The Desiccant is used as a drying agent for various materials such as ethanol, natural gas, ethylene, propylene, cracking gas etc. It can also be used for drying, refining and purifying the liquids and industrial gases.

I couldn't find the link to what I was initially thinking of, but here's an similar product and I know that some of the auto supply/engine building sites offer them as well - I just can't access my old links to find them.

Basically a desiccator plug that screws into the cylinder head.  

dehydrator-plug-14mm-thread-ms3396-12l 

Not sure why this popped up from over a year ago.
I used Boeshield and the block is on the shelf in an extra large ziplock bag. Seems to do the job.

desiccant is a substance that absorbs water and moisture. Desiccants are substances that are hygroscopic in nature. This simply means they absorb water like a sponge. These substances are used to create a moisture-free closed environment. Desiccants prevent expensive electronics from malfunctioning due to excessive humidity. A few common desiccants used by manufacturers include Silica gel, calcium sulphate, calcium chloride, Drierite, montmorillonite clay,activate allumina balls and molecular sieves.

Hello Folks. I'm a chemist for starters and Ca Chlorite is not something I'd want near my engine. It is a dessicant, as are many other things. 

If you are really concerned about it, because it's a special one, get it as dry as you can first, then chuck some diesel in the cavities and give it a slosh, then grease everything and wrap it in an old blanket. Job done. I have today just dug out a block I have stored in this manner and it's A1. 

Try Boeshield T-9, it's the best I've found. I've used it on bare steel stored for 5 years in an unheated garage. If I was storing something extremely valuable or storing for decades I would choose Cosmoline.

Kelley

I am not sure how old the block is, but it has held up pretty well to this point. How long has Rover been gone? The timing end and the flywheel end had been taped off on the crank and there was a little surface corrosion that seemed to remove easily with Kroil.

It may be several years before it gets used. The crank is assembled. It seems the best way would be the volatile oil type to penetrate where I annot get to. Is there a sprayer that will work with light oil?

Terry

PS: Cosmoline is still around, but who knows what it is made of today:

//www.cosmolinedirect.com/

 

Terry

I don't know how you intend to package it all up, but if you use bagged desiccant, it shouldn't come in contact with the block and be sure to vacuum as much air out of the bag before you seal it. A normal shop vacuum should do it nicely. We used to bag hardware in treated nylon bagging material, vacuum to remove air, bag in polyvinyl material with desiccant in that bag, then vacuum the air out of that and seal it. That would be good for something around five years of shelf storage before installation on a satellite. I would think your block would be good for a couple of years.

i forgot, we also flowed nitrogen gas through the bags before we sealed one end and vacuumed them down. Then we sealed the seam that the vacuum tube was in.

I'm a big suspenders and a belt kinda guy, so I normally keep those little packets that Hyacinth gets when she buys new shoes and I use these in all my small-component zip-lock bags.  I've got spare upper arm re-build kits that haven't been touched, but these are bag-in-a-bag ziplocked with a little desicant sachet.  All these bags are stored in plastic storage boxes in the garage.  Larger items, like carbs and dizzies get oil paper wrapped, a desicant sachet and ziplock bagged. 

Up at the country estate, we've had a problem with mice taking residence in our shed.  So, some online advice recommended using pepermint oil to repel them.  I made a few small plastic containers with holes punched in the sides and top, a cotton pad with a few drops of mint oil inside and have these sitting on the shelves. 

I don't see why storing an engine block with a small perforated container containing a desicant sachet in dropped down each bore, block tucked into a heavy trash bag and sucking the air out (vacuum cleaner) and then ziplocking it wouldn't work for a long time.

Don,t use damp rid.  Try one in a humid area and you will see that it sweats water pretty soon. 

Get proper dessicants with indicators.  Here is one site but I don't have any experience with them //www.drytechinc.com/desiccants-for-preservation-and-packaging.html   We use dessicant packages with indicators in the aircraft industry and work well.  Everything from engines to gearboxes.  The indicator gives you a quick idea where you stand.  Make sure your bag is well sealed.

But then again, depending on the amount of time you are talking about you may be better off oiling/greasing everything and bagging.  Or maybe oil/grease and find one of those vacuum out bags, a really big one.

Ziplock makes large bags for storage. I think it is XL sixe that will fit a block.

Terry

Terry I'm curious what kind of ziplock-type bag you did for the block.

I would like one for my whole car, and will also try one for myself with various preservatives added.

absorbes a little mosture  and will cause rust  would sugegst  the  good old   way coat in grease and wrap in sealed papar  

Yes it it calcium chloride. The product is called DampRid. //www.damprid.com/

I like the idea of the volatile oil based product or VCI (Volatile Corrosion Inhibitor) Vapor Emitters from McMaster-Carr better.

Terry

I assume you meant Calcium Chloride.  I have not heard of using that or other chemicals/salts in sealed areas for corrosion control.  There are other products on the market that you may want to consider.  

Visit McMaster.com and use "corrosion prevention"  in the search field at the top of the page.  Then select "Enclosed Area Corrosion Inhibitors" from the next page that loads.  I have not bought these particular products but they SOUND like what I have bought from other vendors.  Typically these products have a sponge-like material filled with a volatile oil that protects items in enclosed spaces for months.  

Alternatively you could use the silica gel dessicants like you are familiar with in commercial product packaging.  McMaster sell these also.  Just search using "desiccant" as your keyword. 

I have a Rover MPi block.

I have placed it in a large ziplock type bag. I coated what I could get at with light oil. This is a partially assembled block with crank and pistons.

There are tubs of a dessicant with calcium chlorite. If I place one in th ebag, will this do more damage than potential rust? Metal salts can be pretty nasty.

Terry