Engine Break in procudure

[RUNCHARGER]

Yes: Do not do the TV professional thing and crank and crank a new engine. Make sure it has gas, spark and will start with a 1/4 turn of the starter.
I also run it for about 10 minutes and shut it off without idling it. I check all fluids, look for leaks, let it cool a bit and then light it again for the other 10 minutes of the cam break-in. Then if it's in the car and all is well I go out and do some short, mid RPM full throttle bursts to seat the rings, increasing length of the bursts and RPM a bit as I go.
I really like using proven carbs on a new engine but it isn't always feasible.

[Chryco Psycho]

I get them running broken in & tuned Before I take them to the dyno , interesting to see how close I can get without the dyno

[Cudakiller70]

I never use a dyno either. Would love to if I had easy access to one. Like Cody said it's nice to tune and dial a motor in before it's in the car. I'm going to guess your talking about your 383. Oil is extremely important for it to have high zinc. I like the no thermostat to prevent the possibility of it sticking on a fresh motor. Chryco had a great idea of leaving the power steering belt off. Just for the fact it's a possible leak to contend with. A lot of guys like that 2000 rpm for 30 minutes break in which is mostly to make the flat tappet cam and lifters happily married. I don't like that because in ruins ceramic coated headers. It overheats them even with all kinds of fans and blowers moving air. I polish the lifter bottoms to avoid having to do that. I use a big fan in front of the car blowing at the radiator and run it for about 10 minutes @ 1500-2000 rpm. Be sure carb is full of fuel and coolant topped off. Like the others said, get that timing first thing. Never had a cam go down or engine failure. If you haven't polished the lifter bottoms you will have to do the 2000rpm for 30 minute thing. Don't let it idle, don't overheat it, and make sure your timing is good enough to fire right up. You don't want to sit there and just crank the motor over. Motor should be primed before fire up.   

@Shane Kelley I'm interested in details about polishing lifter bottoms. Installing a new flat tappet cam in a 340 with ceramic headers. Will be doing in car breakin. Any and all info would be appreciated!

[Shane Kelley]

@Cudakiller70   The key is having the bottom of the lifters look like chrome. Those machine marks are like a grinder on a fresh cam. You see the cam to lifter surface only gets oil from the crank slinging it on the cam. So with a new motor it becomes a issue because there is no oil dripping off everything from being run and everything saturated in oil. Now we have machine marks chewing on the cam and lack of oil. Because priming helps the bearing surfaces it does nothing for the cam to lifter surface.

Here's how I do it. Take a piece of 1000 grit sand paper and put it on a flat surface. Work the lifter in different directions until the machine marks are gone and you only see the 1000 grit scratches. You will know if you did a good enough job when you polish them. Any thing missed will show up. Next do the same with 1500 grit paper. Remember the bottom of the lifter is not perfectly flat. So you have to just slightly rock the lifter as you working it across the sand paper. For polishing I use a buffing wheel on a bench grinder using stainless polishing rouge. If you see any scratches after polishing repeat the sanding process. Remember you want it to look like chrome. See pic below. Left is before and right is after.

I have found that I really like the Crower cam saver lifters. They machined a tiny flat spot on the lower side of the lifter so they are actually feeding oil to the cam and lifter surface with oil pressure.   Great design! 

[RUNCHARGER]

Yes: I like the EDM l;ifters as well.

[Cudajason]

@Cudakiller70   The key is having the bottom of the lifters look like chrome. Those machine marks are like a grinder on a fresh cam. You see the cam to lifter surface only gets oil from the crank slinging it on the cam. So with a new motor it becomes a issue because there is no oil dripping off everything from being run and everything saturated in oil. Now we have machine marks chewing on the cam and lack of oil. Because priming helps the bearing surfaces it does nothing for the cam to lifter surface.

Here's how I do it. Take a piece of 1000 grit sand paper and put it on a flat surface. Work the lifter in different directions until the machine marks are gone and you only see the 1000 grit scratches. You will know if you did a good enough job when you polish them. Any thing missed will show up. Next do the same with 1500 grit paper. Remember the bottom of the lifter is not perfectly flat. So you have to just slightly rock the lifter as you working it across the sand paper. For polishing I use a buffing wheel on a bench grinder using stainless polishing rouge. If you see any scratches after polishing repeat the sanding process. Remember you want it to look like chrome. See pic below. Left is before and right is after.

I have found that I really like the Crower cam saver lifters. They machined a tiny flat spot on the lower side of the lifter so they are actually feeding oil to the cam and lifter surface with oil pressure.   Great design! 

@Shane Kelley I really like this idea.  I am working on replacing the cam in my 360 this winter and I think I am going to give this a try.

If I read this right, as long as I do this, and prime the engine prier to startup, I do not really need to do any additional break in because the only thing new will be the cam.

Jason

[Chryco Psycho]

I would still run the RPM up for a few minutes as the cam really has no oiling on it other than the oil returning from the top of the engine

[Jocigar]

found this old post.

Given my specific scenario, how would you go about getting my engine broken in and running.

