Start up recommendations?

[dbcooper292]

I'm about to try to fire up the motor after a full rebuild. (49 B-1-D) any suggestions on pre-fire procedures to get her started up right/lubed as fast as possible? When I was a lad we would pull the distributor on our 70s V8s and use a drill with a long extension to spin up the oil pump then throw the distributor back in and fire but this motor doesn't seem configured for that sort of routine, has anyone found good procedures/things to check they'd recommend I run through?

Thanks,

DB

[JJs 1948]

This worked very well for me on a total rebuilt 218 recently. Take the spark plugs out and put a few drops of oil in each cylinder followed by a blast of compressed air to possibly spray it around. Gently pressurize or force fuel from your fuel tank all the way up to your carborater with compressed air. Use your hand with a shop towel over the fill pipe and slip your air chuck thru a small opening. Have someone watch for the fuel to flow past the fuel line sediment bowls if they are on your system. Use a twelve volt battery because the engine will be tight and turn over hard. Make sure the dwell and point gap is set properly and the engine will start pretty quick. Have someone control the carb throttle by hand the first few starts and the person inside the cab needs to watch the oil guage to shut everything down if oil pressure does not come up soon.

Good luck.

[grey beard]

I've never heard of anyone doing this on the forum, but one could knock the gear off of the oil pump shaft and install the pump, then you could stick your slotted screwdriver in the distributor drive tang and power that up with your cordless drill for a pre-lube.

What I did before my initial start-up after the overhaul was to pull the spark plugs out and with no compression, crank the engine over till the oil filter cannister was full, then I put the top on the can and cranked it till I had about 20 psi oil pressure showing on the dash gauge. After that, I hooked up my electric fuel pump, installed the plugs, turned on the key and fired her right up. It's a FUN moment, to hear all that work you did sounding like it should.

Enjoy!

[dbcooper292]

This worked very well for me on a total rebuilt 218 recently.

Good luck.

Thanks these were great suggestions, and I'll be able to watch for spark while I'm spinning it up with the plugs out too. Aces!

I'll let the group know how it goes, cross your fingers!

[desoto1939]

I hope you have engine breakin oil in the oil pan. Get some reline egine breaking oil to help get the antiwear onto the metal against metal parts.

rich

desoto1939@aol.com

[old woolie]

D B Cooper eh? Got that money all spent yet?

[Don Coatney]

The key to pre lubing these engines is to do exactly what GreyBeard suggested. Spin the engine with the plugs removed until oil pressure builds up. What you dont want to do is start the engine with no oil circulating. The hammering on the pistons and bearings can damage a fresh engine if there is no lubricant. I do assume assembly lube was used during assembly

[JJs 1948]

Sorry I forgot to mention the important pre-lube steps that grey beard wrote. I did the same thing to get my oil canister full and some oil in the system and to make sure the oil pump was working. Hard to know exactly how much pressure you may have and if your oil pump is a good one untill the engine is running.

[Jerry Roberts]

If you have installed a new oil pump , Vintage Power Wagons recommends submerging the pump in clean oil and turning the shaft until all air bubbles have come out .

[Southtowns27]

For oil, do NOT use an oil with an API rating of SM. SM rated oil is designed for new vehicles with cat converters. They removed most of the zincdialkyldithiophosphate (zddp) from the oil. In plain english, they removed the lubricant for the flat tappet lifters on the camshaft. Apparently, when zddp burns in an engine, it kills the cat converter.

Without the zddp to plate the lifters/cam you'll knock the lobes off the cam, sometimes within a matter of minutes.

Go to tractor supply and get their 10W-40. It's rated SL and will work fine in your engine. If you don't have a tractor supply nearby, go to wal-mart or a parts store and look at all the oil. Check the API rating circle on the back of the bottle. Anything SL or before (SH, SI, SJ) etc is fine. Most 10W-40 is still SL, most straight 30 and 10W-30 is now SM. Don't use it!