[jackalope]

Well there are a few things to adress

#1 I'm so damn psyched about getting her running its completely necessary to tell everyone i can

#2 After getting the car to run well enough and during break in tonight my auto teacher told me to kill it and he turned off the lights and the headers were glowing... he took the temps and the rear 2 were just at 700 whereas the forward two were at about 550, we figured it was too lean (we have a smog machine thet we will hook up tomm but was wondering if you guys had any ideas.

#3 The timing is a bit confusing we have it sat at 8 degrees and its running pretty rough I have the serial # of the cam lying around somewhere so i will try to find it and look it up somewhere.

And all it took to get this far is 3 months of 4 hours work 6 days a week.....and before this the most major repair i had made on a car was replacing a master.

 

[Everett#2390]

There's nothing like the sound of an engine coming to life. The exhaust temp diff front & rear is normal. The back cylinders will be hotter than the front due to the fan on the water pump.

It could be lean, it could also be too late of timing. I'm surprised the teacher didn't show you how to use a vacuum gauge and adjust/tune the engine using it. Vacuum gauge will show you alot.

During cam break-in, adjust the timing for the highest vac reading. Then near the end of break-in, use a timing light to adjust timing and to find out what mech, vac, and total timing values are.

Congrats on your achievement.

 

[BillK]

Brian,
Sounds like you need a bunch more timing. Do you have the vacuum advance hooked up ? If not, do it. Most engines need around 25 degrees timing at low/mid rpms to run right. On a street engine, you can't get that without the vacuum advance.
Hope this helps,

 

[jackalope]

Well we called around and a guy at the machine shop where my short block was built said it was the timing, 34 total advance by 2000rpm, but I need timing tape so we are in the process of fixing it, in the mean time the beast has been able to move under its own power and after every problem that could have happened (knock on wood)

The oil line melted on the header and making a nice a fire yesterday starting on the ground to about 6 feet in the air, but I am just glad someone used a c02 instead of dry chemical extinguisher.

Trans cooler line popped off and shot ATF 10 feet in front of the car.

The upper radiator hose poppiong off and covering not only the engine but half the car in coolant (once it got to full temp of corse)

The vaccum hose to the tranny split in half (no 2nd gear)

When changing the oil after break in 20 minutes of sitting is not enoiugh time for the oil to cool off not only did I burn the living hell out of my hand but the plug went right into the drainhole of the pan I was using so 2 quarts of very hot oil went all over the shop.

And in order to get enough work done I skipped all my classes so I got a nice screaming when I got home.

Even though this thing sounds pretty goddamn awesome some of the wow factor was taken away by the schools 69 440 charger being started up on straight headers 15 mins prior.....

And it was all worth it.

 

[jackalope]

Just realised that I left a couple out ...

The first time I went to start it there was no power to the starter switch source, after learning the ins and outs of wiring my auto teacher decided to hop in the car and give it a try turns out because it used to be a colom shift car the neutral safety switch in the colom is still there so one twist and evcerything was good (free very stealthy kill switch)

When the coolant line popped off it provided enough tepmeratuer difference to crack it right around the left front bolt, so im thinking a RPM Air Gap

The plug to the electric fan broke off so the temp shot up making one of the freeze plugs start leaking.

Also I have heard that new engines just run hot but when should they start leveling off? I am using the same top end and cooling system and it used to sit right at 190f during the summer and right now it sits between 225 and 235.

And I have no damn clue as to how I am going to be able to go easy on this thing for 500 miles in the maybe 15 miles I put on it today I had more people try to race me than any other day of my life.

 

[Nantooch]

Easiest way to keep from racing the engine before the first 500 miles or 2500 miles is to keep one thing in mind. All the metal burs will be floating through your oil. Race it, and you run the risk of the burs ending up in the mains or cam bearings. Once scored, kiss it goodbye. When you consider the time,effort and money it took to get it running. It's not worth it to push your chest out and grunt. It will be more fun later getting a better time down 17 to Santa Cruz and the beach and looking kool doing so. Will beat the hell out of the bus you'll have to take otherwise.

 

[Zman1]

WOAH...slow down!
Dude, it sounds like you're in such a hurry, you're overlooking a lot of little things along the way.
Melted oil sending line, loose hoses, loose trans cooler lines, etc. etc. My god, you even had a fire due to carelessness!
Take the time to double check EVERYTHIG, then check it again. It would be a shame to invest all this time, and effort, then screw something up due to an oversight!
It's cool to impress your friends and all, but street racing is just plain stupid.
It's a lot more fun to keep them guessing, until you can prove it at the TRACK!
Yeah, I'll bark the tires now and then, and even get on it and grab a couple gears, but only out on the open road...not on the neighborhood streets.
Ok, now that I've finished ranting....congrats on getting the new motor fired up!