PSA for camshaft expansion plugs+ flex plate!

[Jimbo2312]

I have the spider injectors off the 305, I did not buy new injectors for this, thanks man. Black bear performance in Couer de Alene, that’s who I’m planning on getting my computer from

 

[Insert Quarter]

That is a 10/10 article man. How would you manage your oil cooler lines during oil priming?

The plan was to prime it before dropping it in, but I took advantage of having a hand at the shop and dropped the motor back in, way easier with two guys. So now I will prime with the motor back in the truck. Time to get break in oil, and a new oil pressure switch, to replace the obliterated one that was sacrificed dropping it back in.

Hook up the oil cooler as normal, the air will purge out while you're priming. Personally, I'd prime until you get oil at each of the rockers. If the guy assembling it forgot plugs then I wouldn't trust that he made sure the oil passage was clear in every pushrod.

For engine break-in - Lake Speed Jr. of Total Seal recommends - smart guy - it's an 8 minute watch but it's good info

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Also, after break-in, make sure to run an oil made for flat tappet cams, unless it's been nitrided, or is a roller

 

[Jimbo2312]

Thanks man really appreciate the reply, I was seeing if there was a way to prime it without hooking it up to my radiator (honestly probably just some tubing and hose clamps would have worked) but I ended up hooking everything back up anyways. Kind of at a standstill, little spooked out with my stock 305 computer.. wondering if I should hold off on firing it up until I get the right computer, plus with the 02 sensor differences I wonder if they can delete them with the new computer

 

[Hipster]

Installed or not installed--doesn't matter.


There's no reason to disable the crank sensor.


I use a modified distributor, with the gear teeth ground off and a "handle" screwed-into the top. A priming tool is a viable method as well. Point is, DON'T TRY TO SPIN THE PRIMING TOOL TOO FAST.

When the engine is cranking on the starter motor, the distributor is turning something like 80-ish RPM. That's as fast as you need to turn the priming tool. Trying to turn it faster than that is hard on the drill motor; and much moreso if the drill is geared to spin the chuck at ~2000 rpm like most 1/4 or 3/8 drills. 500 rpm is bad enough with a 1/2" drill. At least the 1/2" drill is tough enough to handle that load for ~30 seconds or so. Assure you're turning the priming tool in the direction of normal distributor rotation.

Don't make a career out of "priming". The O-N-L-Y thing you're trying to accomplish is to displace air from the oil pump, oil filter, and the main oil galleries; and the oil galleries are going to be bleeding oil from the bearings and lifter bores starting the moment you quit priming. You are ABSOLUTELY NOT trying to lubricate anything by pressurizing the oiling system. Everything that need lubrication was assembled with prelube of some sort.


The only thing that wouldn't be "together" is the distributor and plug wires.


If you installed the engine properly, why would it not turn over? Of course it's gonna turn over. Assuming the fuel system primes as normal, and the distributor is installed properly, (deliberately timed somewhat advanced for initial break-in--perhaps initial timing of 05 to 15 degrees advanced) that engine should fire almost instantly--which is what you want. Have a garden hose standing nearby to extinguish flames that SHOULD NOT HAPPEN, and to mist the radiator if it gets overly-warm.


FIRST, with a flat-tappet cam, you need to run the engine with the throttle adjusted open, or blocked-open at ~2000 rpm for 20 minutes. Given a choice, I'll run it at 2K for ten minutes, watching oil pressure, coolant temp, poke my head under the engine to look for signs of oil, coolant, PS, transmission, or fuel leaks. Top off coolant as the thermostat opens and burps air into the radiator. Listen for "funny noises" including exhaust leaks. Shut the engine off with little or no idle-time. Let it cool. FIX ANY FAULTS you've discovered. Re-check all fluid levels. Re-start engine and again have the throttle set for ~2K RPM for the second 10 minutes.

In a perfect world, you'd have painted stripes on the pushrods, and used "special tool" valve covers with viewing slots cut into them, to make sure that the flat-tapped lifters--and therefore the pushrods--are spinning. These are my valve covers for Pontiac, but Chevy would be similar.

