Know what you're getting with pickling
I recently bought my 7A project from a previous builder who already had an engine. He bought it from Air Salvage of Dallas 30 months ago, and they indicated to the previous owner that it would be pickled and set up for long term storage. When I got it, it was in the original crate in shrink wrap. I removed the shrink wrap to look at the governor, and in doing so I pulled the dipstick to make sure everything looked good, only to find NO OIL in the engine, NO DESSICANT PLUGS in the engine, and the exhaust ports WIDE OPEN. When I queried Air Salvage about why the receipt says the engine was pickled but in reality it wasn't, their response was that their "pickling" is just to squirt some corrosion-X into the engine and shrink wrap it. Air Salvage added that "re-pickling is recommended after 6 months".
I contacted the previous owner regarding this issue and he was as shocked as I was that the engine had not been properly pickled. He was told that it was, and the recipt from Air Salvage had indicated that it was. Had he truly been informed that their pickling would only last 6 months, he would certainly have taken appropriate steps to do the job right.
Many builders may not realize that pickling is a detailed process that is covered by the manufacturer in a Service Letter or equivalent maintenance procedure. Lycoming's procedure is here:
http://www.lycoming.textron.com/support/publications/service-letters/pdfs/SL180B.pdf
and Continental's procedure is here:
http://www.tcmlink.com/pdf2/SIL99-1.pdf
There is an excellent article by Mike Busch regarding an engine whose life was severely limited by just 8 months of storage without proper pickling:
http://www.savvyaviator.com/email/savvy-2004-02/
Each procedure calls for the use of special preservative oil, dessicant type plugs in each cylinder, and sealing the engine from intrusion of outside air, depending on where you live and your local humidity as alluded to in earlier posts.
Air Salvage's claim that plastic wrap is good enough to keep outside air out of the engine is cute, but when you think about it, it doesn't really work. Unless the shrink wrap COMPLETELY SURROUNDS the engine and is AIRTIGHT, air will flow freely around the plastic into the engine with every rise and fall of the barometer, leading to condensate forming on the internal engine parts and ultimately corrosion.
So make sure you understand what you're getting when your shop tells you that your engine is "pickled". The Tanair packages are nice and they are the right way to go, but I think many shops forego the $200 expense and just squirt some WD-40 or Corrosion-X in there and call it "pickled". It ain't.
Is your engine "pickled" or "ghetto pickled"? I hope my engine is OK, but 40 miles from the coast in the Northeast, in an unsealed container for 2-1/2 years - I have my doubts. At the very least, it will require a full teardown inspection prior to flight, not something which was planned...
Noah Forden
Rhode Island
RV-7A finishing