Engine assembly fluid?

Before I start the assembly, I wash the engine with soap and water, dry it or blow it out, and give it a bath with WD-40.

I keep it wrapped in a plastic bag on the engine stand until I am ready to build up.

I may use the special lubricants which camshaft manufacturers may provide for the camshaft. For stock applications this may not even be necessary, but it doesn't hurt anything.

I normally use STP for the rest. I haven't seen any problems doing it this way.

I use copious quantities of 20W50 dino motor oil in the bearings. I lightly grease valve stems and seats when I assemble heads. I use either moly grease or manufacturers miracle lube on cam shaft lobes. I pre oil if possible, and always spin the engine on the starter, plugs out, till I have oil pressure. If the cam is new and a non-roller, I try very hard to have every thing ready to run the engine at 2000 - 2500 rpm for 20 munutes - means I have to have the timing pretty close, the carbs have to be close to balanced, the coolant leaks have to be gone, etc.

that's really all you need, in my opinion. Odd spec motors, like some race jobs, may have special requirements. Some race engines can't be started until they are at full operating temperature, which means major pre-heating of oil and water, and block/head.

Brian

Berrymans Engine Assembly Lube. #1013 Lubrex "maximum start-up friction protectionagainst scoring & scuffing.....Positive lubrication the instant the part is put to use... guards against rust & corrosion" Hard to find, get a store to order you a couple cans. It's the only specific product I know of.

I'd use STP or lithium grease on the bearings, cam break-in lube on the cam (whether new or not) from PC or Melling or almost any cam mfgr. Lubrex everywhere else, including bores WD40 will allow rust before very long. Check any of the gun forums for their opinion of WD40.

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 18:13:00 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@greetings.dartmouth.edu (Corky Scott) wrote:

|I'm putting together a Ford 3.8L V-6. Although as far as this |question goes, I don't think what the engine is matters much. | |The engine has been baked, shot peened, blasted, blueprinted, bored, |honed, decked, freeze plugged and is now ready for re-assembly. I've |assembled engines previously and have used various lubricants to coat |the bearing surfaces and have always had success. But this is a |little different. | |The engine will likely sit for a little while once finally assembled |as I put together all the components for the cooling system and |exhaust system. I've come to realise that people who assemble engines |for a livelyhood use special lubricants for different parts of the |engine. For instance, one guy told me he uses a particular type of |outboard engine lower case gear oil to lubricate his bearings, and |uses another kind of lubricant for the valve guides. I hadn't thought |about them but he's right, without some kind of lube, they'd run dry |for a few seconds. | |I've had another expert write that you should not ever use |"lubriplate" or white grease. On the other hand, that product is made |specifically for engine assembly, it says so right on the tube and |many use it. | |Still others have told me that STP oil treatment makes a dandy |assembly lubricant as it is heavy, sticky and hangs on to the part for |a long time. | |So what is the collective wisdom from those who rebuild engines all |the time. What works and what's a good idea to stay away from? | |Prior to the initial startup, I'll be doing that old trick of chucking |the oil pump shaft into a drill and spinning it for a while to get the |oil distributed to all parts of the engine, so at least it won't have |to run on the assembly lubricant only, for the first few seconds. | |Many thanks, Corky Scott | |

Rex in Fort Worth

Some piston ring manufacturers (TotalSeal, ...) say that the rings should be mounted dry, and only the piston skirts should be ligthly oiled. This is to allow the rings to seat properly.

They also say that motor should be broken in with a mineral oil, not synthetic.

Also check this article:

Thomas

Your comment on WD-40 is well taken. It is not intended as a primary corrosion inhibitor, lubricant, nor penetrating oil, although it does a passable job at times. Gets the grease off your hands too.

It is meant to displace the water from the block after you wash it. It will prevent flash rusting pretty well.

If a block stays dry...no condensate, no liquid water of any type.. it cannot rust. That is a natural fact.

You have lots of good answers. My brother told me that when he worked in a machine shop, they used Vaseline. He preferred STP when he did his own work, however.

Paul in Dayton

Ask around long enough and you'll find that there's an endless supply of home brews people have used for the past 50+ years when assembling new or rebuilt motors. problem is, engines have changed a great deal in the past 50+ years. They have tighter tolerances, they tend to run hotter, leaner, etc ...

STP is handy and has two things going for it ... lots of ZDDP (compared to a typical motor oil) and a lot of tack additive to keep it all in place. The base of this stuff is an unstable polymer and it shears down quickly. But, for an assembly lube you could probably do a lot worse. Instead of STP brand, I'd use Schaeffer #132:

A pint of this stuff is about $5 and will be better than STP as it has moly & antimony in it.

Still if I had $1,000+ into a rebuild, I'd spend a few bucks and get something specifically meant for assembly lubrication. There are probably dozens of brands but Red Line Oil makes some really good stuff:

You will also find a decent engine assembly lube at your local NAPA store for about $4-5:

And, of course, if your cam came with a tin of lube, you should use THAT as directed.

Also, I'm another that really dislikes WD-40 (in general). Larry may have a good point about moisture displacement but as a lubricant the stuff plain sucks.

--- Bror Jace