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IF (big IF) you used heavy, moly-based paste on the lifter bottoms and cam lobes as prelube, change the oil filter. 20 minutes of run-time with moly-based paste can plug an oil filter. Note that I'm NOT changing the oil, just the filter, and topping-off the oil. Some folks want to dump the oil, too. I think that's wasteful especially if you're paying big-bucks for special "break-in" oil. Re-start the engine, verify proper initial timing,

If this is a roller-cam engine, fire the engine and give it 10 minutes of ~2K rpm. Top off coolant as needed. Look for fluid leaks, listen for "funny noises". Shut off engine, verify all fluid levels, verify proper ignition timing. The lifters won't be spinning.

Then it's ready to drive. Grab your cell-phone, and take a little-used highway out of town. Drive 20--30 miles, turn around. On your way back into town, WHACK THE THROTTLE OPEN as far as you can without the transmission kicking down from high gear. Depending on vehicle gearing and tire size, you'll be accelerating from 30 or 40 mph to 60+ mph. Then remove your foot from the gas pedal, coast back to 30-ish mph. Repeat whacking the throttle open without kicking the trans down to a lower gear, and then coast back to 30 mph. Repeat until it stops being fun--6, 8, 12 times. You're specifically looking for heavy-throttle, high cylinder pressure to push the rings tightly against the cylinder walls, but not high RPM. There's really no need to run the engine faster than 3500--4000 RPM. The coasting part creates high vacuum in the cylinders, brings oil up the cylinder walls to wash away any wear particles. High pressure...high vacuum. High pressure...high vacuum.

NOW go home and change oil and filter. Verify all fluid levels. Assure no leaks.

Engine is broken-in and ready for service.




When it's me, I install a supplemental, bypass oil filter on "new" or newly-rebuilt engines. These filters will remove extremely fine wear particles, and other than the 20-minute regular oil filter plugged due to moly-based paste prelube, eliminate oil and filter changes on a new engine. The oil is kept clean-as-new for the service life of the bypass filter element, which can be tens of thousands of miles. The bypass filter is a permanent part of my '88 K1500; someday I'll put one on my '97; but you "could" remove the thing once you feel the engine has fully "broken in" at 200 miles, 500 miles, 1000 miles or whatever you feel comfortable with. My choice is old Frantz a_sswipe bypass filters, which use a roll of toilet paper as a filter element, bought used or NOS from eBay. Amsoil sells brand-new bypass filters using specialized filter elements, there's a company or two that have updated the Frantz filter, and there are other companies that sell bypass filters also.

No holds barred, this is fantastic information.

 

[Schurkey]

No holds barred, this is fantastic information.

[Elvis Voice]Thankyew, thankyew verra much![/Elvis Voice]

 

[Insert Quarter]

[Elvis Voice]Thankyew, thankyew verra much![/Elvis Voice]

Thought you might be interested in todays AERA weekly tech bulletin (Automotive Engine Rebuilder's Association)

AERA Technical Bulletins - June 23, 2023

Images not showing up? Click here to view this email in your browser GM Small and Big Block Chevrolet Oil System Priming Tool The AERA Technical Committee offers the following information regarding an

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© AERA Engine Builders Association. All rights reserved.

GM Small and Big Block Chevrolet Oil System Priming Tool​

The AERA Technical Committee offers the following information regarding an oil system priming tool for small block and big block Chevrolet engines. This tool can be used to charge the oiling system prior to first-start of an assembled engine after rebuilding.

The preferred method of pressurizing an oiling system is a pressure pot that uses a container with the oil to be used inside it. One then fills the system with air pressure in the container and an oil line attached to the engine through the oil pressure sending unit port.

Some shops have found success using a tool like the one shown below which is available commercially at widespread locations. Using a tool like this helps the engine’s oil pump circulate engine oil throughout the oiling system. First, filling the crankcase with the fresh oil to be used and fitting the tooling into the oil pump drive through the distributor mounting hole. Then, spin the oil pump over with a drill to rotate the gears within the oil pump body. It is helpful to slowly rotate the engine over by hand as soon as the oil starts flowing through the oil galleries and oil filter. Continue until you’ve noticed good oil flow through the system and all rocker arm balls have a puddle of oil in them.

