TOPIC:

I have come into possession of a complete 1300 engine; I couldn’t refuse at the price I was offered it for.
I don’t really need it at the moment, my big old Z is running pretty sweetly for now, but you never know with a 35 year old engine. So my problem is this. What would be the best way to store the spare engine? Do I strip it down and store the parts, or am I better to leave it in one piece. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Hi MZ,
I'd drain the carbs and squirt some oil in the plug holes. Alternately, you could mount it on a stand, get it to run and put it on display in my family room.
The choice is yours.
Bill

Lets not forget to dump the crankcase oil and if it was me, I'd put in fresh oil. Used engine oil has acids in it from the combustion process and of course there's additives in the oil to neutralize them but for the purposes of long term storage, it's always best to store it with fresh oil. Also remember that there's also additives in the engine oil to keep the seals soft so they will do their job.

Had a second thought. While your dumping the crankcase oil don't forget to empty out the oil filter housing. You could reassemble it without a filter, but if you do, tag the engine to remind yourself that there's no filter in it.

Plug the intake and exhaust ports. WELL. Most cylinders should be fine, but there will always be one or two with a valve open. Get ANY kind of moisture in there, and that cylinder is toast (found that out the hard way on what I thought was a good donor engine).

It helps if you turn the motor over a couple times on a semi-regular basis, to keep everything free and moving.