preservation

[Michael Geurink]

Supposing I wanted to store a BB for 2 to 4 years.... I've "pickled"
aircraft but never an RV. Most immediate concern in a small airplane is
the engine. What has worked well, even here in the very humid Amazon,
is to simply fill the whole thing with oil. I know a guy who did that
with his Toyota Landcruiser diesel truck too. He ended up leaving it
for something like 10 years. The truck had practically rotted away in
that time, but the engine fired up and has run beautifully.

What other systems would need special preservation, assuming there is
no-one available to run the engine and drive it periodically and no
shore-power? Some of my thoughts follow. Please feel free to shoot me
down or add helpful ideas on these subjects and any I haven't thought
of:

- Fill engine with oil
What about turbocharger? Intercooler? (What years were intercooled?)
Would condensation rust it from the inside out? What about the rest of
the exhaust system?
- Transmission?
- Body on blocks
- Tires - can I preserve the tires by removing, deflating and then
wrapping them in a tarp under the bus
- Batteries (assuming wet cell) - can I preserve them by charging them
up and then emptying the acid and storing them dry?
- Engine and heat water lines - 100% antifreeze - I know that stuff
should be replaced after a couple years, but is that a couple years of
running? Would just seasonal temperature differences (assume Atlanta
area) make it go corrosive?
- Fuel tank - will a full tank of diesel go bad over that amount of
time? I wouldn't think so -- algaecide?
- How do you preserve and burst-proof the house water system?
- Poop tanks?
- Air systems?
- Mouse & bug proofing?
- Anything need to be done with the air conditioners?

Michael