“It’s A Christmas Miracle!”
That’s what the kids kept saying. Today was the first startup of the new 455. The first attempt was foiled by a low battery. In the second attempt the timing was off 180 degrees. After charging and timing, the engine started immediately and with a vengeance. Open headers with 3 in collectors brought the neighbors out (literally). Thanks Joe for building a good engine (So Far)!
For posterity, here’s the highlights:
- The engine has already been run about 30 minutes by the original builder to break in the cam. This was about a year ago though.
- Primed the oil pump with a drill prior to starting. Oil pressure read ~50 psi while priming. Primed for about 30 seconds.
- New Lunati 5w30 break in oil and a new Bosch filter.
- All new fluids (Coolant, PS, Trans)
- 11 degrees initial advance at idle. I’ll dial in the timing curve later.
- ~50 psi oil pressure at idle, ~75 at higher rpm.
- ~16-20 inHg of vacuum at idle with no vacuum users hooked up (brakes, distributor, etc).
- RPMs were varied between ~800 and 2k.
- Ran the engine long enough to time and bring up to temp. Coolant temp opened the thermostat. About 5 minutes total so far.
Everything seemed to be spot on! Enjoy the video! It’s not the best quality, but a smart phone is what I had.
Tomorrow the front end goes back on!
LEFTLANEBRAIN