[callmewaylon]

Okay, seriously though. The engine is an original counter replacement 350hp 327 that I did an at home re-ring job on. Heads are 882 lightweight castings that I did some mild porting and valve unshrouding on. They were gone through at the machine shop before I got them. The block had NO ridge and little to no wear in the cylinders. New Sealed Power moly rings after the ball hone job, all new bearings including cam bearings and all new block plugs, etc. Flat tappet cam so I did the usual break in drill (engine fired immediately and kept it between 2k and 2.5k varying rpm for 25 min to beak in cam) and everything seemed to go well. Cut open the filter and no flakes, only minimal glitter in the bottom of the drain pan. I put about 30 miles on it tonight. I've been varying rpm, never really letting it get below 2k except at stop signs. Also been holding it in second gear from time to time and giving it 2/3 throttle or so to load the rings.

Any other advise in breaking the engine in? I planned on hitting the drag strip this weekend. I figure that's not much different than the dyno pulls that are done with new engines? Am I asking for trouble?

 

[dusterdude3404]

Being a chevy,never,lol just kidding.i would say put 200 miles on it and then have at it.

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk

 

[BillPac]

I agree with the above, with the addition of some full throttle bursts up to about 5,000 rpm in second gear, and then let off the gas and let it pull down to 1,500 or so, then repeat. This should help the rings seat.

 

[jaw22w]

I once bought a very expensive race engine from Gaerte Engines. I asked about how to break it in. Earl Gaerte told me to just let it pull itself around for 2 laps, then let it wail. He said for the first 2 laps you are breaking it in. After that you are wearing it out.

 

[callmewaylon]

Put about 50 miles on so far. Already was doing what BillPac suggested. Some (almost) WOT pulls to 4500 or so and then let the motor wind back down gradually to seat the rings. Also, no extended idling. If I'm sitting a a stop light I shift to neutral and keep the rpms up over 1500-2000. Also used VR oil and added a bottle of zinc for good measure.

 

[ekimneirbo]

If your cam lobes survived then you should be good to go............. I'd change the oil and don't put any more zinc in it from this point on. Zinc will build up inside an engine if you keep adding it, and todays oils work just fine as is.

 

[johnsongrass1]

Those rings on a ball hone might take a little longer to fully seat. No matter, I don't do anything special unless the engine builder says theres a warrenty. Otherwise it's WOT to redline 30 feet out the drive way. If it's gonna break, I'd rather be sooner than later and if it does break, you didn't do something right and no matter what you do, it would have come apart anyway,

 

[Fast Track Auto]

Most professional engine builders dyno their engines and make full tilt pulls on them as soon as the temperature comes up on them if that give you a clue on how long to wait for "break in".

 

[hotwiretuning]

at the parts store i work at we have a machine shop. general thought is if it survives first five minutes your good. drive it like you stole it

 

[chasracer]

We do about 10 minutes or whatever it takes to get to 180-200 on the gauge, then do it again a bit later.

Next heat cycle is the burnout box. Hey - it's either gonna run or break.

 

[RAYFIN]

My brother was a GM mechanic at a large dealership for many years and a drag racer/street racer. He said break it in like you're gonna drive it. I personally don't think it will matter much. Id just go run it. If it breaks you did something wrong building it. It's prob broke in after the cam break-in.

 

[callmewaylon]

Hey guys, just thought I'd give an update since you always see these posts and then never find out what happened. Well, with about 275 miles on the engine, broken in relatively spiritedly(if that's even a word), took it to the track and made around 10 passes. Best time of 14.85 @ 91mph in my 1980 Malibu with 700R4/2500 rpm converter/3.73 rear gear combo. Engine still runs great. Time to do the 2nd oil change and cut the filter open now to double check.

Planning on heading back to the track in a couple of weeks. Going to do some experimenting by swapping the 800cfm Edelbrock to a 600 Edelbrock and then a Holley 750. Time to prove/disprove the age old question of which gives the most power. Most people tell me I'll notice a big difference with the Holley, but I doubt it at WOT. Seems to me that unless the carb is a restriction, WOT power will be the same assuming both have the same AFR.

 

[johnsongrass1]

Your engine will like the one that's calibrated the best for its needs. Edies tend to not be that one.