oil for camshaft break in

Status
Not open for further replies.
I got the new cam and lifters installed last night. I generously slathered the lobes with the paste provided with the cam and then coated the bottoms of the lifters with paste before sliding them in the bores. Should be no lack of lube at start up.

I thought I'd post up some engine porn. This engine is very clean, which is why I bought it. Low mileage and well maintained.

I'm really thinking I'll just get some supertech 30wt or 15w40 and a bottle of break in additive and use that to run it in. Change the filter after the first 20 min, and then change the whole works before winter.

It is coming along.






 
Last edited:
You could have put a roller cam in that engine with all very reasonably priced factory parts. Then cam break in would have been a non issue. Better power too.
 
I seriously considered putting a roller cam in, but I dont see a single roller cam under $250 That is worth buying. Then I'd have to get the roller tappets which aren't exactly cheap either.

Your definition of "reasonable" and mine might differ greatly. I backed out of getting the cam I really wanted because it Was going to be $350 for the cam, direct lube lifters and springs. I settled for this one based on price and in stock availability. This combo was less than $200 for everything, but is probably not quite the quality in would have gotten with the Howards.
 
Wow. You're right. I just looked up Comp Cams rollers for that kind of block. They're 316 dollars.

Going back 30 plus years when I was a nineteen year old marine mechanic, those roller small blocks were brand new. The shop I worked in was a big Mercruiser warranty place. We rebuilt those engines by the truckload. They seemed like a dime a dozen.
My brother and I both have hot rods, both with roller valvetrains. The prices for performance cams are pretty crazy but in the grand scheme it's all part of it. No way I'd do a performance engine with a flat tappet any more.

The last flat tappet engine I built for myself was also a 305 chevy that I put in an 80 Firebird to replace the blown up 301 Pontiac. I used a Comp Cams 262. Worked awesome. I had a 700R4 behind it and 355 gears in the rear. Drove that car everywhere and got respectable mileage.
 
Last edited:
I think if I were putting this in a car, I might have chosen something in that 218 @0.050" range. I hear a lot of people happy with that kind of cam in the f body cars.

I was afraid to go that big in the truck. The gears are an unknown, and I need this to be making good torque right off idle. I'm hoping I've got one that will work well for what I nees so I don't have to bury my foot in the carb to push into the snow pile every time.

Desktop dyno says I should be making 300+ ft lbs from 2000 rpm up to over 3500 and about 250hp around 4000 rpm. Might be a little optimistic, but the torque curve is really flat and that's what I'm really going after with the upgrade.

We will see....
 
This is a 305, right? Desktop Dyno is a little optimistic. Should be fine though.

What's it got for induction?
 
Originally Posted By: meborder
I think if I were putting this in a car, I might have chosen something in that 218 @0.050" range. I hear a lot of people happy with that kind of cam in the f body cars.

I was afraid to go that big in the truck. The gears are an unknown, and I need this to be making good torque right off idle. I'm hoping I've got one that will work well for what I nees so I don't have to bury my foot in the carb to push into the snow pile every time.

Desktop dyno says I should be making 300+ ft lbs from 2000 rpm up to over 3500 and about 250hp around 4000 rpm. Might be a little optimistic, but the torque curve is really flat and that's what I'm really going after with the upgrade.

We will see....


Normally in these applications I run a Melling or equivalent "RV" cam, Melling part number MTC-1 that is 204/214 @ 0.050 I've never ever had any of my customers who didn't absolutely love that camshaft in their SBC in anything from a mild street car allthe way up to dump trucks and motor homes. Your cam is very very similar and provided the lower end is sound you should be very pleased.

The 305 gets a bad reputation for being lame but it really is a good engine. Same stroke as the 350 at 3.48" which helps with low end torque production. The same port design in your high swirl heads was used in the 350 and your smaller displacement is a benefit here as those heads are really restrictive above 4500 RPM.

If you're in the market for another engine in the future a take out 350 Vortec is a really nice engine. You can either keep the roller cam it came with and live without the ability to run a mechanical fuel pump (if the block is even drilled for it) convert back to flat tappet or add a roller cam with a fuel pump lobe. A Vortec headed 350 with even a very mild hydraulic flat tappet or roller camshaft can easily make 350hp or in a mild truck configuration about 300hp.

