Joe Flanagan Posted March 4, 2011 Report Posted March 4, 2011 Round two. Eight months later. Just wanted to refresh myself on the generally accepted procedure. I understand I should run it at about 1500 RPMs for about 20 minutes with no idling during that initial run. Is this correct? Everything looks good to me, but then it looked that way last time, too. This time though, the engine has not been sitting on an engine stand for eight years prior to startup. I hope that makes a difference. Don't know if I'll get that far tomorrow but it looks like I will. Quote
RobertKB Posted March 4, 2011 Report Posted March 4, 2011 Good luck. I know all will go well this time. You are a very patient person! Not sure about 1500 RPM but I do know that you want to make sure you have the return spring on the gas linkage so it does not start and immediately go full throttle. Quote
aero3113 Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Good luck Joe, do you have the trans hooked up also? Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted March 5, 2011 Author Report Posted March 5, 2011 No. Trans is not hooked up. That will come later. If this goes well, I'm going to put the front clip on and then do all the glass and exterior trim. Then I'll finish the interior. That's the plan. Of course you never know if it will survive contact with reality. Quote
Greenbomb Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 I just got my motor back from the machine shop 2 days ago, and the instructions that came with it said to do 1200 RPM for a half hour with NO idling, so you gotta be in a position to be able to monitor water temp and oil pressure. Do you have butterflies about it, too? Good luck with it. Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted March 5, 2011 Author Report Posted March 5, 2011 Oh, yeah. I got butterflies. Good luck on your own startup, Greenbomb. Last time I did this, oil pressure and temp were fine. I just started hearing a rapid knocking sound after four months of running it. The cause was never discovered, though I isolated it to cylinder 6. The sound came only during acceleration and deceleration. Quote
Jim Saraceno Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 I thought I had read that you should vary the rmps on break-in, such as conditions you would run into while driving. Don C, I know you did an engine break-in while it was still on the bench, what did you run it at? Good luck! That first start-up is always exiting! Quote
PatS.... Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Good luck Joe. Got my fingers crossed for you! Quote
1941Rick Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Run the engine and check oil pressure and check for leaks.....then drive it just like you will under normal conditions.....all this breakin stuff went out with better metalurgy...unless you used NOS parts. Quote
BeBop138 Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Run the engine and check oil pressure and check for leaks.....then drive it just like you will under normal conditions.....all this breakin stuff went out with better metalurgy...unless you used NOS parts. It is still a good idea---if you have a new cam or reground---resurfaced tappets all have a burn in time for hardening them off---same as the V8 with new lifters............Lee Quote
Cpt.Fred Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 good luck, joe! i hope you have a video camera at hand... best, fred Quote
oldodge41 Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 It is tomorrow, any news yet? This is like waiting to hear of the birth of a niece or nephew. Good luck Joe, run it like you stole it . Just kidding, I have never fired a complete rebuild on one of these flatheads. After an overhaul we just checked for leaks, pressure and temperature and drove off.......Tim Quote
Don Coatney Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Don C, I know you did an engine break-in while it was still on the bench, what did you run it at? First startup was only a few seconds as I did not yet have any coolant in the engine. Next run was at all speeds up and down for about a half hour. Several runs after that at all speeds. I ran the engine about 10 hours before installing it in the car. Bob Toft is my witness in this photo. If you listen closly you can hear my engine running. Quote
DutchEdwin Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Hey Joe, Good luck on the run-in. I had a lot of sweat on the first key turn. Ran the engine for 30 minutes at about 1200 rmp with some idles in between (I had no instructions from my machine shop on this. I just tested and was careful on higher and lowering the rpm's. Check your tailpipe for white smoke. also on the second start up. I read in the manual I should tighten the head bolts again after about 500 miles. Had to do that after the first run of 30 minutes already. It was smoking like a steam train. Could tighten those bolts a lot more after that first run. I sure retightend these bolts after every of the next 3 short drives, just to be sure. Fingers crossed for you. Quote
oldodge41 Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Bob Toft is my witness in this photo. If you listen closly you can hear my engine running. I love the sound of straight pipes in the morning! :D Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted March 5, 2011 Author Report Posted March 5, 2011 Tried to start her up this afternoon but ran into electrical problems. Might be my ignition switch. It was getting late and I had to put everything away. I'll be checking it out tomorrow with a voltmeter. At any rate, I got it cranking and I was very happy to see the oil pressure shoot right up. Put the plugs in and got some gas in the carburetor and tried to fire it up but no juice. I have power coming up to the ammeter. Battery is fully charged. Gonna have to do a little detective work tomorrow. But it sure was fun putting it all together. Quote
55 Fargo Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Tried to start her up this afternoon but ran into electrical problems. Might be my ignition switch. It was getting late and I had to put everything away. I'll be checking it out tomorrow with a voltmeter. At any rate, I got it cranking and I was very happy to see the oil pressure shoot right up. Put the plugs in and got some gas in the carburetor and tried to fire it up but no juice. I have power coming up to the ammeter. Battery is fully charged. Gonna have to do a little detective work tomorrow. But it sure was fun putting it all together. Way to go Joe, you have more patience then me, I would have pulled out the spot lights, and whatever, and drove myself crazy or got it started Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted March 5, 2011 Author Report Posted March 5, 2011 Yeah, I was getting to that point, Fred. But that's when I usually screw up, so I'm leaving it alone until tomorrow. We're supposed to have rain all day, so I don't know what I'll be able to accomplish, but we'll see. Quote
aero3113 Posted March 5, 2011 Report Posted March 5, 2011 Your getting closer! What type of oil are you using? I was told to use Rotella straight 30 weight. Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted March 6, 2011 Report Posted March 6, 2011 "Bob Toft is my witness in this photo. If you listen closly you can hear my engine running". Yep...it ran like a champ. Old car deals are always interesting - you never know when you'll get to see a historic moment in the making. Quote
greg g Posted March 6, 2011 Report Posted March 6, 2011 The 15 to 20 min at high idle is for the cam. For those of you worried about oil ans flat tappets and such stuff, but this is assuming you have a new or newly ground cam. If you are reusing the stock one, it shouldn't be an issue. DON"T FORGET TO RETORQUE THE HEAD BOLts, after shut down and a bit of cooling. Good luck to all you guys cranking them for the first time. Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted March 6, 2011 Author Report Posted March 6, 2011 Went at it again today. I think I have the electrical problem narrowed down to either the solenoid or the starter. It will crank as often as it won't. But I've been able to crank it enough to find out that it looks like the fuel pump isn't working properly. I count eight revolutions of the engine and get only two squirts of gas out of the pump outlet side. It's a rebuilt pump and it was working very well after the first rebuild. I do have a spark and I'm getting occasional backfiring out of the carb. Quote
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