Curtis,
I wouldn't be surprised if there is more myth than truth to this recipe,
but the concern is mainly the cam. When you build a motor, the cam lobes
are coated with some good lubricant that will stay put until you fire it
up. Once you do fire it up, you want to keep it running so as to keep it
well lubricated for the "break-in" period. It's hard to believe that
turning it off for a few minutes would allow enough oil to run off the cam
to make any difference, but why take a chance? I'm not sure what the basis
for the 1,500 to 2,000 rpm recommendation is either, but it does seem
reasonable that running too slow would allow the very high cam pressures to
break through the protective oil film and too fast would generate too much
friction and heat, so there probably is an optimum. But whether it's 1,000,
2,000, or 3,000 rpm I wouldn't know. I personally don't think you have much
to worry about as long as you don't do anything really extreme, and even
the pre-oiling I suggested may not be all that necessary.
We'll look forward to hearing how the reverse flow system works. Should
keep the heads cooler I understand.
Good luck today!
Bob
At 06:49 AM 3/19/00 -0800, Curtis Fisher wrote:
>Hi Bob,
>Yes, the motor was electrically run in prior to shipping. I don't know the
>amount but now that you've reminded my, I'll call Motorsport and ask.
>They've been pretty helpful with info. The motor was shipped full of oil
>with filter, without intake and exhaust. I had to remove their oil pan
>(and that was sort of messy) to replace the normal oil pump with a
>high-volume pump. I've already primed the oil pump using the method you
>described.
>Let me rephrase the question. Is there something wrong with start ups of 2
>minutes + 3 + 3 + 2 + 4 + 6 = 20 minutes? I've heard the 15-20 must be
>continuous. Just curious why.
>
>Other trivia, the crate motor aluminum head did not fit the exhaust
>manifold used with the 289 iron heads. Lots of grinding on the bottom
>flanges, especially the left (5-8) side. As soon as my CAT headers come
>in, I'll fit them per Tom Hall and Dan Whitely's latest tech tip. The
>Explorer damper and water pump (reverse rotation) clear the rack and pinion
>by one inch. I am using those with a serpentine belt. I'll be happy to
>post the +/-'s of that soon. Curtis
|