Hopefully tomm will be the day, machinest reccomended I run Rotella 15/40 in it with a bottle of the Lucas zink additive.

He suggested craking it over for 15 seconds with no spark plugs, let go of key, wait a few seconds repeat procedure.

Do this a few times to build up oil pressure. I have a gauge but its the original 1986 gauge, just a needle indicator.

Machinest said he primed oil pump before installing but engine has been sitting for maybe 2 months since then. he said no way to prime engine at this point so that is why he reccomended that start up procedure mentioned above.

Is there a better way?

He then suggested getting the dist installed, getting it on top dead ect ect and firing it up, keep it about 2000 RPM for 20 minutes too brake in cam.

He said too only run water in rad for now with no thermostat, after cam break in ect drain rad ( its my original rad ) and then at that point put in antifreeze and thermo.

Does this sound OK?

What do you guys suggest for spark plugs ?

Anything I am missing?

Yes, cranking it without plugs will allow the engine to turn smoothly and quickly to get oil pressure up, yes do this a few times until you see some pressure reading on your gauge.

Yes set the engine to TDC, this will be "close-enough" to start it.

For plugs, most are running NGKs, different years take a different style plug, mine (1978) I am running NGK UR4 plugs.

15/40 is good because it is already high in ZDDP additives due to the different regulations on diesel oils compared to automotive oils... Ive heard and seen plenty of break-ins done with 15/40 alone and no additive, but it wont hurt if you do.

Once you have double checked everything, water level is good, you have oil pressure and crankcase is full and your valves are set to about .012 on the intake and .022 on the exhaust (a little looser than the "hot" adjustment) Give it power to the ignition and crank her over. Immediately bring the idle up to about 2k rpm and let ehr sing for about 20 min. All the while watch for any leaks, watch the engine temp, and any other vitals...

After your 20min of break-in and no issues found, drain the water and oil out. Refill oil with a good conventional oil and a ZDDP additive, plus a new filter, and fill the cooling system with a good mix of anti-freeze and water.

Fire it back up and bring the idle down, check the timing and idle mixture is acceptable, and get it out on the open road to seat those rings... Also after running it for a little while, double check the valve lash again, must be hot, and should be running to set the lash.

I may have missed something, and someone else may have different techniques or steps in their process, but this is the route I took when I did mine and everything went beautiful! 10k miles later, still smooth and still strong.

Thanks very much for the time you gave in your detailed response.

My engine has hydraulic lifters so I will assume no adjustment is needed within the valves.

You are very welcome! Yes you are right, shaft mounted hydraulic lifters need no adjusting, but it is very important to get oil pressure built up to them. It will be very hard to start otherwise until they do pressurize.

I am pretty sure after going back too old posts I try too read that even though I plan to have the valve cover removed ( to look for oil getting too the top end ) that I will see very little, nothing more than a dribble is what I should expect, is this correct?

I am also remembering a past post that there is supposed to be a certain orientation of the rocker shaft so that it gets oil properly, maybe something about a notch on the rocker shaft, does that sound correct?

Can someone explain too me what too look for/how too find it. I want to make sure it was assembled correctly.

If you built the engine tight on the clearances (I did on mine) I would go with a 5-30 for breaking in since you are using an extra zinc additive. The engine can build up a lot of heat during the 20 minutes at 2000 to 25000 rpm that you normally don't see after break in.

If your using a late head the UR4's are a hot plug. To keep heat down during break in you could run a set of UR5's.

On timing, i would be conservative, no more than 5 degrees BTDC, again to help keep the heat down. After the 20 minutes you can dial back the carb to a nice idle and set the idle mixture @ 750 rpm.

Water is fine on break in, no need to waste the antifreeze if you have a leak or have something go wrong with the head gasket. I like to do a re-torque after break-in.

I would break it in outside where it can get good cooling.

Setting the lash looser is a wise idea. If it is too tight it won't want to idle down nicely.

I spun mine over with the plugs out so I could see some pressure on the oil gauge and to be sure the carb was full and verified that the accelerator pump was working...... Then installed them and fired the engine up.

It can be kind of stinky while oil residue burns off and any paint on the exhaust manifold does the same....

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

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WOW, Ted. You really live up to your screen name!

Roger

whoops... Have fun with that break in procedure!

Ok thanks guys, will let you know how it goes when it goes, maybe today,maybe tomm or next day, just depends on when coil shows up

Don't forget to put oil back in after draining breakin oil.

Sam

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Yes you are correct, it will be a little more than a dribble, its just enough to keep things lunricated up top. There is a certain way to line-up the rocker shaft but I do not remeber exactly what it is, there is a real good post explaining it and the differences between hydraulic and mechanical cams/lifters. I think it was somewhere in the FAQ section...

I checked out the FAQ section at the top of this window, unless I am seeing the wrong section it only has info about the site ect.

Id like to verify this but I might not be able too since I cannot find the info now.

Maybe be starting it today, had too earn money yesterday.

I was able too find this http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... 792aa2dfa7
but I dont know if that is specific for my 1986 engine.

Either way I though there was a way of telling without dissasembling anything.

This one was a bit more helpful http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... e759125457

I liked this one as well http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46756

I found these doing a google search