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Last minute questions before cranking
https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31847
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Author:  74DartSport [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 2:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Last minute questions before cranking

My son will be in from college this weekend. I just set the car to TDC and did a cold valve lash - .020 exhaust and .010 intake. I'm gonna fill the radiator and install the fan belt, fan blade, hook up the alternator and run the hose directly from the distributor to the aircleaner. The car has a new gas tank and I know the fuel line is clear from the tank to the fuel pump. I verified the starter is good. The alternator is new. The car has four quarts of oil in it and the oil pump has vaseline in its cavities. No oil is in the oil filter.

Valve cover is off. I have a new timing light (inductive pickup), however I have never used one before.

1.) Do I just crank it and not worry about vacuum advance, tachometer readings, or timing until I set my valves hot?
2.) Do I need to put a small amount of oil in the new oil filter? (I used to change the oil on this car back in the seventies and eighties and never put oil in the new filter.) That oil filter will leak when you spin it on and I'll have oil down the side of my new paint job.

The car was last cranked in 1990. It is a 74 Dart with a 73 /6 and a Holley 1920.

Author:  69a100 [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:33 pm ]
Post subject: 

Is this a fresh rebuilt motor???? If so I would put oil in the filter to cut the dry time this engine has before pressure is up. I know about the fresh paint thing but what's more important, paint or the $$ spent on the motor? Your call! Use plain H2O on first start up, that way if there are leaks, your not peeing $$ down the drain with the A-freeze. You can drain some H2O and fill with A-freeze.

Author:  6shotvanner [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:58 pm ]
Post subject: 

I do notice you said "run the hose direct from dist to aircleaner"what?Dizzy to carb you mean right? You might give a squit of oil down spark plug holes so you know there is some lube in cyls and crank motor over without plugs and coil hooked up until you get oil pressure/circ.Once you have oil press the filter will be full(more or less) then top off the oil level.Install the plugs hook up the coil wire and go for broke :wink: I'm a big fan of the newer MoPar orange coolant and it should be mixed only with distilled water.With that in mind I like to "fillerup"with the distilled H2O for first fireup then drain like 69a100 says and top off.Just to be clear you ran valve adj on each cyl when each valve was in closed position right?just checking :) Good luck.

Author:  SlantSixDan [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:14 pm ]
Post subject: 

If you're worried about dry starts and your paint job, then remove the oil filter, put a length of straight coat hanger wire down the oil filter standpipe to open the check valve, and use an oil squirter or small funnel to pour oil down the standpipe. This will put oil in the main gallery and wet-down the oil pump rotors with oil, which will greatly speed oil distribution on first startup.

Don't worry about vacuum advance or anything, just get the base timing in the right vicinity for easy start-up to warm the engine for valve adjustment; you'll have to adjust the idle and timing to get a nice, slow idle to lash the valves hot/running anyhow, so you'd just wind up having to re-adjust your re-adjustments! :shock:

Author:  74DartSport [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:14 pm ]
Post subject: 

Quote:
I do notice you said "run the hose direct from dist to aircleaner"what?Dizzy to carb you mean right?
Right. From the distributor to the carb.
Quote:
Just to be clear you ran valve adj on each cyl when each valve was in closed position right?just checking :) Good luck.
Yep. Did the exhaust and intake in the order the distributor fires (1-5-3-6-2-4) clockwise moving the damper until both valves were closed before inserting feeler gauge.

Author:  Aggressive Ted [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:27 pm ]
Post subject: 

Sounds like your there....kind of a spooky moment. I took the electric sender off and plumed an oil pressure gauge to make sure we had good oil pressure. I spun it with the plugs out to verify with a few squirts of oil in each chamber. Then put the plugs back in and fired it up. Cam break-in at 2000 to 2500 rpm is always a little hair raising with oil squirting everywhere.
You may want to partially bolt the cover down until the 20 minute break-in is done then set the valves at a low idle.

By the way, buy a Wix 1806 oil filter, fill it up about 80% and turn it over. No oil will come out due to the built in stand pipe. Then spin it on. No fuss, no mess. :D

Author:  74DartSport [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:02 pm ]
Post subject: 

There is no gas in the fuel filter or fuel pump. It will probably take a little cranking to suction fuel from the gas tank, so I know that I should have oil flowing before gas hits the spark plugs (I hope). Should I pull the plugs to avoid plugs firing before oil is flowing?

I will try SSD's suggestion to put oil down the pipe with a piece of hanger. Once I get the oil in, I'll install the oil filter before cranking.

The carb has not been rebuilt (yet). Hope it fires.

Cam is stock. No adjustment to crankshaft either. Pistons and rings are original.

Be back with you on Saturday. Thanks.

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