I just watched an all stock 350 with your heads on the Dyno this week. Rebuilt with stock heads, cast pistons, cast crank, stock rods, 650 vacuum secondary carb on a low rise aluminum intake, HEI ignition, 1 5/8" headers. Not to be a party pooper but it only made 235 HP at 4000 & 335 TQ at 3200. However there is a silver lining. It made 320 TQ at 2200 and was over 300 all the way to 4200 RPM. Granted it did have the stock 194 @ 0.050 camshaft. So I think your HP guess is a little strong but you're spot on for your torque expectations.

For reference the exact same engine with a hydraulic flat tappet Comp 230/230 @ 0.050 0.480/0.480" lift a pair of Vortec heads with a high rise duel plane intake and a more performance oriented mechanical secondary carb. The short block remained bone stock. With the heads cam and intake swap the engine made 365 HP @ 5600 & 397 TQ @4000, torque remained above 320 even at 2500 RPM and was over 350 from 3150-5250 RPM. With a smaller camshaft the HP would be down some but you could still have a killer truck engine with BRUTAL torque. The key to all that goodness is the Vortec heads. They're really really good!

Good luck with your swap. Anxious to hear how it runs for you!
 
I find it interesting the specs on your RV cam. Those are the exact durations that Howard's recommended. The biggest difference between that one and the summit cam is the lone separation and lift. The Howard's was a 114 LSA and the summit is a 110 LSA. The summit has quite a bit more lift though, and I think the lift and tighter LSA will be good for what I need. I toyed with the idea of installing 1.6 rockers to get the lift closer to 0.5", but decided I was running out of money to throw at this.


I'm doing it as right as I can. It will have a standard height dual plane with the stock quadrajet. I ordered a summit branded HEI, the cam lifters and springs, and It will exhale through full length flowtech headers and true duals with thrush welded mufflers.

My expectations are pretty reasonable with this motor. So long as it doesn't stink worse than the 350 I'm pulling out I'll be happy. That said, the 350 set the bar plenty low since it pretty pathetic. Going up hill at 55mph with your foot to the floor and loosing speed was pretty common with the plow mounted.

I'll keep updating as I go. Especially once if gets time to run it in for the first time.
 
If you ever need to get your Quadrajet rebuilt I HIGHLY recommend SMI Carburetor they have built a half dozen for me over the years and they're fantastic. In use in everything from a 350 & 454 powered motor home to a pickup truck and a drag car. My most recent purchase was for my 454 going into my 1976 K10. A good running Quadrajet is as close to fuel injection as it gets in a carb.
 
Thanks for the tip on the carburetor. Hopefully I'll never need to touch it. The truck always starts and runs really well no matter the temp, so I decided to keep it rather than replace it. The only thing I have to change is the heated choke. The new manifold doesn't have an exhaust crossover so I have to change to an electric choke. I'm kinda wishing I would have gotten the edelbrock intake now. I saved $100 Going with the summit intake, but the edelbrock had the provision for the heated choke and the rear water crossover. With this being a cold weather warrior, those features would have been nice.

Side question....

I changed the valve springs and stem seals on #1 Last night. Is there any reason I can't use the positive seals on the exhaust valve? My springs came with 16 vitrion positive seals, but the felpro kit came with 8 vitrion seals for the intake and 8 "plastic" seals for the exhaust.

Any reason to use the plastic ones instead of the rubber ones?
 
Originally Posted By: meborder
Thanks for the tip on the carburetor. Hopefully I'll never need to touch it. The truck always starts and runs really well no matter the temp, so I decided to keep it rather than replace it. The only thing I have to change is the heated choke. The new manifold doesn't have an exhaust crossover so I have to change to an electric choke. I'm kinda wishing I would have gotten the edelbrock intake now. I saved $100 Going with the summit intake, but the edelbrock had the provision for the heated choke and the rear water crossover. With this being a cold weather warrior, those features would have been nice.

Side question....

I changed the valve springs and stem seals on #1 Last night. Is there any reason I can't use the positive seals on the exhaust valve? My springs came with 16 vitrion positive seals, but the felpro kit came with 8 vitrion seals for the intake and 8 "plastic" seals for the exhaust.

Any reason to use the plastic ones instead of the rubber ones?


So long as the guides are machined for positive seals on the exhaust you can install them on both intake and exhaust. I've done it on hundreds of heads that weren't so equipped from the factory.
 
Got it all put together except for the fuel pump and thermostat housing. I had to buy a new fuel pump mounting plate since the 305 had just a block off plate and the bolts are too short to mount the fuel pump. But the bolts for the fuel pump block off plate will work for the thermostat.

So, cam is in, new springs retainers and locks are in, new timing chain, intake, and distributor are on and it is just about ready to go in the truck. I've got the distributor sitting on #1 and the crank sitting on 12* BTDC verified on the compression stroke.

