Ready to rotate (soon)

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DusterDaddy

DusterDaddy

sledgehammer mechanic
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I bought this complete mild build 318 from another member 2 summers ago.
It has been stored in my attached garage that is pretty close to being climate controlled. It never get more than 10 to 15 degrees different than the inside of our house.
It's been wrapped in plastic and moving blankets. This motor has never been fired. If you take a look at the pics you can still see the cam lube on the lobes.
Not having a much experience in building motors, I could use some advice as to what to do to our motor before it's cranked and fired for the first time.
my common sense tells me to hand rotate it, possibly with some sort of spray in lubricant in the cylinders. I know once it's in and filled with oil it needs to primed before we crank it.
Please let me know what you think,
 

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Just put 2-3 squirts of oil in each spark plug hole, then fire it up. It should be fine...
 
And you took the intake off because?
Try not to rotate the engine any more than you have too, until after cam break-in. Prime the oil circuit with the hex drive and an electric drill. Install the dizzy correctly the first time and set the initial to 10* or so. Fill the carb bowls and install the break-in oil with the ZDP prior to cranking. Keep the water hose handy and a fire extinguisher.
As soon as it runs, idle it up to 2500, and check for leaks, especially fuel. If you have a fuel leak, shut it down and fix it! Then resume the 20 minute cam break-in.

BTW, now is the best time to measure the total chamber fill-volume, while the engine is on the assy-stand. To do this, I put the number one cylinder(or #6), on TDC/compression stroke.I rotate the engine to put the sparkplug hole of the selected cylinder as the highpoint of the chamber. I measure out 100cc of engine oil, and pour about 50cc in there at a good speed,then slow down and continue until the oil comes up to the bottom of the plug hole. Set the beaker down on a level surface. Rotate the crank a few degrees back and forth, to find the exact high point.Top it up if required, to the bottom of the plug hole. Its nice when the damper is right. Go back to the beaker. How much oil is left in there,and more importantly, how much went in?Do the math, and write it down.This number will be used to calculate your true compression ratio, as well as a few other things. Weeks or years from now you will be glad to know this number.Go back to the engine, and roll it over to let the oil drain out,EDIT; into a waste container (a couple of hours would be good). If you overfill the chamber and make a mess, its best to start over with a different cylinder.This is not the time to be estimating, and it will be impossible to get all the oil out to reuse the same cylinder.
 
AJ/FormS said:
And you took the intake off because?
Try not to rotate the engine any more than you have too, until after cam break-in. Prime the oil circuit with the hex drive and an electric drill. Install the dizzy correctly the first time and set the initial to 10* or so. Fill the carb bowls and install the break-in oil with the ZDP prior to cranking. Keep the water hose handy and a fire extinguisher.
As soon as it runs, idle it up to 2500, and check for leaks, especially fuel. If you have a fuel leak, shut it down and fix it! Then resume the 20 minute cam break-in.

BTW, now is the best time to measure the total chamber fill-volume, while the engine is on the assy-stand. To do this, I put the number one cylinder(or #6), on TDC/compression stroke.I rotate the engine to put the sparkplug hole of the selected cylinder as the highpoint of the chamber. I measure out 100cc of engine oil, and pour about 50cc in there at a good speed,then slow down and continue until the oil comes up to the bottom of the plug hole. Set the beaker down on a level surface. Rotate the crank a few degrees back and forth, to find the exact high point.Top it up if required, to the bottom of the plug hole. Its nice when the damper is right. Go back to the beaker. How much oil is left in there,and more importantly, how much went in?Do the math, and write it down.This number will be used to calculate your true compression ratio, as well as a few other things. Weeks or years from now you will be glad to know this number.Go back to the engine, and roll it over to let the oil drain out, (a couple of hours would be good). If you overfill the chamber and make a mess, its best to start over with a different cylinder.This is not the time to be estimating, and it will be impossible to get all the oil out to reuse the same cylinder.
Click to expand...



That could get messy,

Here's a way to also check compression when the engine is apart:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=278215
 
Also fill the bows with fuel befor its first fire up, no need to do a bunch of cranking to prefill.
 
Snake said:
Also fill the bows with fuel befor its first fire up, no need to do a bunch of cranking to prefill.
Click to expand...


Or get a jar and pour a little gas down the carb each time you try and keep trying until it starts or primes itself...
 
it appears that the lube has already been wiped off of the lobes from excessive turning. first I'd turn the crank to 90 deg BTDC #1 compression (some dampeners have (3) other partial slits in addition to the full TDC slit). use the one of them that is 1/4 turn CW from the full slit (so you are actually turning the crank CCW from TDC) or measure a strip of paper 5.694". Preoil with the 5/16" hex & look in the valve cover oil fill port to confirm the pass side is getting oiled. then turn crank to 20 ATDC #6 compression & repeat for the drivers side (use the timing tab as a ruler to get the extra 5 deg). using a 1&1/4 socket/breaker bar bring the crank forward a hair to 15. install & clock the intergear ANYWHERE it needs to be so after installing the dist the rotor is pointing rearward & slightly to the drivers side (intergear parallel to eng CL is a good start). turn dist housing so can is on pass side & line up the magnet dead even with the tooth. plug in the #6 plug wire in the cap above the dr rear location of the rotor. continue on around CW 5-7-2-1-8-4-3. make a mark on the dampener 2 & 7/32" CW from the TDC full slit & have your dist man set it to that when it fires. can capped. thermostat OUT. as said bowl filled. fan in front of rad. front end jacked up. helper to spot leaks. you in dr seat to fire it up/shout orders. read "breakin secrets" at www.mototuneusa.com any leaks/issues dont think about the severity just shut it off/fix it/restart & continue on for the rest of the 25 minute breakin. YOu have ONE shot to get a good cam and ring breakin. Just me I would regoop that cam (there's no goop in it). cam failures are epidemic. I would also undo the valvetrain & make sure the lifters are free to rotate. (hughes engines procedure). alot of work/ I am picky (& suffer from OCD) but you have ONE shot to get a excellent breakin as opposed to a good/so so breakin and you have thousands of dollars and many man hours invested. RR
 
What I would do is:

Put generous amounts (not globs) of cam lube on the cam.
Rotate engine to find TDC while you or a friend prime the engine.
The rocker shafts will not get oil until you rotate the crank while trying to prime the system of oil.
Reset the engine to TDC for number 1 cylinder.
More cam lube.
Install intake.
Fill fuel bowls and make sure the squirters of the carb work.
Fire it up!
 
krazykuda said:
Or get a jar and pour a little gas down the carb each time you try and keep trying until it starts or primes itself...
Click to expand...

That works as well but I have seen first hand BACK FIRE and you what happened next,not pretty.911 time.
 
Snake said:
That works as well but I have seen first hand BACK FIRE and you what happened next,not pretty.911 time.
Click to expand...


Yes, that is a risk.


But we usually have some clean rags handy to put out any backfire if needed. :angryfir:

The trick is to pour accurately and try not to spill.... #-o
 
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