Just finished with my first engine rebuild and now the weather has turned really cold.

Engine not in car yet since I am working in an unheated garage.

Does it hurt the engine to let it sit for 2 to 3 months before installing it and starting it up. The freeze plugs were removed and the fluids drained except of course for the oil.

many thanks

it will not hurt it to sit thru the winter...

before you start in spring...prime oil pump....

you might want to back off the rocker shafts if they are installed and let the valves close for the winter..

after the gaggle of mice in the oil pan thread this eve you better plug/cover it up.

my 440 sat for 5 years before i started it. it was fine.

just do yourself a favor. when you prelube it out of chassis throw a guage on it and make sure you got pressure. that way if you have to pull the pan for some reason the engine is still out. i really got screwed on that deal over the last half a year because now i gotta lift my engine and drop my pan back down

I agree with most of the above, if you can turn the motor by hand once in awhile, you won't have to back off the valvetrain........turning the motor puts new valve springs in compression, is all. My Restored cars sit all Winter in Maine, I have never seen any of my valve springs weaken or fail.........it can happen though, so I try to run them every month or two. I would worry more about moisture than that, make sure where you are keeping it is dry.