 

[Schurkey]

Thought you might be interested in todays AERA weekly tech bulletin (Automotive Engine Rebuilder's Association)

...The preferred method of pressurizing an oiling system is a pressure pot that uses a container with the oil to be used inside it. One then fills the system with air pressure in the container and an oil line attached to the engine through the oil pressure sending unit port.

Preferred method? Not in my opinion. That's the backup plan, when there's no way to spin the oil pump--because it's driven by the crankshaft instead of geared off the camshaft. LS engines, Vega 2.3L, some Buick V6, etc.

It is helpful to slowly rotate the engine over by hand as soon as the oil starts flowing through the oil galleries and oil filter. Continue until you’ve noticed good oil flow through the system and all rocker arm balls have a puddle of oil in them.

Waste of time. Gets folks worked-up when it takes forever to get oil to the rocker arms, and folks burn-out their drill motor doing it, 'cause they're using a 2000-rpm 1/4" or 3/8" drill instead of a 500 rpm 1/2" drill. If you're going to prime at all, thirty seconds, get oil pressure, and then fire the bytch up. Don't make a career out of "priming".

The moment you've got oil pressure, the PRIMING is D-O-N-E. Anything after that is not priming, it's prelubing (which should already have been done using specialized lubricants--liquid or "grease"--during engine assembly) or it's verifying that the oil passages are not blocked (which should already have been done during engine inspection/assembly.)

 

[Insert Quarter]

Waste of time. Gets folks worked-up when it takes forever to get oil to the rocker arms, and folks burn-out their drill motor doing it, 'cause they're using a 2000-rpm 1/4" or 3/8" drill instead of a 500 rpm 1/2" drill. If you're going to prime at all, thirty seconds, get oil pressure, and then fire the bytch up. Don't make a career out of "priming".

The moment you've got oil pressure, the PRIMING is D-O-N-E. Anything after that is not priming, it's prelubing (which should already have been done using specialized lubricants--liquid or "grease"--during engine assembly) or it's verifying that the oil passages are not blocked (which should already have been done during engine inspection/assembly.)

In addition to AERA, it appears that Chevrolet disagrees as well.

SP350 19367081 - Page 4
Start-up and Break-in Procedures
2. The engine should be primed with oil prior to starting. Follow the instructions enclosed with the tool. To prime the engine, first rotate the engine to TDC and remove the distributor to allow access to the oil pump drive shaft. Install the oil priming tool, 141-955 from our licensed partner www.factoryperformanceparts.com. Using a 1/2" drill motor, rotate the engine oil priming tool clockwise for three minutes. While you are priming the engine, have someone else rotate the crankshaft clockwise to supply oil throughout the engine and to all the bearing surfaces before the engine is initially started. This is the sure way to get oil to the bearings before you start the engine for the first time. Also, prime the engine if it sits for extended periods of time.

 

[BeXtreme]

There's always the same two camps. I'm personally on the side of "better safe than sorry". It's too easy to just spin a heavy duty drill for the 2-3 minutes to make sure you have purged all of the air out of the oil galleys. The idea that when you get oil pressure, which you are reading right after the pump, the whole system should be primed and ready to go is just silly to me. You are probably fine if you have just assembled the engine and everything is covered with assembly lube, but still.... why wouldn't you take the time to be sure. It's, at most, an extra 2 minutes of your time.

 

[Schurkey]

I participate on multiple forums, GM based. (Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, Buick, Cadillac)

You'd be surprised at the number of folks who spend HOURS trying to get oil to squirt over the fenders, and even burn-up drill motors trying to achieve that. My God, some of them are trying to do this with pure-junk cordless drills. Prime, turn the crank, prime, turn the crank...if they were getting hourly pay, they'd be rich.

By the time you've put the distributor back in, all those oil galleries have drained again via the bearing clearance, lifter-bore clearance, vented oil-gallery plugs, etc. Perhaps via the oil filter if it doesn't have an anti-drainback valve that actually works.

You don't think that GM--Ford--Chrysler primes their engines before they're fired for the first time off the assembly line...do you? The aftermarket obsession with "priming" is more superstition than actually useful.