Fire in the Hole? breakin ?? (long)

[LameHoof65]

I have read a lot of information on this forum of how imperative it is that you get that new cam broke in right. With that being said, it has also come to my attention that spending too much time trying to get the engine to turn over on initial startup can do untold harm to that new cam. This alone begs the question----what's the best and most likely setup regarding carburation, distributor and timing that will most likely get you fired up on the first, second or heaven forbid the third turn of the key?

I have a 5200, a 2300/500 and of course my old autolite 1100 sitting in the garage. I also have the duraspark setup and the old centrifugal-vacuum advance/points distributor. Now I know that old distributor works and I am pretty sure the 2300/500 works...Wouldn't bet on the 5200 I rebuilt as it was my first ever rebuild....though I was definitely meticulous about doing exactly as the instructions delineated---I have been known to make a mistake or two.

My 2300/500 was built by a guy I don't even know---it appears to be in great working order and looks clean as a whistle. From what the guy told me it was built with a brass float, 70 mains and a 6.5 power valve, it has a manual choke.

The 5200 has the heat choke, and what ever is stock for the mains and power valve on a 71 pinto 4 cylinder engine---I just cleaned them and stuck them back in.

Now, I also have the duraspark II and module, however they are both used, I cleaned them up and inspected them for rust and slack/play in the shaft and there is none and no missing teeth.

My thoughts are go with the old distributor and the H/W 5200 on start up and breakin. Anyone have other opinions, ideas or suggestions.??

Don't get me wrong, I still have things to do before I get to this point, it's just that I don't like to wait until the last minute and not have any idea of how I am going to tackle this.

 

[addo]

Definitely the points dizzy and coil to suit. Remember your ballast resistor... Don't need a mega plug gap, either.

Can you borrow a running carb? As in, get a friend to drive over, bolt their carb on your car to break in, and put it back for them an hour later? Throttle linkages and stuff like that don't matter. Or even, an adaptor plate and a single barrel carb - again, driven to you that day.

 

[WhitePony]

I echo your exact concerns. I'll have a rebuilt 5200 from Stovebolt and a DSII, PLUS an MSD6AL. My problem is that I don't really have any other setup to go to. The original engine had the smaller diameter carb mount, so I can't mount the original carb on the D8 head, and I certainly don't want to try to mount an old load-o-matic dizzy. I'm just hoping everything fires. I wonder how much damage can you do to the new cam if it doesn't want to fire up properly? I'm hoping to cut that possibility down a bit by spinning the oil pump and then stabbing the dizzy right before trying to fire it up.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go with the points distro and the 500 cfm Holley. Forget the 5200 because there has been way to many tuning issues that Ive seen on the forum to trust having it right on the initial fire up!

Later,

Doug

 

[LameHoof65]

Really, even though I don't have headers yet....don't think that single exhaust will choke it off? I would rather use the 500 but I thought the breathability and expenditure of exhaust might cause some problems?

 

[Anonymous]

Single exhaust and stock manifold shouldnt hurt it at all IMO. They will only become a factor in the higher RPM range.

Headers and dual exhaust will give you more horse power but it wont stop it from running well the way it is now.

Later,

Doug

 

[wsa111]

Darwin, like Doug said, use a combo which will cause the engine to lite off without a lot of adjusting.

If you have your act together when you turn the key it should start & keep it at 2500-3000 rpms for at least 15 minuites.

Doing this will prevent premature camshaft wear.

Just do the best you can, if you had a combination with 120-150 seat pressure it is imperative, but if below 100# of seat pressure its not to critical.

Rather be safe than sorry, nothing worse than a wiped cam.

Make sure you have moly lube on the camshaft lobes & lifter contact surfaces. William

 

[Lazy JW]

Is the Autolite 1100 in good shape? If so, I would use it. It will definitely flow enough to run the engine at high idle/no load for the cam breakin. I also vote for the points distributor, just make sure it has fresh points properly adjusted. You can pre-set the timing close enough to start it and check for spark, both without cranking the engine. Then get some fuel pressure to the carb. An outboard motor fuel tank works well for this if you have one handy, or an electric fuel pump. Whatever, just don't rely on cranking a mechanical fuel pump to fill the carb.
Good luck,
Joe

 

[LameHoof65]

The autolite was fine 2 years ago when I stuck it on the shelf.....but I am sure it needs a rebuild now. It would be great to start off with, because I could just hook it up with the linkage and such.

I am leaning toward the Holley 2300 now, I don't think the 1100 will do very well after such a long shelf life...So I have been looking at a cable choke setup to go with my throttle cable ideas. Is there anyway to set up the choke with the throttle hookup? I can run the choke cable and put it up under my dash....but it would be cool if I could activate it with my throttle---has anyone done that sort of hookup :