My car is a 1966 series one 4.2L 2+2. At six foot four the car suits me perfectly. After years of restoration It achieved tied second place at the Hilton Head Concours in 1999 and I've won several peer review events (which I much prefer) before parking it due to the flywheel starter ring shattering one day. That was in 2000. I will soon rebuild it after it has been in dry storage the entire time and not driven since 2000. Unfortunately my plans to rebuild immediately were interrupted by a long term foreign assignment, two kids to pay for in college etc.
Around that same year I had sent the engine out to a highly regarded well known restoration company and had the engine entirely rebuilt. It has sat in a crate unopened since that time. Several times each year after introducing some engine oil into the cylinders I have rotated the engine by hand. Before doing this the first time I inspected the cylinder walls using a Borescope and found no rust present. The car has been in dry storage.
I contacted the restorer of the engine with the question "is it OK after such a long time to install the engine without tearing it down to check for issues" but unfortunately and to my surprise received no response.
At the same time I rebuilt the engine I purchased a five speed gearbox and fitted a lightened flywheel to the engine. Subsequently and some years later I read that a lightened flywheel should not be used with a Medatronics JT5 gearbox. SO naturally I would also like to know if this is an issue or not before re-installing.
Any advice will be gratefully received. Thank you.

 

People find cars in barns, get them home, put a battery on and start the car ! I don't think you'll have a problem, but if it were me, I'd want to crank the engine over fora bit without starting it to get some oil around the gallery and into the bearings. I'd also take off the cam covers and lube all around there, and also maybe into the timing chest. What happened to me after a much shorter timescale was the valve guide lube had mostly gone and when the engine started one of the valves was a bit lazy in coming back and was hit a glancing blow by a piston so got bent. So the head had to come off and a new valve put in.

 

Thank you for the advice! Especially the removal of the timing cover and cam covers all easily done and good insurance.
I'm assuming that the crankshaft bearings would have been lubricated as they were assembled. Given the professional rebuild I hope it will be OK.
Much appreciated.

 

Sound info from Fraser, My XJ hadn't run for 22 yrs, I drained the oil, Left a bowl under it for a week to make sure the old stuff was out! Drained fuel tanks, Fresh oil, New filter, Plugs out and a small amount of ATF down the bores, Cleaned out carb float bowls, Checked points etc, Disconnected the fuel pump, Cranked it over untill oil pressure built up, Plugs back in, Fuel in, Connected pump and fired it up, Sounds sweet and turbine smooth like the short stroke XK's are!

 

Here is some good advice from folks that do this a lot (issue is that if anything seizes or scores cost of repair goes up astronomically): How to Start an Engine That's Been Sitting As noted above some of this stuff starts right up, but if you get unlucky... Better to be safe than really sorry.

I was just watching Phantomworks (I love that show) and they had a rebuilt engine that looked perfect but somehow water had gotten into one of the cylinders (could have happened when the gaskets were checked), the engine was toast. The rebuilder not calling you back would make me want to be extra careful. Good luck!

 

Thanks to everyone responding to my question. I truly appreciate the advice. Gives me confidence that with a some care and attention to pre lubricating everything it should be ok to install.
I’ll check back in when I’m done!