Engine Break In

After a long project it was finally time for the most exiting part: first start and break in. I asked a friend to join me so I could work with the throttle and he could check the timing and make sure everything seemed OK in the engine bay.

We began with the fluids. We filled the cooling system with water and poured some oil in the engine. I'll replace the water with real coolant after seeing that the engine works. Using just water is not an option in Finland and it would corrode all the parts in the engine in a couple of years anyway. We also used some Comp Cams break in oil additive to add some ZZDP. I don't trust todays oils with flat tappet camshafts so I'll be using it after every oil change.

To see that the oiling system worked we decided to pre-oil the engine before starting it. We had a power drill and made a long extension by attaching a few shorter ones together. We taped them together so none of them would drop in the engine. Then we needed a long 1/4 inch socket that would fit over the oil pump shaft.

With the contraption ready, we dropped it in the distributor hole and used the drill to turn the oil pump. But it didn't work. We tried turning it both ways but got nothing. Some nervous moments later my friend realised that I had not filled the oil filter with oil! Without it, the pump was running dry and could not start pulling oil from the pan. After quickly filling the filter, the pump started working normally. I rotated the engine by hand while my friend ran the drill so oil would get everywhere. After only a few seconds oil was flowing out of every pushrod. Phew.

It was time to fire up the engine for the first time. I stepped in the car and turned on the ignition. After some basic checks like turning on the lights so see that we had at least some electricity I turned the engine over. There was no gas in the carb so we didn't expect an immediate startup but after only a few seconds my battery started acting up. I had charged it for six hours before installing it to the car but it ran out of juice almost immediately. Damn.

Luckily I had another battery that we could use. It worked fine even thought it had been unused for the whole winter. The engine did not fire immediately but soon started banging through the exhaust. My friend fiddled with the distributor and then the engine started!

I immediately took the engine to 2000 RPM and kept it there. I made sure oil pressure rose to normal while my friend checked the timing advance. It was about 20 degrees which worked for break in purposes but I would have to measure it at idle later.

What I read from break in instructions, you should keep the engine RPM between 2000 and 2500 for 25 to 30 minutes. Unfortunately after about 7 minutes the engine temperature started to rise too high and I had to turn it off. It was getting late so I decided to let the car cool until next evening.

Before continuing the break in I did some investigation. I pulled the valve covers to make sure all rockers got oil and removed the plugs. They were a bit grey which could mean the engine was running lean. I opened the idle screws a bit and decided to continue as nothing was obviously wrong.

The engine started fine and I took the RPM to 2000. But again after 6 or 7 minutes the temperature rose too high and I had to kill the engine. I assumed that the fan and radiator just was not powerful enough to keep the engine cool without wind. I decided to continue the next day again but this time I added an electrical fan to push air through the radiator.

The fan helped a bit but still the engine ran hot. I started to get a bit worried but did the break in routine in four steps anyway. After them the engine had ran a bit under 30 minutes so it was time to investigate it. I checked the plugs again and they were the same as before. Under the valve covers everything seemed fine too. One of the valves had started ticking during the last break in run so I would have to adjust the valves again. Then it was time to drain the oil and see how it looked.

I let the oil out while still hot and luckily didn't see abnormal amounts of metal in it. I also removed the filter and drained the oil from it. It had a bit more metal flakes but I hoped everything was still OK.

It seemed that the break in succeeded but I would not know for sure before driving 500 to 1000 km. And before that I would need to get my driveshaft shortened. While I was putting the engine back together I had an epiphany. I had forgot to install the PCV valve hose previously! This meant that there was a huge vacuum leak below the carb. That could be the explanation why the engine was running lean and hot. I'd see that on my test drive.

Engine Assembly: Installation

Finally both the car and the engine were ready to be joined together again. Luckily a friend agreed to help me with it so I would not have to install the engine to the car alone. He brought along an engine hoist so we set it up, bolted some chains to the heads and attached them to the hook. I could not access the rear of the engine while it was attached to the stand so we first lowered it to the ground to install some parts.

I placed the separator plate on the dovel pins, dug out my flywheel and cleaned it of protective oil I had sprayed on it. Next I placed it on the crankshaft flange and we rotated it until all bolt holes lined up. You can only install it in one way so the balance weight is in the correct place. The holes in the crankshaft go straight through to the oil pan area so thread sealant must be used. I applied some on them and threaded the bolts in. To tighten them to the needed 80 ft-lbs. my friend had a long socket wrench that he used to prevent the crank from rotating while I used the torque wrench.

Next I had to swap in a new pilot bearing. I didn't have a suitable puller so I decided to use the "wet paper and a bolt" method shown in this video.

I just teared some paper in pieces, placed them in a bucket of water and started hammering the mush in the bushing. I used a bolt that filled the bore as tightly as possible and after a few minutes the old bushing dropped out. I've also seen grease and even bread used instead of paper but I think this method leaves the least mess. After getting the bushing out you just remove the paper and wipe the water off.

My new ACDelco 381009 clutch kit contained a new bushing and bearing. T-5 installation guide mentions that you should use a bearing so that is what I planned to install. Unfortunately when I tested it, it was so loose it slid right in the crank. There was no interference at all so it slid out just as easily. Clearly it could not be used. The new bushing on the other hand was correct so I had no choice but to use it as there was no time to get a new bearing. What I could find from net discussions it should work just as well.

After tapping in the bushing, it was time to install the clutch. I placed the centering tool and disk on the flywheel and then covered them with the pressure plate. I had bough new ARP bolts so I used them to pull it in. I tightened each bolt only about one turn in time to prevent bending the disk. Finally I torqued the bolts to 35 ft-lbs and pulled the installation tool out.

Then came the bellhousing, clutch lever and bearing. Bellhousing was simple to bolt in but the clutch lever and bearing were pretty tight. It took a few tries to get the bearing to stay in place while hooking the lever to its pivot but finally it went in.

I was ready to lift the engine to the car now but my friend suggested that we should bolt the transmission to the bellhousing and install the whole package at the same time. This would make my project much easier so I agreed. First I installed the T-5 adapter plate to the bellhousing. You need to drill two holes to it for the bolts but I had already done that earlier. Two of the bolts are threaded in from the inside but luckily we were able to tighten them without removing the bellhousing.

Next we lifted the T-5 transmission in place and fiddled it until the bolts started threading in. It took some twisting and showing but pretty soon all bolts were in and the engine was ready to be installed.

We would need to change the angle of the engine while lifting it. Unfortunately we did not have a tilting fixture so we had to improvise. After digging out a ratchet tie-down strap we attached it under the damper. It worked well enough for our needs so it was time to pump the engine up and manhandle it over the car.

Lowering the engine in the car was the most difficult part. Little by little we inched it down, forward and backward until the transmission passed the firewall. We had to be really careful not to scratch the paint or hit anything on the way down but we did get the engine in.

When the end of the transmission started touching the floor, we had to lift it somehow. First we released the strap and inched a jack under the transmission. With it we got the back end up while lowering the front. Some positioning and showing later we got the first engine mounting bolt in. After that getting the last three in was pretty simple. Then we could release the chains and the engine was installed!

Getting to this point took the whole night so I left a jack stand under the transmission and went home to rest.