First time start up

3

37 truck

Senior Member
I have been on my project way too long, had the chassis and engine done in 2012. Since then, have been working on body, wiring, etc. I am now ready to start it up, and want to know, should I fog the cylinders? Oil pump was primed a long time ago. Should I just use water on initial startup? Heads are torqued to 45 pounds, with the intention of torquing higher on heat cycles. Any advice would be appreciated. 81A block bored to 80 over 239 ci, Max 1 cam, Edelbrock block letter heads, Egge pistons, Edelbrock slingshot with two Uncle Max 97 carbs, and a Bubba crab distributer. What do you think?
 
Water only on initial start up; anti-freeze mixture makes a bigger mess in case of a leak. I'd spin it over without the plugs in and see if it makes oil pressure. If it does, I'd go with it. No pressure after 30-45 seconds of cranking, I'd start checking things.
 
Sounds like it's in the truck. Don't idle it for too long with no load. Get it on the road a and do some accelerating and decellerating and enjoy the heck out ot it. Winter is looming! Congrats on getting it all back together.
 
Adding to Tubman’s and GB Sisson’s thoughts, I would in addition disconnect the coil primary, squirt oil or fogging oil into cylinders and turn over with starter to see if dash gauge shows pressure. If you have success with that, then put plugs in and drive it, alternating between acceleration and deceleration to break it in, starting with up to 35 mph and increasingly in 5 mph increments until you have reached perhaps 60 mph. You will notice the difference in the performance as you increase the speed. A mechanic taught me this procedure years ago and it worked.
 
Oil in cylinders is a good idea with cranking to get pressure up. I've always done the vary rpm and get them up on their legs asap. Moly rings break in fast, chrome took longer. Vehicle prep and check, fresh tires, good brakes, don't forget license plates and a shop towel to wipe the grin off your face if you get pulled over.
 
If the body is still off, I made a long skinny funnel out of a horn. Brazed a 1/4" pipe nipple on the end so I can thread it in to the oil galley at the back of the block and dump the last quart or two in there to fill at least some of the oil galleys and prime the pump. Always makes oil pressure pronto
 
Start it up!!! Engines need to run. New engine run it, as mentioned put some load on it to break it in. A few gentle runs around the block then a couple donuts. One of the worst things you could do is just run it in your garage.


You probably won't break it. :) You'll have more bugs to work out as time goes on.




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should I fog the cylinders? Oil pump was primed a long time ago. Fog? Oil pump primed a while ago?

Should I just use water on initial startup? Sure

Heads are torqued to 45 pounds, with the intention of torquing higher on heat cycles. Normal procedure. Torque setting based on material.

Crank it up!!!!
 
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