not so much.

I’d suggest that you do the following. 

Blow off any loose crud you see with compressed air (stuff rags in the intake ports first). Re-install the valve cover, pan, manifolds, etc and get the motor in the car and hooked up to cooling, electrical, fuel, etc. 

Before you fire it, pull the plugs and disable the ignition (pull the hot wire off the coil or ground its output), then spin the engine over until you have positive indication of oil pressure - either on a gage, if it has one, or by seeing the idiot light go out. 

Once that’s done, reinstall the plugs, hook up the ignition and fire it up, again observing whatever indicators you have relative to oil pressure.

My $0.02, and worth what you paid for it:-)

Tom Coradeschi
tjcora at icloud.com

> On Apr 1, 2021, at 4:26 PM, Steven Trovato <strovato at optonline.net> wrote:
> 
> I have a 4 cylinder MG engine that was removed from a car in good working order.  I know the previous owner and I trust him.  The engine has been stored without valve cover, oil pan, manifolds, etc in a working garage.  It basically just sat in the corner for a year or so.  I would like to use this engine as is, without disassembling further.  My question is, how would you clean this before use?  I could use a hose, but I am concerned that water will get trapped in inaccessible places.  I also considered spraying it down with WD-40.  They make a "big blast" version with a wide area spray.  There isn't any major dirt I'm trying to deal with, but I figure a couple of grains of sand could have landed in it somewhere.  It seems like a rinse would be a good idea.  Thoughts?
> 
> -Steve T.
> 
> 
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