As a side note, the new cam had me confused for a time. For some reason the dowel pin on the cam is 180* from where it should be. When the #1 is at TDC, the timing dot is at the top rather than the bottom like it should be. I checked and double checked once I saw what was going on and it is just 180* out of phase. In the end it doesn't matter, so long as you catch it and make sure that the #1 isn't TCD on the wrong stroke. Had I not noticed it, my valves wouldn't have been adjusted correctly and it would have been backfiring like crazy when I tried to start it, so I'm glad I noticed it.

I kinda franken-brewed the first oil change. I've got one gallon of supertech 15w40, a bottle of comp cams zinc additive and a quart of trop artic 10w30 to top it off. Got a Napa gold filter on board as well. Borrowed a tool to prime the oil system and got it circulated for the first time here tonight.

About the only thing left to get is the electric choke conversion for the carb. It is starting to look like a real engine. Getting anxious. I've got my wife's cousin lined up to help me swap engines sometime in the next couple weeks. He works on the family farm and they have everything under the sun and he likes doing that kind of stuf, so I'm hoping for a 1 day deal to get it swapped and broken in, then I can haul it back home and tinker with it from there as needed.


 
Last edited:
OP,

Just so you know, your cam isn't wrong. That's how they are in a Chevrolet. When you line it up dot to dot that is NOT TDC compression stroke. When they are on TDC compression the cam dot is at 12 o'clock and the crank gear dot is also at 12 o'clock. Nothing is wrong here, that's just how they are.

Can't wait to hear an update on how it runs!
 
Still no real progress. Engine is ready to go in but waiting for the stars to align to get it up to the farm and get it in. This weekend would have worked, but we decided to go camping at the last minute and the weather is nice enough to put some more roofing on the barn. Too many irons in the fire.

I did get my electric choke conversion kit and new air cleaner delivered. I have to figure out how the choke it works since there aren't any instructions they came with it. And I did mount the new air cleaner on the truck to make sure it clears all the linkages ect. The base plate of the new cleaner does have a knock out for a PCV breather, so I'm going to try and figure out a fitting that will let me use that rather than the cheapie Mr. Gasket breather I bought. But the cheapie one will get me by until I get the other figured out.

I'll get a video of it on YouTube as soon as I get it installed and breathing fire.
 
IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

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

My wife's cousin finally had time to let me use the farm's shop and helped me with the heart transplant. The video above was taken immediately after running it at high rpm to break in the cam/lifters. Ran it for 15 minutes at wat sounded like 2000-3000 rpm varying the speed a bit from time to time.

so far i'm happy with the way it feels. I was afraid that the cam i put in was going to be too big and might have a choppy idle as some of the videos i watched with the summit 1102 cam had a bit of a choppy idle. My fear was making my plow truck soggy on the bottom where i need it the most. i think the difference here, though, is the extra 10 degrees of exhaust duration on the 1102 vs the 1787 which is a single pattern. It idles smooth and feels good right when you tip in.

road test went well (except locking up the rear brakes as i approached the intersection! - came in a little hotter than i should have)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_4Bu4Oqgug

it pulls through all 4 gears smooth and got up to speed at least as good as the 350 i pulled out. Judging by the feel of the motor, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two, which makes me feel good about upgrading the camshaft to something with more duration and a ton more lift.

Thank you to all who contributed and helped me out through this process. i'm sure you all thought i had forgotten about this thread, but it just took me that long to get help lined up to get it done.

As you'll notice in the attached pictures, i got cold feet with my home-brew oil for break in. before we started it up, i drained the crankcase and refilled it with Amsoil Break-in oil. I just couldn't stand the though of wiping out a cam and thinking that i could have done something different to prevent it. I think everything is good and it seems to run well. I've got some carburetor issues i have to sort out with the new manifold not having a provision for the divorced choke and no way to easily convert it to electric, but i'll handle those in the coming months. For now, though, i think i'm back to "good enough for me" and i can use the dang thing to move some snow.









 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

redhat
Breaking in re-built LS, break-in oil, rings seating, misc. questions
Replies
10
Views
2K
wpod
C
Camshaft and crankshaft sensors
2 3
Replies
40
Views
2K
swampdodo
JHZR2
Lifter replacement
2
Replies
20
Views
1K
Sam_Julier
A
What octane gas for this Japanese kei car?
Replies
7
Views
390
Number_35
E
Preparing new engine parts for installation
Replies
11
Views
928
vpr5703
Back
Top