Initial start-up

[steves66]

I am getting real close to starting up my engine and breaking my cam in and need a little advice. To get the motor good and primed, is the correct procedure to pull the plugs out and crank until the oil pressure comes up? Should I crank at intervals or crank for about 15 secs until the pressure comes up? I lubed the heck out of the cam and all of the bearings when putting it back together. So any advice or tips will be appreciated. I even thought about leaving the intake off and not installing it until the day before so I could put some more lube in the cam and lifters. Would this be overkill?

[Runner]

dont crank the motor to get the oil preasure up, pull the distributor and intermediate shaft and ise a priming tool. or if you know some one with a preasure tank they work well also. you want the motor to fire as fast as it can with as little cranking as possible and get the rpm up as soon as it fires .

[steves66]

Thanks Runner. I bet the intermediate shaft is a real PITA to get back in with the intake on!

[firefighter3931]

dont crank the motor to get the oil preasure up, pull the distributor and intermediate shaft and ise a priming tool. or if you know some one with a preasure tank they work well also. you want the motor to fire as fast as it can with as little cranking as possible and get the rpm up as soon as it fires .

The priming rod is available at your dealer; MP # 4286800 for $7.00

Spin the drill counterclockwise while slowly rotating the engine over by hand with your breaker bar. You won't have to move it much....just until you see oil coming out in the rocker shaft area then it's good to go. You'll feel it when it picks up prime....the drill will bog down bigtime.

Use shell rotella-t 15-40 diesel oil with a can of GM EOS (engine oil supplement) for the breakin. Bring it up to 2000 immediately and just advance the timing until it stops increasing speed...you can adjust it later after the cam is broken in. This will ensure that the engine doesn't overheat from retarded timing. I like to blip the throttle every minute or so to promote lifter rotation...works for me. If the springs have been swapped out to a dual spring, remove the inner springs for the breakin...too much pressure will wipe the cam. Make sure to check for lifter rotation when everything is lashed to spec....before you fire the motor. Even turning the engine over by hand (breaker bar) they should spin, if some of them don't then you can start swapping them from bore to bore until you get all 16 spinning....you'll have to recoat the lifter faces again before startup.

If you have a big fan available, place it in front of the rad to keep things cool. Engines run hot during the breakin period until they loosen up so anything you can do to keep it cool helps. 

Make sure you have enough fuel in the tank to run it for at least 20-30 minutes....once it fires you don't want it to stop until the cam is broken in. You can also fill the bowls on the holley through the vent tubes. This will give you an immediate startup and allows the mechnical fuelpump to pick up prime....after the engine starts and not while it is rolling over attempting to start. The idea is to minimize  turning it over to keep the moly lube on the lobes.

Removing the drive is easy....just use a blade screwdriver in the slot and turn it in the opposite direction against the cam gear and it will back right out.....then grab it with a set of needle nose pliers 

Ron


Ps. Once the cam is broken in swap out the oil and filter immediately to purge the moly lube and fine metal particles. Same thing at 500 and 2000 miles...then normal intervals after that. Valvoline VR-1 20/50 racing oil has all the good anti scuff additives (zinc/phosphorus) that you want with a solid flat tappet camshaft. Napa Gold are really descent filters as are Wix...stay away from FRAM !

[steves66]

Thanks Ron! I bought 8 quarts of Shell Rotella 15-40, but I haven't found the EOS yet. I got a Puralator filter.

The correct way to install the intermediate shaft is to get #1 firing @ TDC and install the shaft with the distributor slot going in the same direction as the cam, correct?

[firefighter3931]

Thanks Ron! I bought 8 quarts of Shell Rotella 15-40, but I haven't found the EOS yet. I got a Puralator filter.

The correct way to install the intermediate shaft is to get #1 firing @ TDC and install the shaft with the distributor slot going in the same direction as the cam, correct?

Steve, i usually just move it around until i get the rotor pointing towards #1 cylinder and the vacuum can pointed the same way. Once you've picked a tower for #1 it's just a matter of following the firing order. Basicly, #1 can be anywhere you want it to be on the cap. I just prefer to keep it simple by having it pointed to #1 cylinder. Having the cannister in the middle allows for distributor rotation when you're tuning the ignition curve....you want to be able to move the dist for/aft w/o interference from the manifold or other obstructions.

Ron


Ps. Purolator is fine....Rotella is what you want  You can get the EOS at any GM dealer.

[Runner]

the eos should be avalable from your local gm dealer.     it really doesnt matter what direction the intermediate shaft points to, as long as the rotor points to the # 1 plug wire on the cap when the engine is at tdc (or just before).   i acually just put the balancer at about 15 degrees btdc and then i mark the distributor where #1 terminal is and rotate the distributor around until the rotor points to the make i made on the base of the distributor, does that make sence?.

     good luck!!

[steves66]

Thanks guys! That makes perfect sense. Hopefully if everything goes well I should be putting this beast in this weekend. Still waiting on my torque convertor, aluminum radiator and exhaust. Speaking of exhaust, I have read somewhere that you shouldn't break in a cam with new ceramic coated headers. On the other hand, I have been told that if you don't heat the motor up too bad during break-in the headers will be fine. I have new TTI ceramic coated headers and I don't won't to ruin them. What do you guys think?

[Runner]

    its easy to get headers hot on a new engine during break in. tti headers are pretty spendy, you probably could get away with using them durning break in but ive heard stories of the ceramic coating flaking off after break in, also i dont think its near as big of deal on a used set of ceramic coated headers as it is on a new set.

[terrible one]

    its easy to get headers hot on a new engine during break in. tti headers are pretty spendy, you probably could get away with using them durning break in but ive heard stories of the ceramic coating flaking off after break in, also i dont think its near as big of deal on a used set of ceramic coated headers as it is on a new set.

Yeah, it will happen! I had a friend who destroyed his ceramic coating on break in!

[steves66]

I have the old maniflods that I thought about putting on for break-in and put a temporary exhaust on then put the headers on after. I know those headers will be fun trying to put on with the motor in. It would be so much easier putting them on with the motor out, but I don't want to risk damaging the coating by overheating.  

[Chryco Psycho]

it should not overheat as long as you adjust the timing asoon as it starts up , with enough advance it will stay cool