F$$k that's funny !

 

Was going to start it up last week but ran into a couple small issues, then ended up heading out of town for 3 straight days on work stuff.

Issues - lower rad hose hits the p/s belt
- didn't have premium fuel (DOH! moment)
- ran out of distilled water and couldn't fill my rad...
Solutions - order a 1-3/4" elbow from JEGS.
- Grab fuel + fill tank with premium
- already went to wally world to get some more watta

Oh... and my buddy forgot his Go-Pro so you guys woulda never been able to settle this bet hahaha. He won't forget it this week! Hoping for Wednesday / Thursday.

 

......Waiting with bated breath......

 

So I fired it up. Man she's loud without exhaust on... even with earplugs in.

I took several videos, so editting will take a while to get it "post-worthy" or "youtube worthy".

Anywho, to settle the bet... it took 2 cranks.

Oil pressure = 80 psi for the first 10 minutes. 75 psi for the next 10 minutes. Then 75 psi for the final 10 minutes.
Had a bad valve cover leak, but got that fixed fairly quickly.
The motor literally ROARED to life cause the idle screw on the Edelbrock 1406 was turned in WAYYYYYY to far. So had to shut it down, adjust, shut down, adjust, then it was all good.

We had a couple of problems with my tach / multimeter not reading the RPMS, so we shut it down at least once again for that too. We ran the truck for 1-2 seconds on the first couple of start-ups due to the troubleshooting with the tach and the carb. After that, it was approximately 10 minute intervals up to 30 minutes. I believe we may have had 1 stint of only 5 minutes due to the issue with the fuel pressure regulator. Either way, the cam has been broken in for at least a good 30 minutes, if not slightly more.

But basically once I got everything figured out, it looks/sounds very good. Fuel pressure was the trickiest issue... it was very difficult to dial in with the truck running varying RPMS. Luckily I had 3 helpers with me for the event.
1 person sitting in driver seat for oil pressure and start/stop
1 person watching temps / fuel pressure
1 person working the throttle (by hand) and watching the rpms
Me - scrambling to get the fuel pressure somewhat reasonable, troubleshooting tach / multimeter, dialing in the carb for idle screw, and watching the alternator for charging system (14.43 volts @ 1,500 rpm - still a victory even if it wasn't at idle speeds IMHO lol).... and watching/checking transmission fluid to make sure I wasn't having major issues or burning up the trans.... oh and fixing leaks when they happened lol.

I left the rad cap off for the first bit... then it started puking fluid out the top because the cap was off. Made a hell of a mess with the mechanical fan, but we had lots of fun

Next up... buttoning up the miscellaneous stuff like front clip bolts, transmission cooler lines (they leaked), filling the trans with fluid, getting the front wheels on, setting timing, setting idle/carb, getting the brakes bled... After that I'll be doing some "spirited" driving and hopefully not getting pulled over by the cops cause I'm running open headers at the moment lol.

Thanks to everyone for the help, tips, suggestions, and bearing with my anxiety LOL

 

2 cranks ! Brilliant !!

A big congratulations to you.

I'm very pleased to see that all your hard work and homework paid off.

Thank you very much for the variety of detailed threads, great fun reading 'em.

Don't worry about the poh-leece. Your bad *** engine will help you out run them ! LOL

Yoh FB, I'll get cracking with the photos !! LOL

This is one bet I'm definitely glad I lost !!

 

Forgot... I was pulling anywhere between 19 and 20 inches of mercury on the vacuum gauge when we were breaking in the cam.

I have a decent video of all the gauges/readings on another phone. Might take me a while to edit all of the phones/videos together into one coherent piece.

EDIT: What's the recommended timing that I should set the motor at (Mechanical + Initial)? 32* - 36* BTDC? I'm running 91 octane fuel at the moment.

 

Too the best of my knowledge, stock heads like between 32-36* and TFS 195 Power Ports seem to like between 26-28*, but there are many variables that can effect total timing.

 

WUH FREAKIN' HOO, Aaron!

FMJ......a gracious loser, thank you. I have a notion you were secretly betting with me any way...

Timing? What do you have for mechanical - in the distributor? Don't worry too much about it if the engine is happy - for the moment, anyway. Remember, any cam "bigger" than stock, the engine would want more initial......so throw the manual's specs out fer horse feed.

 

Given your altitude, 18 - 20'' is a very healthy vacuum. (I assume the vacuum advance is connected to manifold)

FB, your notion is correct. and I've attached a picture as requested.

I'm not very photogenic, but I like how the new camera makes me look younger.

 

Ahhh, yes....I like it!!!

FMJ,,,great sense of humor!....

 

No idea what my mechanical is, but I'm guessing I could disconnect the vacuum advance, throw a timing light on my balancer and work backwards.

