I finished up my 2056 long block last night and will be installing/breaking it in during the next few days. The ongoing progress thread is over at RoadGlue.com at http://www.roadglue.com/forum/showthread.php?t=209

Everything is new or rebuilt and here's the break-in procedure as I've been told by others:

- Prime oil filter, add oil to motor
- Start motor, don't keep turning over if it doesn't fire right away
- Oil pressure idiot light and/or gauge should indicate oil pressure after a few seconds
- Keep motor around 1500 - 2000 RPM while you roughly set timing and idle
- At 10 - 15 minutes, stop, dump oil. Change filter and oil
- At this time you may also want to check valve clearances again
- Go drive for a few hundred miles, keep under load, drive hard but not abusively so. Don't lug, don't over-rev, don't stay at any one RPM for more than a few seconds
- At 200 miles, check valve clearances, dump oil, change filter

So, something like that, right? What type of oil should I use initially? I know back in '99 when I last did this, we used a non-detergent oil during the break-in.

I have oil pressure, oil temp and cylinder head temp gauges, so I'll be watching everything closely.

Wish me luck!

The initial run-in is done at 2000 rpm only to keep the oil pressure in the system high. This supposedly makes sure that the cam and lifters have adequate oil for the initial wear-in to prevent galling (eg, flat cam or mushroomed lifter). We ran the engine in this condition for 20 minutes.

As to oil, the break-in was traditionally done with non-detergent to avoid sending the myriad of metal shards due to new metal surfaces getting used to each other through the system. This could be just bullshit. We broke all of our racing engines in with straight grade Valvoline 50 WT Racing Oil and didn't change the oil / filter until after the first "practice" session on the course.

Bearings seat almost immediately. Seating of rings depends on the type of ring that was used.

Anyway ...... there's my opinion

Thanks for the info!

I used Grant cast iron rings, if that matters. No chrome here.

I think I would disconnect the coil and turn the motor over to get the oil flowing and pressure built up prior to actually starting it...

bummer - jake gave me a ration about using grant rings :/ went with hastings...

when we did my motor - cranked it with plugs out to build oil pressure. then ran it at 20 minutes at 3000 rpm to break in the cam....

Congratulations on getting your motor running. I have been following your thread on Roadglue and your motor looks great! Lots of luck

I also cranked without plugs 'till the idiot light went out. Also 20 minutes at 3k. Don't fiddle with timing or idle whilst it's running. Wait 'till next run.

Also, I used GM EOS in the oil for the first 1000 miles, including this 20 minute run. Alternative is STP red bottle (hard to find) or STP blue bottle (needs more to get the same Zn and Ph levels.) Not sure about the party line here, but I'm convinced you need to do it.

My machinist, who has been building 912/356/911/T1/T4 motors for 30+ years has been using Grant rings for a long time. I know Jake has an opinion on everything (no offense meant Jake), but I'm not worried about the ring choice if my machinist says it's going to be fine.

3K, 20 minutes, awesome.

Thanks!

I keep reading that Jake and Charles like Castrol GTX break-in and then the GTX High Mileage for regular usage. For synthetic they say Royal Purple Max Cycle is the stuff to use.

http://forums.aircooledtechnology.com/show...hlight=break-in

i would suggest not priming your oil filter at all. take your plugs out and crank the engine untill you have oil pressure . in other words get oil oressure first! then replace plugs and start for and run 20 minates at 2000 to 3000 rpm's. then maybe the rest of your list.

http://www.LNengineering.com/oil.html

It's a good read.

Castrol GTX is by no means my favorite, but it is cheap to change often. I wouldn't use either GTX or it's high mileage 20w50 formulations past 3k miles or 3 months. It breaks down FAST. If the engine is going to see ANY hard use like autocrossing, GTX is definately not on my list.

My preferred dino oils for a 15w40 is the Swepco 306 and for a 20w50, Brad Penn Racing, but both are priced similar to synthetics, but are damn good regardless.

Brad Penn and Joe Gibbs racing both make break in specific oils. In leiu of these oils, GTX, Rotella, or VR-1 with GM EOS is fine too. Change filters and oil often in any case.

Have you heard the 4th dimension shows on engine install and startup?
Tons of very important information. Particularly the trick not to fill the filter first that you would normally do when doing an oil change. If you did not get these shows, contact me directly.

Thanks everyone! I think I have enough info to get through this one now.

I'll post an update here in the next few days once the motor is in the car and I fire it up.

Thanks again,

Randy, does your machinist have the equipment to do balancing of the flywheel, crank, rods and fan assembly?

Yes he does. He takes the crank, flywheel, pressure plate and fan to another shop to have balanced. The rods, wrist pins and pistons he does in-house.