Best Way To Store NSX Heads?

[Honcho]

As I get closer to pulling the engine on my S Zero project, I'm planning ahead for some logistics issues. One is what to do with my AT heads, which are coming off the car to be replaced by Comptech IEM heads from [MENTION=4282]docjohn[/MENTION] 's Bumblebee. My thought for now is to save them in long term storage in case I damage the other heads. They are pristine from an AT that was never modded so I suspect they have not been abused hard. Question is, how do I do it? The heads right now are full of old engine oil and probably some residual coolant. Obviously, I will remove the cam caps, cams rockers/shafts and LMAs, but should I just clean them and put them in ziploc bags, or reinstall on the heads? My thought is to thoroughly clean the oil off of the heads, clean and prep the gasket surfaces and then wrap them in plastic, put 'em in a box, stack the ziploc bags of the valvetrain on top and call it a day. Or, is it better to re-assemble everything "dry" and store as an assembled unit? I worry about the bearing surfaces...

 

[Old Guy]

I would not reassemble. Whoever ends up with the heads in 10++ years will probably want to go through a complete inspection and assembly check on the heads. Clean, bag and label the parts. I suggest boxing up the heads separately with the valve train bits associated with each head packed with that head. Even though everything is labeled its a convenient double check.

If you bag everything up clean and in a super dry environment, good Ziploc style bags should suffice. Since air is not always dry and particularly if the parts gets stored in an unheated garage I like to spray the parts with a nice moisture displacing film. I have used Fluid Film; but, there are others that are probably less messy. The other option is desiccant packs for the ferrous bits. Aluminum is less of an issue.

I had a complete car stored in Ziploc style bags and Rubbermaid storage containers. Hot tip - Glad freezer bags are about 1/2 the price of Ziploc and just as durable. However, Ziploc does make some really, really big storage bags that would easily fit one of the NSX heads.

 

[RYU]

Best way to store them is to give me those junky comptech heads and put your originals back on.

 

[MotorMouth93]

I would put everything back together hand tight with a light coating of oil so you don't have to worry about parts getting knocked together and dinged in storage or cam caps getting mixed up or bits lost or anything like that. I think most people would much rather buy a set of complete heads rather than a bunch of bags of parts that may or may not contain all of the pieces.

 

[Honcho]

I would not reassemble. Whoever ends up with the heads in 10++ years will probably want to go through a complete inspection and assembly check on the heads. Clean, bag and label the parts. I suggest boxing up the heads separately with the valve train bits associated with each head packed with that head. Even though everything is labeled its a convenient double check.

If you bag everything up clean and in a super dry environment, good Ziploc style bags should suffice. Since air is not always dry and particularly if the parts gets stored in an unheated garage I like to spray the parts with a nice moisture displacing film. I have used Fluid Film; but, there are others that are probably less messy. The other option is desiccant packs for the ferrous bits. Aluminum is less of an issue.

I had a complete car stored in Ziploc style bags and Rubbermaid storage containers. Hot tip - Glad freezer bags are about 1/2 the price of Ziploc and just as durable. However, Ziploc does make some really, really big storage bags that would easily fit one of the NSX heads.

This was kind of my thought. I have some small oil spray bottles that I use for maintaining my firearms. A few have the proverbial list of wunder-lubes, but I think one has just some old Remington gun oil in it. I was going to clean the cams and holders, spray a light coat of the gun oil on them and bag them (or wrap the cams in plastic wrap secured by zip ties). I would spray some gun oil on the cam bearing surfaces of the heads, wrap them in plastic and box the whole lot for long term storage. I also have a few cans of Corrosion X that I used to use on my 1911 .45- it is supposed to be a vastly superior rust preventer compared to standard gun oil. I just don't know how it would interact with engine oil if I ever re-installed the heads. Probably not an issue though. Given John's thoughts below, I may do all of this, but just reassemble lightly (finger tight on the can holders) and then box. I am fortunate to live in Denver, where the air is almost always extremely dry, so honestly I could probably store everything completely dry and not have any problems.

Best way to store them is to give me those junky comptech heads and put your originals back on.

The heads maybe, but the Staffs of Ra never! Lol. However, anyone who is interested can have the whole package in exchange for a new 6-speed transmission with NSX-R mainshaft and 4.23 final drive.

I would put everything back together hand tight with a light coating of oil so you don't have to worry about parts getting knocked together and dinged in storage or cam caps getting mixed up or bits lost or anything like that. I think most people would much rather buy a set of complete heads rather than a bunch of bags of parts that may or may not contain all of the pieces.

Yeah, I think you're right. I will coat everything in oil/Corrosion X and lightly reassemble. I'm not storing them for resale purposes though- just as spares in case my repaired Comptechs suddenly become un-repaired.