Buying Sitting engine?

[Cam]

As the title suggests I am looking at buying a 4L engine that has not been "properly" run in 10 years... Apparently the engine has been started and run every few weeks but without being able to confirm it I am running with the assumption that it has not..

I was planning on getting the head cleaned up and replacing lifters at the same time. My questions is, should i be looking at an entire rebuild? Just rings?

The engine has very low k's which is the attraction to it, but does sitting for 10 years really make it worth while..

Any advice appreciated..

[mik]

to keep an engine hanging around for ten years and start it every few weeks sounds a bit far fetched to me, unless i could see it in bits , i would`nt go near it unless it was just so cheap i could afford to scrap it or rebuild it, i`m sorry to say some people you just can`t trust(once bitten).

[Jim Goose]

Warming up and engine at idle is different to running one...
How did they run it? at Idle? reved the crap outta it?
How long was it run? How often?
After ten yrs of doing nothing it will be very much hit and miss.

[msman]

if they run it every few weeks see it running.

i doubt it has been and when sitting for ten years it will be full of sludge/rust and seized solid, wood probably suit scrap or full rebuild.

if its costing as much as a head from wreckers give it a shot.

[JamesR]

take a/the rocker cover off?
remove a spark plug and look at cylinder walls.
check it turns over freely.
if it runs, do a compression test.

if no rust is present, and comp is good, cant see any reason not to buy it.

[Cam]

Thanks for the advice all, pretty much as I suspected..

The engine is part of a bunch of parts for sale as a whole. Without the engine (assuming its dead) it's a reasonable deal, but if the engine can be revived it makes for an awesome deal..

After a chat with the owner today it does seem he is full of crap, I am pretty sure that the engine hasn't been run for any reasonable length of time since 1999..He did say I can have a look at the car, and if I supply my own oil, and battery he will fire it over, when I asked how he had been firing it over in the past there was an awkward silence before he answered the battery he had was dead..

I have never built/rebuilt an engine myself before, I am contemplating buying it just to be able to tear it down for a bit of a learning experience...

[Captain Stubing]

Cam, from experience you'll need to replace all the valve seals and crankshaft seals as well, as the rubber would have gone hard. You may as well pull out the pistons for the fun of it, too!

It'll be a good learning tool for you, no doubt.