Engine Build - Initial Break In Run

During these last few months I have been able to finish my first engine build, build a engine test run stand, and I fired up the engine for it's initial break in run.    I also made a time lapse video of the final assembly of the engine.   The time lapse can be seen in my previous post.  The video is a combination of over 12, 000 photos that I took during the assembly.  I had setup our camera on a tripod with a timer and had it take a picture every 3 seconds.  I then took all those photos and using a program they were put together to make a video.

When I finished the engine build I decided I wanted to build a engine run stand for two reasons.  First reason is I wanted to be able to break the motor in with easy access to the engine in case anything needed repair before putting into the Chevelle.  The second reason I wanted a stand was because I don't think this will be my last engine build, and it would be nice to have one if I ever decided to do another engine.

I made the stand out of wood because my carpentry skills are a lot better than my welding skills and I also had a lot of lumber lying around the garage.
 

I mounted the old rad that I had from the Chevelle.  This is when I ran into my first problem.  After I had everything hooked up and ready.  I started filling the rad with coolant.   The rad had been sitting out in my shed for a few years through some pretty nasty winters so it must have cracked the coil somewhere inside, because coolant started pouring out the bottom of the rad.  It was junk.  So I decided this was my opportunity to get the rad setup I will be using for the Chevelle and get a chance to test it out on the stand also. 

I ended up going with a Griffin aluminum rad with dual 12" Spal fans.  I went with this setup because of a few reasons.  They had great reviews, their customer service with me was excellent and the setup was significantly lower in cost compared to similar big name setups.

It was a big box, so I needed some moving help as can be seen below.

She also runs my quality control inspection department seen below inspecting the fins.

Dual Spal Fans, The setup came with all wiring and controls needed for easy install.

Installed on the run stand

Here are a couple pictures of the complete stand with the engine wired and ready to run.

Before I started the engine for the first time I made sure to set up the engine to fire as soon as I started cranking it over.  There were a few things I did to ensure this.  First I set the #1 cylinder at approx. 12 degrees before top dead centre on the compression stroke.  I had the spark plug removed from the #1 Cylinder.  I rotated the engine over and at the same time had a finger over the spark plug hole.  When the piston is on its way up on the compression stroke the compression can be felt on your finger, blowing air out the hole.  I then brought the crankshaft up to the 12 degree before top dead centre mark on the harmonic damper.

The next thing I did was setup the distributor so that it was as close to firing the #1 cylinder spark plug at the same moment.  To do this I wired the distributor cap up in the correct firing order (I triple checked that I had the wires routed correctly).  I then lifted the rotor cap off, and set the distributor body so that the rotor was lined up to where the #1 wire was on the cap.    By doing these first steps I was ensuring that the initial timing was close enough to get the engine running quickly.

One other thing I did was fill the carb up with fuel.  To do this for me was easy because I am using an electric fuel pump.  All I had to do was hook my fuel lines up,  turn power on to the pump and ran if for about 5-10 seconds.  What this did was fill the carb fuel bowls up with fresh fuel so that when the engine was turned over it got fuel going in right away. 

The last thing I did was pre-oil the engine.  I have a tool that is modeled after the bottom section of a distributor so you can hook it up to the oil pump drive in the block.  I slid it into the block onto the oil pump drive and then using my battery drill spun it for about 5 minutes making sure I was getting some pressure reading on the oil pressure gauge I had hooked up.

I was now ready to fire this engine up.  I must have set the engine up correctly because it fired right up.  I was actually surprised at how fast it did fire up, I was expecting a bit of cranking before it happened. 

The video below is the 1st start. 

Here is the 2nd attempt

 

The above videos you can see it is running pretty rough.  It wasn't firing on all cylinders and I traced it back to a bad battery.  I was able to get my hands on a battery booster and once it was hooked up to the battery the engine ran great and I was able to set the timing.  The video below is with the booster hooked up.  You can hear it running alot better.

