Cam breakin Procedure

Mike, it's not oil pressure that oils the cam lobes. It's actually windage..the oil slung off the crank and rods spraying up. So there are a few things that have to happen right for things to go smoothly. Firdst, the carb should be primed by filling the bowls thru the vent tubes(holley/carter types) or passages (edelbrock type). about 1/2 a soda can fills the bowl enough to get ot running. The fuel tank needs to have more than 1 gallon in it too if it's a mechanical pump...so the pump has an easy time drawing up the fuel. Next, the oil system should be primed with a shaft. You dont need to rotate the engine to get it to the rockers...you want it to hold presssure for a short time, so the oil gets squished out of the rods and dripped on the crank. Next, the distribuotr has to be in the right spot. It doesnt have to be perfectly timed, but it has to be between 0 and 10° before TDC on compression stroke. The cooling system should be about 3/4 full. Just enough to cover the top row of cooling fins, but dont fill to the top. All this is done so when the key is turned, the enigne starts right away, the rpms can be raised with the idle speed screw to at least 1800rpm (I like 2300) and it will keep running and flinging that oil up. If you have to shut it off because the coolant is pouring out onti the fan and going everywhere, or the fuel in the tank runs out, or the engine catches but the oil pressure takes a second or two to come up, then another second or two to bleed thru and fling up... Then the cam has been turning at least 10 full revolutions against the full valve spring load with no oil getting to it. If you used the starter to crank it to get fuel pressure or oil pressure, you make it worse because you are just removing the little layer of protection the cam manufacturer gives you in that lube. On the oils, anything rated "SM" regardless of type or brand (rotella, Valvoline Racing, etc) all are drastically lower in the stuff flat tappets need. The best thing to do now, is add a can of Hughes or Comp Cams or similar additive for flat tappets every time the oil is changed. I currently use Valvoline Racing straight 30 and have had no issues, but my dwindling cases are SL rated, not SM. I'm looking into Joe Gibbs Racing Oils for the future.