The Eagle has Landed.

[tparker]

WooHoo. The Eagle has landed. I got the 340 in this weekend. Would have been smoother if I used the right bolt. I was using the larger tranny to engine bolt instead of the correct top 3/8s ones. I spent an hour trying to shift the tranny around to get the bolt started. LOL. I finally realized I had the wrong bolts and the rest went pretty smooth.... except for some sore ribs from all the leaning on the car. LOL

next steps is to connect the hoses and wires, install a temp set of headers so I don't ruin my Dougs. Bolt up the flexplate, set the timing, remove the inner springs, and then fire her up. 

For those of you that do this semi regularly, I may not be that big of a deal, but it is a major milestone and feels pretty awesome. Just hope it doesn't end in a flattened cam 

[chargerdon]

Assuming you have a flat tappet cam, just make sure you use a quality HIGH ZINC break in oil.   Have a fan blowing air thru the radiator and once it starts, DO NOT SHUT IT OFF for the first 20 mins running at 2000 RPM with frequent blips up to 3000.   I used Joe Gibbs High Zinc 10W-40 oil.

I know that you have the timing set right BEFORE first fire...    Its exciting and way to go !!!

[tparker]

@chargerdon Thanks. I got all that covered, but I didn't think of the fan. Great idea.

I first put this engine back in 90-91. I didn't do any of these steps. I did even know there was a break in procedure. LOL. Regular oil in it. I forgot to put water in the radiator and it over heated. Who knows what RPM I kept it at and for how long. After it over heated we turned it off. It was a disaster, but it ran fine. Just hoping this time works goes smooth.

[Spikedog08]

Looks great!  Happy days!        

[Dakota]

  Congrats!   My prediction:  the joy you feel now will pale in comparison to what you feel when you hear the engine come back to life.   Good luck with the next steps.   

[YellowThumper]

Congratulations.
Huge milestone for sure.

[Cudajason]

nice!

when you fire it up, my only tip is to make sure the firign order is right..I screwed my up TWICE.

Here is a link to the my throead https://forum.e-bodies.org/engine-transmission-and-rear-end/4/ahhh-crap-bad-lifter/11551/90

CP had this advice:

So one question as I try to get this buttoned up...I installed the cam straight up, dot on the cam gear is at 6, dot on the crank gear is as 12.

I would assume that this puts the no 1 hole at TDC compression.  I just want to make sure I have the timing set right this time.  Right now I have the dist. set a little after the number one plug wire... the engine is sitting at TDC (or a litter before).

I just want to hit the key and have it start!!

Jason

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IIRC 12 & 12 is #1 firing not 12 & 6 if intake valve on #3 cyl is open you are on #1 firing
I would have the damper about 20* before TDC & the reluctor close to lined up with the pick up
first get the RPM up then start to adjust timing & lower the rpm as you get the timing up , basically advance the timing until the rpm quits rising
you can play with the idle mixture screws to adjust the fuel , if it want more fuel at 2500 rpm but less at idle it wants bigger jets


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@Chryco Psycho that makes sense,  why would the cam be installed in the middle of the process, combustion as opposed to intake.

That would be the main mistake I made last time.

I can't imagine there should be any issue with rotating the engine by hand to get it to compression.  I used lots of assembly lube I can not imagine that would wear off turning by hand.

________

Good luck man!

[dodj]

CP has a post....somewhere....about first fire up......It's da bomb. Follow it and you will have no problems.

[Chryco Psycho]

Right here !
https://forum.e-bodies.org/reference-material/18/guide-for-initial-engine-fire-up/218/msg52475#msg52475
As soon as it fires get it up to speed & start adjusting timing to reduce heat start tweaking the carb it i all in there !

[chargerdon]

After a rebuild, setting the timing for a little advanced, then dumping a little bit of fuel down the carb...then turn the key and hearing it fire immediately and strong...well  nothing quite like it in the entire world.   You know you did your job right !!   Maybe even better than the first time you had sex !!   

However, then fine tuning the timing and carb, and bringing it up to 2000 rpm for 20 mins to break in the cam, and blipping it to 3500 every once in a while lasts a lot longer than the first sex !!

[tparker]

Awesome, thanks for the starting tips. I'll check out that post. I'm sure it will go well. I did it before and didn't follow any specific setup. Unfortunately it will be a few weeks. I got to setup the exhaust and I already lost this week. Hopefully I can fire her up in two weeks

[dodj]

Awesome, thanks for the starting tips. I'll check out that post. I'm sure it will go well. I did it before and didn't follow any specific setup. Unfortunately it will be a few weeks. I got to setup the exhaust and I already lost this week. Hopefully I can fire her up in two weeks

Looking forward to your post in a couple weeks....or so....