Good night, sleep tight..
Discussion
I need to store my Griff for some years as I travel.. and as I couldn't sell it, need some storage advice.
Could someone advise some steps for long term storage. Should I fill the cylinders with oil to prevent bore rust and fill the tank to prevent the petrol tank rusting.
Also any comments on an appropriate car cover, even the super delux breathable ones here recommend the cover is removed every 2 weeks to let the air circulate and humidity escape.. which seems to be go against the "breathable" labeling. I am thinking a cover made from cotton bed sheets may be better, as at least the cotton breathes.
Could someone advise some steps for long term storage. Should I fill the cylinders with oil to prevent bore rust and fill the tank to prevent the petrol tank rusting.
Also any comments on an appropriate car cover, even the super delux breathable ones here recommend the cover is removed every 2 weeks to let the air circulate and humidity escape.. which seems to be go against the "breathable" labeling. I am thinking a cover made from cotton bed sheets may be better, as at least the cotton breathes.
Many years ago I worked in the powerboat industry and used to have to lay up engines for the winter.
We used to get a purpose made product called laying up oil. Several outboard engine manufacturers supplied it in their accessories catalogue.
This was an aerosol can similar to WD40 size with the plastic tube. The oil was like sticky foam.
Run engine until hot.
With engine still running, spay oil into air intake until it choked engine to stall. As engine starts to stall, open throttle to keep it running and increase amount of lay-up oil injected, so it finally stalls full throttle.
We were doing it straight into the carburettor bell mouths.
This lines the whole of the insides with a sticky protective coating, from throttle to exhaust tailpipe.
When you want to restart take plugs out and clean them. Replace and start engine. There will be massive smoke as it burns the coating out. It will be hard to start, but it will.
Run for a couple of miles then fit new spark plugs.
When we did big V8’s it took quite a few cans and people to squirt enough at once to stall it.
Always protected the engine well.
We used to get a purpose made product called laying up oil. Several outboard engine manufacturers supplied it in their accessories catalogue.
This was an aerosol can similar to WD40 size with the plastic tube. The oil was like sticky foam.
Run engine until hot.
With engine still running, spay oil into air intake until it choked engine to stall. As engine starts to stall, open throttle to keep it running and increase amount of lay-up oil injected, so it finally stalls full throttle.
We were doing it straight into the carburettor bell mouths.
This lines the whole of the insides with a sticky protective coating, from throttle to exhaust tailpipe.
When you want to restart take plugs out and clean them. Replace and start engine. There will be massive smoke as it burns the coating out. It will be hard to start, but it will.
Run for a couple of miles then fit new spark plugs.
When we did big V8’s it took quite a few cans and people to squirt enough at once to stall it.
Always protected the engine well.
Are you storing the car at home or are you going to pay for storage else where ?
Some commercial storage places ask you to drain all the fluids from the car prior to storage, though if you are keeping it at home that doesn't matter.
Mine is under a couple of stitched together cotton bed sheets with a separate water proof cover on top. You can get boxes of desiccant/silica gel which you can put in the car to absorb moisture. Use a bit of wood between the seat rail and clutch pedal to hold the clutch in and stop it binding. If you're not going to start the car in all this time, I'd do as UF suggests and take the battery out of the car and put it on a trickle charger to keep it topped up (assuming you have a electric supply?). Also if you can, put the car on axle stands to take the weight off the tyres or over inflate the tyres to help stop flat spots. After a few years in storage it'll be worth checking all the rubber (tyres and piping, esp. fuel lines) for condition and even replacing them as a precaution.
In addition you can get layed up car insurance here in the UK, I guess something similar is available in Sydney?
Someone told me or I read somewhere that petrol degrades over time so you may have to drain the fuel before resuming use ?!?! Not sure on that one though?
Some commercial storage places ask you to drain all the fluids from the car prior to storage, though if you are keeping it at home that doesn't matter.
Mine is under a couple of stitched together cotton bed sheets with a separate water proof cover on top. You can get boxes of desiccant/silica gel which you can put in the car to absorb moisture. Use a bit of wood between the seat rail and clutch pedal to hold the clutch in and stop it binding. If you're not going to start the car in all this time, I'd do as UF suggests and take the battery out of the car and put it on a trickle charger to keep it topped up (assuming you have a electric supply?). Also if you can, put the car on axle stands to take the weight off the tyres or over inflate the tyres to help stop flat spots. After a few years in storage it'll be worth checking all the rubber (tyres and piping, esp. fuel lines) for condition and even replacing them as a precaution.
In addition you can get layed up car insurance here in the UK, I guess something similar is available in Sydney?
Someone told me or I read somewhere that petrol degrades over time so you may have to drain the fuel before resuming use ?!?! Not sure on that one though?
Edited by GJR on Saturday 29th November 14:02
As GJR says, keep clutch pedal permanently depressed or clutch will bond to flywheel. My Europa did this after a couple of years and had to be seperated with a hammer and chisel. Other problem I had was the fuel in the engine evaporated leaving a residue which gummed up the carbs. May be a good idea to disconnect fuel supply and run engine until injectors are empty (if that's possible, I've never tried it on a fuel injection engine, but works on my chain saw).
Uncle Fester said:
Many years ago I worked in the powerboat industry and used to have to lay up engines for the winter.
We used to get a purpose made product called laying up oil. Several outboard engine manufacturers supplied it in their accessories catalogue.
This was an aerosol can similar to WD40 size with the plastic tube. The oil was like sticky foam.
Run engine until hot.
With engine still running, spay oil into air intake until it choked engine to stall. As engine starts to stall, open throttle to keep it running and increase amount of lay-up oil injected, so it finally stalls full throttle.
We were doing it straight into the carburettor bell mouths.
This lines the whole of the insides with a sticky protective coating, from throttle to exhaust tailpipe.
When you want to restart take plugs out and clean them. Replace and start engine. There will be massive smoke as it burns the coating out. It will be hard to start, but it will.
Run for a couple of miles then fit new spark plugs.
When we did big V8’s it took quite a few cans and people to squirt enough at once to stall it.
Always protected the engine well.
Just did my boat engine today with Mercury fogging oil, not sure what it would do to an engine fitted with cats?We used to get a purpose made product called laying up oil. Several outboard engine manufacturers supplied it in their accessories catalogue.
This was an aerosol can similar to WD40 size with the plastic tube. The oil was like sticky foam.
Run engine until hot.
With engine still running, spay oil into air intake until it choked engine to stall. As engine starts to stall, open throttle to keep it running and increase amount of lay-up oil injected, so it finally stalls full throttle.
We were doing it straight into the carburettor bell mouths.
This lines the whole of the insides with a sticky protective coating, from throttle to exhaust tailpipe.
When you want to restart take plugs out and clean them. Replace and start engine. There will be massive smoke as it burns the coating out. It will be hard to start, but it will.
Run for a couple of miles then fit new spark plugs.
When we did big V8’s it took quite a few cans and people to squirt enough at once to stall it.
Always protected the engine well.
WD40 will do the same kind of job too,just fog it in thru the intake.Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff