I’m very close. I’m doing a lot of clean, paint, and rework under the hood while it’s apart. 30+ years of road grime, leaks, crudded up paint, shaggy wiring, etc has taken a toll. All I have remaining is to set in the radiator, but I have a new AC condenser arriving tomorrow. I need to figure out how to mount it to the radiator when it arrives. So... any day now. Fingers crossed. View attachment 5113622
My advice is to never buy an engine that the professional builder has not done the startup and run-in themselves. I’ve had two SBC cam failures, one with a crate engine and one built by my dumb ass. Expensive lessons. I will pay extra for a dyno run. Ready with no leaks and madness.
Engine looks really good,,,except for the belt drive ,,,old school would look much better . Looks like a nice car though . Tommy
Blueprint sales a 350 vortex engine with roller cam. Mine makes 380 hp and 400 pound's torque. Oil pan, covers intake and dizzy delivered for 3500.00 Has 50000 mile warranty. Sounds great with nice choppy cam. Can't build one for that!
It's the little things that sometimes go unknown or unnoticed... I'm pretty sure I had zero gap on the old one which I put in...hmmm...25ish years ago. Its a tight fit in there, but I'll get as much gap as possible. Thanks.
Tried firing up the new engine yesterday. Short version of the story is - no spark. I’m running an HEI. Took the module down to the local Autozone for testing and it failed all tests except “lamp test”. Of course they didn’t have one in stock. Although it’s an impressive looking tester with lots of lights, I’m not sure what it actually tests. I’ll snap a pic when I go back. I’m going to have them locate a module and test it before I buy it. Just curious on how dependable their test set really is. So here's the curious part. While my engine was apart, I loaned my distributor to my neighbor to troubleshoot his 57 with the same hei setup. His would die every 30 seconds like clockwork. I'm not sure what all happened over there, but now he's running and I'm dead. I know the distributors did not get mixed up. He ended up using a different distributor and returned mine. So, is it even possible to damage an hei module by simply plugging it into a suspect engine? Things that make you go hmmmm..
I have zero confidence in the chain stores and their testing equipment. After having two junk alternators both check out as good, I went ahead and bought a rebuilt alternator anyway, and fixed my charging issue. One of the two alternators I had them test was one I'd taken apart, and I left some components out intentionally to see if it would pass their test.
Well I’m gonna walk the line here….I took some crap advice from an engine builder…he said put 10-30 in it and fire it up…say’s I’ve built hundreds of motors…no issues..you ain’t gotta do all that…last motor I did was a solid lifter and I did the normal break in with the RPM 2K-2500 for 20 minutes deal..motor was still running great when I sold it…I didn’t take that advice..instead bought 10-30 break in oil…did fire the car up…and since “the engine guy” was there I drove It…for about 10 minutes never letting it get below 2000 rpm…nerve racking to Say the least…I said “wtf am I doing..you know better” I pulled it back in the shop and the car sat for a year..I had another issue that needed addressed..got that done and did a true 20 minute break in with it, drained the oil, replaced the break in oil with Lucas Hot Rod 10-30 and a new Motorcraft filter….so far so good…no smoke so I know the rings seated..the 3 speed and 3:55 rear end keep the RPM above 2000K…so I thinking I should be good…but man with all these lifter issues it’s really nerve racking..oh yeah my cam is a known lifter eater too…Comp Cam XE274H…I did the whole kit, replaced the springs in my Trickflows for theirs, didn’t pull the inner spring for break in either…just hoping 200 miles from now I’m not posting a WTF happens thread…
Don’t worry man,,,,,,it won’t be that bad . If it bothers you too much get out the rubber sheets and put on the bed . (That’s an old saying we have here about crapping the bed ,,,,,LoL .) The cam will be fine,,,,,,considering that literally thousands and thousands are sold every year . Some fail,,,,,,but the vast majority are fine ,,,,,just like life ,,,,you never know what your gonna get ! Tommy
When the factory builds an engine, they don't run it during brake in, they have a machine that spins the engine while they monitor everything. Braking an engine in by running it has always been a risky deal.
Trials and tribulations of the “motor sport enthusiast “. My ignition module was bad, so $40 later it fires up....and spits a 3 foot flamer out the carb. Double check timing, vacuum leaks, etc...all seems right. Try again, and another flame. Hmmm... Working alone so I wire up my remote starter button and I’m ready to twizzle the dizzy, or do whatever, and.... it starts right up and runs smooth. Hmmmm.. so I bring it up to 2000 -2500 rpm, and a minute later my tach just craps out. Arrrggg.. So I shut it down, only to find the radiator has sprung a little geyser. Did I mention, I do this sh:t for fun?
You ain't "gotta" do a whole bunch of things, when somebody else is paying for it. Engine builders that know what they are doing start full power pulls on the dyno just as soon as the cam is broken in, doesn't take very long. They sure as hell don't "baby" anything. For most of us, a complete engine overhaul represents a considerable amount of time and money invested, it isn't a bad plan to do it right, and do those things that long experience has shown to minimize Unpleasantness.
Truth there…my neighbor is building a 64 427 R code clone car…when he finished his motor he took to to be dyno tuned, they broke it in, tuned it , and made Dyno pulls , over the coarse of a day.. My neighbor spent 30 years at Ford Dyno..he knows his stuff
Ya know what? I am done with the whole flat tappet bullsh:t. I'm following the break in guidelines, or at least attempting to. I started off with a bad ignition module and forced to troubleshoot that issue without excessively cranking the engine?. Now, Im running a new engine at 2000 rpm for 30 minutes, but being careful to make sure my timing is correct, which you can't do at 2000 rpm, but DO NOT let it idle so you can set your timing. Watching the temperature closely, but I'm sitting dead still on a 90 degree day... YADA, YADA,YADA.... Now look at the roller cam engine procedure. Start it. Drive it. DONE. I will never do flat tappet again.
I set my timing to be 35* all in by 3000 RPM. But yeah. When I read your post about having a no-start condition, I thought of that new cam and how that could end up badly. I've got a camper based on an old Mopar van that needs the engine rebuilt, and I've been avoiding it for years because of how much trouble it is to get that motor in and out once not to mention doing it all over because it eats a cam ...
Man , talk about a lack of patience , is there some where else you need to be , something else you have to do , its a hobby , enjoy it , prove your smarter than the car ! LOL
No reason the ignition timing can't be 20 or 30 degrees BTDC or more at 2000 RPM for ~ 20 minute cam break-in. In fact, it will run cooler. High engine temps can be a problem with new or overhauled engines. There is never any benefit to slow or "retarded" ignition timing, and also leads to things like red hot manifolds or warped exhaust valves.