After I had run the motor a couple times and gave it a good run in, I let the engine cool down and drained the oil and took the oil filter off.  This is done so I can look at the oil and make sure no metal was found in it.    I even used a strainer and filtered the oil and the only material I found in the oil was a little bit of fuzzy lint material, I think that this was probably a bit of lint from the shop towels I used during assembly.

At this time I also took the tappet covers off to inspect the valve train and re-tourque the head bolts.    When I had the tappet covers off, I found an issue.  I was looking at the rocker arms and I noticed that some of the roller tips weren't centered on the valve stems.  The rocker arm tips are supposed to be centered on the valve tips and this is accomplished with the push rod guide plates.  After some research I found that there have been some issues with the guide plates that come on the Edelbrock cylinder heads.

To fix this issue I ordered some Comp Cams guide plates and installed them.  This fixed the problem and the tips were centered properly in the valve stems.
  
Below is a picture of the new guide plates installed.

Below is a picture of the edelbrock guide plates

I am extremely happy with how everything turned out with my first engine build,  I've learned so much already about engine building and would like to do another engine (maybe after the Chevelle is done).  This has been my favorite part of my Chevelle build so far.

Engine Build- Final Build Time Lapse Video

Here is a time lapse video I made of the final build of the engine.   My next post I will describe in detail how everything went on the intial break in start.  For now here is the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U47F7jKdHmc

Engine Build Final Assembly

I haven't posted on here in a awhile, so I thought I'd throw out a post just to give those following my blog a little update.  It's not that I haven't been doing any work,  I actually have been out in the garage a lot lately working on the final assembly of the 454.  I am just going about the documenting of this stage a different way.  I am putting together a time-lapse photography video of the complete final build.    I won't be posting it until it is complete, so stay tuned.   But for now here is a couple pictures of where I'm at now.

Sidetracked Continued

Now that it is getting a lot colder here, I got my garage heater hooked up.  It is pretty much done, I just have to finish a few cosmetic things (paint gas line, install faceplates on outside and inside where the exhaust line goes through the walls, etc.).  It works great!  It's a lot nicer working out in the garage when it's not -20 in there.

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I was also done with all my pre-assembly checks for the engine.  So in my spare time I've been disassembling it and storing the parts in preparation for the final block cleaning and assembly. 

Here is my expert technician lending me a hand

Before the final block cleaning and assembly, I took this time to install a lifter valley screen kit that I purchased from Milodon.  This kit is installed as insurance in case any valve train failures were ever to occur.  The screens that are epoxied to the oil drain down holes would catch any small pieces preventing damage to the lower rotating assembly.  It's not that I don't trust my work, I just thought for $30 why not?  Looking back now I probably could have made the screens myself and just bought some epoxy, instead of buying the kit.

Below is a picture of the screens epoxied in.  Not the prettiest work, but this won't be seen.

In the kit there is also a screen to install in the opening where the oil goes into the timing chain area.  This screen was hammered in place using a hammer and socket.

I've also picked up a new water pump.  I found it on Rockauto.com for $15.  It's for a 1980 Suburban truck.  It should do the job, if not I'm only out $15.

I also had a meeting with the guy who is going to be doing all the body and paint work for the Chevelle.  We set a tentative date for next January.  I can't wait!

That is it for now.  I think next job for me will be to start installing brake lines and fuel lines on the Chevelle's frame.  I am going to start final engine assembly when it gets a little nicer outside so I can roll it out into the driveway and wash it.

Engine Build Pre-Assembly (Oil Pump Fit and Clearance to Pan)

 



I am almost coming to the end of the pre-assembly stage of my engine build, there are just a few other things to do.  With both heads on the block tightened down just snug (not torgued)  I installed the intake manifold with just 4 bolts to make sure it lined up on the heads ok.

 

I'm really glad I went with the black powdercoated version on the intake manifold.  I really like the look of the black on red, and it will go well with the black on red look of my chevelle when it's done.