This is the story and circumstances for better or worse:   440 hp2 six pack (I need to have carburetors rebuilt) 
25-30 years ago engine was professionally rebuilt top to bottom, it cost me $1k to give you an idea of how long ago this was.   I put a mild purple shaft cam in it (don't remember specs, just that I didn't want it too choppy) 

Once finished, I took it home.. still living with parents at the time, and it has sat (long block) in their dry garage with only intake pan on, no valve covers or spark plugs.     its has been on an engine stand, in a corner, well covered and wrapped in a few moving blankets.

How would you go about getting it ready for life after all this time?

[Spikedog08]

That's a long time to sit . . . this is a question for someone other than me . . . @Chryco Psycho   


Has there ever been fluids in there?      I thought that the cam needed something put on it for breakin . . .

[Cudajason]

found this old post.

Given my specific scenario, how would you go about getting my engine broken in and running.

This is the story and circumstances for better or worse:   440 hp2 six pack (I need to have carburetors rebuilt) 
25-30 years ago engine was professionally rebuilt top to bottom, it cost me $1k to give you an idea of how long ago this was.   I put a mild purple shaft cam in it (don't remember specs, just that I didn't want it too choppy) 

Once finished, I took it home.. still living with parents at the time, and it has sat (long block) in their dry garage with only intake pan on, no valve covers or spark plugs.     its has been on an engine stand, in a corner, well covered and wrapped in a few moving blankets.

How would you go about getting it ready for life after all this time?

I would want to at the very least pull the heads and see if the cylinder bores are still clean and not showing any signs of rust.

Are there any fluids in the engine now?

if the bores are clean maybe pull the pan and main bearing caps and make sure the bearings looks good.  Same with the cam, may want to make sure it is not showing any sings of rust.

Then slap some assembly lube on every thing and an treat it like a new engine.

Jason

[Chryco Psycho]

My concern is the seals may have dried out , everything else should be fine If it was assembled well my bet is the inside will look like new , bores will be clean etc .
you can probably feel the valve seals thrugh the springs & see if they are still soft etc , you can pull the valley pan easily & look in there , if that looks good then great .
So you could prime it up & fire it & see what leaks & fix as you need to or you could replace front & rear crank seal , valve seals etc & check the brgs
They sell boroscopes for your phone now for under $20 so you could look inside the bores without removing the heads .
Personally I would take a look under the valley tray if there is no rust & would put it togther & fire it up

[Topcat]

found this old post.

Given my specific scenario, how would you go about getting my engine broken in and running.

This is the story and circumstances for better or worse:   440 hp2 six pack (I need to have carburetors rebuilt) 
25-30 years ago engine was professionally rebuilt top to bottom, it cost me $1k to give you an idea of how long ago this was.   I put a mild purple shaft cam in it (don't remember specs, just that I didn't want it too choppy) 

Once finished, I took it home.. still living with parents at the time, and it has sat (long block) in their dry garage with only intake pan on, no valve covers or spark plugs.     its has been on an engine stand, in a corner, well covered and wrapped in a few moving blankets.

How would you go about getting it ready for life after all this time?

I would want to at the very least pull the heads and see if the cylinder bores are still clean and not showing any signs of rust.

Are there any fluids in the engine now?

if the bores are clean maybe pull the pan and main bearing caps and make sure the bearings looks good.  Same with the cam, may want to make sure it is not showing any sings of rust.

Then slap some assembly lube on every thing and an treat it like a new engine.

Jason

Bore scope camera. Harbor Freight

Still O.K....Marvel Mystery oil,vapor sprayed in,  and sit a few days.

Slow rotate...Repeat. Look again. 

[chargerdon]

Ill be starting my newly rebuilt 408 stroker this weekend.   Lunati cam in it that had been run about 500 miles in the old engine..   Called Lunati and they said no need to remove the inner valve springs...just do a "mini break in procedure" of after starting run at 2000 rpm for about 20 mins blipping the gas every once in a while.   Im using the Joe Gibbs Driven 10-30 breakin oil with high zinc..  (recommended by Lunati).   Ill have a fan on radiator and hose ready to dose the radiator if any signs of overheating. 

Now simple question..after the 20 mins of running at 2,000 rpm and then setting the timing..to probably around 15 degrees before tdc..will set with vacuum gauge...   Now..do i drive the car at all with the break-in oil before draining and changing filter and putting in the normal high zinc oil (again Driven brand), and if so how many miles are recommended?   Or do i immediately change oil and filter after the 20 min break in period? 

[Chryco Psycho]

Adjust the timing hile douing the break in run , you can advance it until the engine stps increasing RPM & just back it off until the RPM starts to drop off again , if you do not do this you will have excess heat to deal with during the run .
I have generally put around 500 miles on with the break in oil in the engine before changing the oil

[Jocigar]

This is good news,

I will buy a hf boroscope and check out cyl walls.

questions:

I should not rotate the assembly/crank by hand?  2000 rpm from get go is the newest standard?

how can I prime the oil pump.  My body guy told me about using a drill to rotate pump gear? what does this tool look like.

If there is oil in the pan, I will drain and replace with mobil-1 15w-50 per Cody, maybe I can do that after using some marvel mystery as topcat suggested.   

Should I use a different oil other than mobil 1... something with even more zinc for first start ?

I'll attach pics of heads and under valley soon.

Thanks all!