If I had the motor set up for 13* BTDC, the reading I get (with vacuum disconnected) should be 13+Mechanical should it not?

So for example, if I'm reading 33 at the balancer, then I would have 20 degrees mechanical. Yes?

Yup! Vacuum advance is connected to manifold, not timed. Read lots about that lol.

I think I'll still check for vacuum leaks even though it seems I don't have any at the moment. Just to calm my anxiety some more LOL.

 

Haha, good choice with the full manifold advance connection.

Yes, 13 idle + 20 mechanical = 33 total, and then add vacuum advance to that.

13 and 33 is a good starting point, and allows for your altitude.

You can fine tune advanced or retarded to avoid pinging and to maximise power.

Have someone hold the rpms at 1,000rpm, and 500rpm intervals up to +/-3,500rpms.

Measure the timing at those intervals.

Plot the numbers on a graph, and the 'timing curve' should be linear.

If you're unlucky, it will not be, which could indicate that the dizzy is crap.

I've had to return brand new MSD and Pertronix dizzies in the past coz they could not be set up accordingly.

You'll also see when the total 33* is arrived at.

If the total is at +/-3,500rpms say, you could change the springs to lighter ones to bring the timing all in by say 3,000rpms, or less.

Fine tune, test drive, fine tune, test drive.

You'll enjoy the benefits of a spot on curve.

@FB I'm glad you liked the humour. I had a good giggle selecting that pic !

 

Interesting stuff FMJ. I wasn't aware that the timing curve was supposed to be linear - it does make sense though.

So... some updated results from last night.
- Got the motor dialed in to idle at 750 rpm. Idles very smooth.
- Vacuum gauge reads 14 inches at idle - it's steady and doesn't bounce around. That's wayyy less than the 19 I had at 1500-2000 rpms. Not sure what to make of this - vacuum leak possibly?
- Hot idle oil pressure sits at a nice 24 psi (motor was at approx 175 F)
- Fuel pressure dialed in to 5.5 psi at 750 rpms. After the truck has been sitting idling for 15 minutes (tinkering with a few things), the fuel pressure dropped to 3psi. Also not sure what to make of this. Mechanical pump can't keep up to the hungry hungry hippos motor?
- Transmission is slowly sucking back fluid. Doesn't seem to drop the fluid level very quickly tho. I've gotta give the accelerator a nice stab before the trans fluid drops and starts flowing through the system. Not sure what that's all about either, but it may be because there's a giant portion of air in the system with it being 100% drained and rebuilt with a new trans cooler up front.

At any rate, I got the brakes partially bled last night. Ran into issues with a couple of leaks, but solved those fairly quickly.
Soon I'll be checking the timing, adjusting the carb a little more, then taking it for a spin

EDIT: I'm not going to spend a lot more time on fine-tuning things as I know it's more important to get the rings seated properly. However, I do still need to make sure I have a trans to make me move forward, and brakes to make me stop LOL. Fine tuning of the timing will come after first oil change

 

I wouldn't let the engine sit their idling at all !!

Take the truck out, and as you said, seat the rings.

I actually changed my oil and filter immediately after my cam break in.

I agree with you, fine tuning can be done later.

A smooth idle is a good sign, but with an auto tranny, I'd expect 800 rpm in P or N, and +/-625 rpm in D with +/-19'' and +/- 17'' vacuum respectively, on full manifold.

Ported would give you +/- 17'' and +/-15'' at idle.

14'' vacuum is sh$t ! (A steady needle is normally a good sign.)

I'm attaching vacuum literature for assistance.

I initially saw my fuel pressure show some funny numbers also. I've ignored it since installing it ! LOL

Did you fill the torque converter, then start the engine, then slowly fill the tranny ?

If no, there's your answer.

If yes, I have no answer !

 

Thanks for the vacuum literature. That will come in SUPER handy.

I can't drive the truck without brakes or a transmission, so that's why I've done a small amount of fine-tuning/checking with the truck before I've taken it for a drive. I know I know.. .glazed cylinders/rings, etc... I'm not trying to hurt the motor, but there isn't a lot I can do until the trans is ready to go.

Yes, torque converted was filled, pan was also full for initial start-up. I'm in the process of slowly filling the transmission the rest of the way. It had about 6 quarts in it before I started slowly filling - I believe the C6 (without trans cooler) accepts 10 quarts of fluid. I'm at around 8 right now, so I need a bit more to keep the trans from slipping while I'm driving.

AT THE MOST, the truck has idled for 15 minutes. Not a huge deal from what I've heard/read before. Letting it idle for a couple of hours after break-in... yeah, that would glaze the rings. Not much I can do to be honest - the truck has to have some level of operation/stopping power before I take it out lol.