Engine first start

[landshark]

I might be jumping ahead of myself a little, however I will be picking up one more order of parts this week/weekend and pending any show stoppers would be in a position to fire up the engine this weekend or even this week. I have a small checklist for engine start but wanted to make sure I have everything I need to start and pick up anything i would be missing.

Details of the engine for those that forgot or care:

Non roller block, with a used flat tappet cam and new lifters. Crank has been polished, new crank bearings. Cylinder walls have been bored out, new rings used pistons. Heads have been redone.

Obvious first:

Engine oil with Zinc additive (5 or 6 Quarts) regular 5w-30? non synthetic?

Transmission oil - Regular ATF? Torque Convertor already has 1 or 2 quarts in it.. so i would need about 5 more correct?

Transfer Case oil - ATF? 2 quarts?

Front and rear Diff oil 1.9 in front about 3 in rear

Antifreeze a bunch of gallons.


Before start prime engine someone was saying using a 1/4 socket on the end of an extension as long as the socket is attached to the end of the extension REALLY well.. i also have an extra distributor but would have to get the gear off of it before i used it to prime i assume.. .

Once its primed do i need to turn the engine over anymore? I know i have to make sure its at Top Dead Center.. but not sure i really need to turn the engine over at this point.

Once i get it running I was told even though the cam is used I should break in the cam to lifters.. so run it about 20 -30 min at about 2000 RPMS. Is this true?

If so and I have problems on first start and for whatever reason can't keep it running will it hurt the engine to start it a few times before I can run it for the 20-30 min?

I know it will be loud but I might not have any way to hook up a full exhuast at first. Will it hurt anything to run open headers? I MIGHT be able to get the o2 sensors in some short pipes but dont know yet.. i know its not ideal to run it without them but i can hook them up and figure something out?

Anything else i should look for or know before I start it up?

[akaFrankCastle]

Quite the list. Let me see what input I can give.

I might be jumping ahead of myself a little, however I will be picking up one more order of parts this week/weekend and pending any show stoppers would be in a position to fire up the engine this weekend or even this week. I have a small checklist for engine start but wanted to make sure I have everything I need to start and pick up anything i would be missing.

Details of the engine for those that forgot or care:

Non roller block, with a used flat tappet cam and new lifters. Crank has been polished, new crank bearings. Cylinder walls have been bored out, new rings used pistons. Heads have been redone.

Obvious first:

Engine oil with Zinc additive (5 or 6 Quarts) regular 5w-30? non synthetic? Book calls for 6 quarts. Pull your oil filter and put as much in there as you can and reinstall. THEN fill the pan.

From another board: "I would start it up and run it for the 20 min break in period with Walmart Supertech Synthetic. It runs about $20 for 5 qts. After the break in procedure, drain it and cut open the filter.

Check for metal particles, especially copper (from bearings). You can sort shiny alum fragments from steel/iron with a magnet. Hopefully there will just be a lot of lint and assembly lube in the filter media from the assembly.

Next, I would refill it with Mobil 1 5W-30 or Shell Rotella T6 synthetic 5W-40 and install a new filter. The Rotella has a higher ZDP, but both are very good oils."

As these guys are building motors for Corvettes, probably some good advice. At least until someone else comes along.

Transmission oil - Regular ATF? Torque Convertor already has 1 or 2 quarts in it.. so i would need about 5 more correct? Book calls for 11 quarts total. Minus the 1-2 you have in now, I'd drop in another 8 and then top off as necessary after you've got her running. Realistically, I don't think you should have a helluva lot of fluid movement until you start cycling through drive ranges.

Transfer Case oil - ATF? 2 quarts? 1.375 quarts of gear oil. Want to say I am running 80W-90 conventional in the Bronco.

Front and rear Diff oil 1.9 in front about 3 in rear Varies by year. Front: 66-69: 3.75 pints, 70-71: 4 pints, 72-77: 3.5 pints; Rear: 66-68: 5 pints, 69: 6.5 pints, 70-71: 9 pints, 72: 6 pints, 73-77: 9 pints. That's all from a 1980 Chilton's and could be crap at this point.

Antifreeze a bunch of gallons.


Before start prime engine someone was saying using a 1/4 socket on the end of an extension as long as the socket is attached to the end of the extension REALLY well.. i also have an extra distributor but would have to get the gear off of it before i used it to prime i assume.. . I've tried both techniques. Dizzys are not hard to strip for this purpose and area all around less pain in the butt with regard to less pieces and parts. Socket is easier to drop in and line up first shot. Just make sure if you use the socket, TAPE the socket and extensions together, otherwise you will be dropping your oil pan to pull tools out of it. Ask me how I know. Hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge under the hood and take it up, with a drill on the dizzy/socket, to around 20-30 PSI. Just to make sure your oil pump is working properly prior to firing.

Once its primed do i need to turn the engine over anymore? I know i have to make sure its at Top Dead Center.. but not sure i really need to turn the engine over at this point. First turn over my motor had after the aforementioned steps was when I started it. But then again, I hadn't just put a bunch of money in to it, only fired it up after 8 years of sitting. I will say that mine fired up on the second crank, after only about 2 seconds on the key. Seeing as you are now EFI, I would make very certain that everything is hooked up correctly and you are confident in your wiring, to prevent excessive no start cranking.

Once i get it running I was told even though the cam is used I should break in the cam to lifters.. so run it about 20 -30 min at about 2000 RPMS. Is this true? Correct. And after that 20 minutes. Shut it down. Drain the oil. Pull the filter. Dissect filter. Also use magnetic drain plug to pick up any crap that may accumulate.

If so and I have problems on first start and for whatever reason can't keep it running will it hurt the engine to start it a few times before I can run it for the 20-30 min? So long as you have good oil pressure and you are not hearing anything out of the ordinary, I wouldn't think so. However, don't get in to the mindset that it has to start and keep on it for a few hours. If you can't get it started after 20-30 minutes, I would take a step back and look everything over again.

I know it will be loud but I might not have any way to hook up a full exhuast at first. Will it hurt anything to run open headers? I MIGHT be able to get the o2 sensors in some short pipes but dont know yet.. i know its not ideal to run it without them but i can hook them up and figure something out? Most parts stores sell flexible aluminum exhaust patches. Looks like your dryer exhaust tube, but more rigid. If you have some sections of left over exhaust, I would cobble something together. Running a motor with open headers/no exhaust, I have been told, is a no-no as it eliminates the back pressure needed to allow the motor to scavenge exhaust gases. Or some sort of magic like that. Obviously the O2s are going to be an essential part of the motor running smoothly. I would try and cobble something together to ensure that your first start is a good start.

Anything else i should look for or know before I start it up? Yes. One more thing. Put a digital camera on the work bench and set it to video to document the start up. 1) If it doesn't happen, sounds and video can help the guys diagnose why. 2) You want to document the first crank, don't you?!!?!

Good luck!!