Engine assembly lube?

[SS/GN]

What is everyone using for engine assembly lube? It seems that every company has it own unique formula these days. Just curious if one is any better than the others. Thanks in advance

 

[Nick Micale]

As long as it does not say "Made in China", I would use it!

 

[SS/GN]

As long as it does not say "Made in China", I would use it!

Lol, what do you use Nick??

 

[turbodave231]

I use a variety of products:

• Clevite Bearing Lube on the mains, rods and cam bearings.
• ZDDP paste on flat tappet cam lobes
• 50/50 mix of STP engine additive and engine oil on rockers and other moving parts
• White lithium engine assembly grease on valve stems
• Petroleum jelly for packing oil pump gears

 

[Nick Micale]

Lol, what do you use Nick??

Dave has pretty well summed it up!

Trying to save a trip to my usual auto parts store I did try a tube of some gasket sealer that was made in China, and trashed it after it was opened, so I will not vary from the well-known name brands.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

lubriplate 101 for motor assembly and ZDDP paste for cam lobes.

 

[RmvBfrFlght]

Really good advice here. One area that I do differently is the cylinder bores, rings & pistons. For them I use ATF and paper towels. Put some ATF on a paper towel and run it up & down and around the bore. At first they will end up gray from the honing oil, metal dust and such.

Keep cleaning every bore until the paper towels come out as clean as they went in.

The rings should be lightly wiped down with a clean paper towel & ATF. Same for the pistons in the ring land area. Then install the rings onto the pistons.

The piston skirts get wiped down with a 50/50 mix of STP & motor oil on a paper towel. Just a light coating here.

The idea is to have everything very clean, and with just a light coat of oil. Nothing worse then using a lot of oil on the rings just to have it coke up in the lands.

RemoveBeforeFlight

 

[turbodave231]

Yup, I forgot about the ATF. I completely agree with the ATF in the cylinder bores. I always scrub the bores with hot water and strong soap, dry and oil with clean white lintfree rags until the rags stop picking up the gray material.

According to Mahle Clevite (and other ring manufacturers), the number one cause of rings that don't seat, is the engine builder's failure to clean the bores adequately after honing.

 

[SS/GN]

I have always cleaned the bores with white rags and brake clean then a light coat of oil. I always assembled my motors with
- 50/50 STP and 10w/30 Kendall Green oil( Brad Penn)
-Molly paste on cam and lifters
-prime pump with stp

I was never a fan of the Lubriplate, I am not saying it is bad I just found the other combination seemed to cling better. I posted this because I just see every company has its own assembly lube and was wondering if any were better. Thanks for the info.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

Thats interesting you mention that, I didnt like the cling of others, which is why i liked the lubriplate. i want the assembly grease out of the motor as fast as it can get running. around here a fresh assembled motor should be fired within 2 weeks of building simply because of the heat and dust. particularly the dust.... it gets into everything and really tears shit up. Freaks people out when i lube the pistons/rings and bore with Zoom Spout before sliding' em in - IMHO rings seat faster with the light machine oil. just my opinions though.......

 

[SS/GN]

I always wanted something that would stay put in the event the engine sat or did not start right away. I worked at an engine shop years ago and we had found the lubriplate not to work if the engine sat for a long period(6 months). We built motors and then shipped them and they sat for a long time. They found the lubriplate to actually dry out and get chalky,that is when I learned about the STP and oil mix. It s nice to hear from others that have tried some other products.

 

[haywire4130]

I used lucas assembly lube on everything except the bore (atf), it claims to have lota of zinc in it and was extremely sticky. I was pretty impressed and would use it again. I reused an already broken-in cam and lifters.

 

[1fastcobra]

I've been TORCO MPZ for a few years
Now. Works great! !
On All pressure points
Stp red bottle and 30w
On the bearing . cylinders
pump gears and timing chain
Cleaning after machine work.
Powdered tide warm water and a brushes


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[ek02]

GM EOS works well on the bearings, and I have used Redline Assembly Lube with good results on the cam bearing surfaces, moly on the lobes if flat tappet. If you have Tuffcoated pistons, like JE sells, use nothing but ATF on the cylinder walls, pistons, and rings as JE recommends. EOS starts to disolve the coating. Not sure why.