I recently helped my friend prepare his boat for storage. He fogged the engine.
It this something that would be beneficial for a classic car? If so what are suggestions for what to use.

 

Cant hurt. I guess it depends on the storage. Is it long or short term, in or out doors, dry or not...hopefully dry? And do you have access to it while in storage? Could purchase the same type of marine fog or simply squirt a pump or two of motor oil into each cylinder and then turn it over one or two revolutions then screw the plugs back in. Put something on the wheel wells cuz the oil will spit out everywhere. I personally just start the car monthly much neater. Good practice for the valve springs as well.

 

Can't hurt, eh
you never know how long it will be either

my '68 has not been run in oh 7 yrs now
it was NOT properly fogged and I am counting on needing to do a lot of work to revive it.

 

My impression is that fogging is for 2-cycle engines that don't have a crankcase filled with oil to protect the lower engine parts. When you fog a 2-cycle it will run just long enough to circulate the fogging oil throughout the engine. A 4-cycle pressurized oil system engine will have oil coating its moving parts just from having run.

I believe it would be better to keep a battery tender running all winter and just start and run the engine once or twice a month to recoat crankcase and valve train. Don't forget to add gas stabilizer to the gas tank and allow the engine to run long enough for that to circulate and protect gas that remains in fuel pump and carb.

If you've just gotta try fogging, do it by removing spark plugs and spraying fogging oil in that manner while cranking. Replace plugs and feel great that you've done everything you can to protect it. If you want to go all the way "over the top" in protecting your classic, store it in a heated building so no moist air will condense on inside of gas tank or anywhere on or in car parts.

 

You'd be surprised how little damage has been done Octania. IMHO the worst enemy of storing a car is fuel degradation.

 

And a reminder to those who start their cars periodically to run them *at least* until they are very hot. Otherwise you can do more damage than good.

 

Fogging has advantages over just oiling the cylinders ... it's sticky, so it not only gets the entire cylinder, including the heads ... it stays put.

The downside is, it really sucks when you first fire it up in spring and are greeted with the appearance of a blow engine. That first few seconds until you remember it's supposed to do that are pee-your-pants horror story material.

 

Should warm up around here to the 50's by weeks end. That will be my window to put the old gal to rest. I am topping off tank (Gas is now 2.99) and I am running the stabl and marvel mystery oil in the tank. I figure 30 miles should get all the stable and marvel well mixed in the tank and lines. I will add a few lbs to the tires and then just before pulling the battery I will give it a fog. Never done it on my car so next spring I better remind myself I did it.
Thanks for all the honest opinions.

 

I think that people way, way overdo storage on the engine. Anything on a 4 cycle engine that needs oil will have enough for rust prevention for a winter. Anything that doesn't have oil gets lubed by something else anyway.

It's important to keep some charge in the battery. Battery tenders are fine, and so is monthly running. Fill the tank, add stabil. I like the marine grade ethanol removing kind. Make sure the antifreeze is of sufficient concentration. Air the tires, top off the fluids.

When you run the car, pick a dry day that's sunny. Fire that machine up and let it run on fast idle for a while, then get it off the cam and keep letting it warm. Run heat in the car, turn the steering back and forth, roll the car back and forth checking all the gear positions for an automatic. Make sure it gets to operating temperature, and it should stop all, or most all, of the, ahem, suspended water droplets (that looks like steam) in the exhaust. Rev it some to annoy the neighbors. Then shut it down and close up the garage, and the block heat will dry it out in there some as it cools down.

 

The 68 442 I revived early this year had not been started in 14 years and all I did was rebuild the carb, change the oil, plugs and pre oil the motor. Fired right up out of a gas can a smoked a little and ran rough for about 5 min. Once the rings got a little heat in them ran great and no smoke.

 

I fog my boat motor every year with Marvel Mystery Oil because I'm never quite sure if I'm going to put it in the next year. Once it went three years without hitting the water

I never fog my 442 engine but it gets stored in a 50+ degree storage area.

I use Stabil Marine in both.