I then test fitted the distributor in the block and tightened it down with it's hold down clamp, because next I will be turning the engine upside down.

With the engine upside down I put the oil pump driveshaft down into it's hole in the block.

The picture below shows the oil pump driveshaft in the block.  Also I installed the oil pump stud in the block.

I then tightened the oil pump onto it's stud.

The oil pump driveshaft play is then measured.  To do this, using my pinky finger I slid the driveshaft as far up as it would go.   I then drew a line on the oil pump, where the two met.  I then pushed the driveshaft down as far as it would go and made another line.

Below are the two lines that were made on the oil pump shaft.  This indicates that there is some endplay with the driveshaft, which is good.

 

 

I next installed the oil pump pickup into it's hole in the oil pump.  It is a press fit and had to be tapped down into the hole using a punch.

  

The oil pump and pickup that came in my kit had a locating tab on the pickup that set the pickup to it's desired depth within the kit's oil pan.  I will be verifying the clearance between the pan and pickup just to be sure.

The bolt in the oil pump kit is removed and then reinstalled over the pickup locating tab.

Here is the oil pan

To check the clearance between the pan and the oil pickup, I once again pulled out some modeling clay.  I placed a blob on top of the pickup.

The pan was then placed onto the block, which in turn squished the clay to the clearance.  I then removed the pan again and using my calipers measured the thickness of the clay.  I forgot to take a picture of this, but I measured the clearance to a little bit less then 3/8" which is good.

All my engine pre-assembly checks have now been completed.  I am happy with all my measurements that I have taken.  I now will start to dissassemble the engine in preparation for final assembly.

Engine Build Pre-Assembly (Piston to Valve Clearance)

 

Piston to valve clearance is a very important measurement that must be performed in any engine build.  In all my research I came across two different methods of doing this.  The first is using a dial gauge set up on the valve spring retainer and checking at different intervals of crankshaft revolution how far the valve can be pushed down before contacting the piston (more on this farther down).  The other method of checking is using clay, which I will explain.  I did both checks, this is my first engine build so I figure better safe than sorry.

 

Here is the dial gauge set up on the valve spring retainer.

The degree wheel is used again for this check.  I brought the piston to 20 degrees before top dead centre (BTDC) as my starting point.

I then pushed down on the lifter slowly watching the dial gauge until I felt the valve contact the piston.  I recorded the reading from the gauge at this point.  I then moved the crankshaft in the normal rotation (clockwise) to different degrees in the crankshaft rotation and did the same thing.

After I did the measurements for the intake valve I moved the setup over to the exhaust valve and did the same thing.

Below are the recordings that I got at each interval.  It looks like the closest clearances seem to be about 8-10 degrees after top dead centre on the intake valve and 6-8 degrees before top dead centre.  Minimum clearance on the intake valve should be 0.080" or more and for the exhaust side 0.100" or more.  My numbers are well within safe limits.

Next I decided to see what clearance numbers I get using the clay method.  I won't be needing to have the light weight checking springs on the number 1 valves anymore so I first swapped the regular springs back into the head.

Below I have my valve spring compressor set up.

The valve is compressed to insert the two valve retainers in

Below are the two valve spring retainers

Valve spring installed

To perform the clay method of checking piston to valve clearance the head gasket needs to be used also to get a accurate value. 

A chunk of modeling clay was placed on the #1 piston, enough to cover the whole span of the piston where the intake and exhaust valves are.

The cylinder head was then placed on the block and just snugged down. 

The valve train for the #1 cylinder are setup again.   Once again using the lifters that I made into solid lifters.  The engine was then turned over a few times, enough that the intake and exhaust valve open a couple times.

Everything is then taken off again.  Below the intake and exhaust valve indentations in the clay can be seen.

Carefully using an x-acto knife I cut each indentation in half.  I then used my calipers to measure each indentation at it's thinest points.