The 283 Rebuild Begins

[joe231]

[jason65]

It might take you 15-20 mins to try both. Not a big deal Mac.

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by jason65

It might take you 15-20 mins to try both. Not a big deal Mac.

I'm out on the front of the house in the driveway - in front of an open garage door - which translates to B.T. Barnum's "Greatest Show on Earth" for the neighbors, which makes 15-20 minutes two hours in 'Mac Time.'

If I knew I was going to be so fascinating to those who just want to stop by an "help", I'd have had AAA return the truck to the back of the RV pad for the final start up routine.

Mac.

[4dranch]

[protrash64]

As much drama as Ive seen on here, I think I should get a front row ticket and a couple complimentary adult beverages......

[MacAttack]

[MacAttack]

:devil:SHE LIVES!!!:devil:

Nearly lost my thumb in the radiator fan (slipped off the shroud - and don't asked me how that happened), but the 283 runs - perfectly.

Well, almost. Had to stop 4.3 minutes into the break-in due to coolant coming out of the catch bottle.Don't know what the Hell that's about - but from the sound of the engine (via the brand new exhaust system) it's probably not anything major.

Tried to get the cap off without getting splattered - no chance. The dash gauge (temp) obviously is not working - as it stayed at zero. The gauge in the cap went to about 150 when running and 200 after shut down and the puking of coolant stopped.

Oil pressure was a steady 60 pounds throughout the run time and the engine sounded just like it should - with no clatter or anything weird.

I'm going to go buy a cheapo set of gauges to finish the break-in and get her off to the tranny guy next weekend.

I'm going to lose my right thumb nail and a lot of skin - but it's still worth it.

Mac.

[protrash64]

Nice job Mac.... Im sure the coolant issue is just over fill if everything was looking good. Hope the thumb stays attached.

[sidthirteen]

Alright Mac!!!

[padresag]

glad to see that you got it going. who are they all going to bug now that it is running
ron

[daverod]

Way to go. I bet your happy.

[joe231]

Originally Posted by MacAttack

:devil:SHE LIVES!!!:devil:

Nearly lost my thumb in the radiator fan (slipped off the shroud - and don't asked me how that happened), but the 283 runs - perfectly.

Well, almost. Had to stop 4.3 minutes into the break-in due to coolant coming out of the catch bottle.Don't know what the Hell that's about - but from the sound of the engine (via the brand new exhaust system) it's probably not anything major.

Tried to get the cap off without getting splattered - no chance. The dash gauge (temp) obviously is not working - as it stayed at zero. The gauge in the cap went to about 150 when running and 200 after shut down and the puking of coolant stopped.

Oil pressure was a steady 60 pounds throughout the run time and the engine sounded just like it should - with no clatter or anything weird.

I'm going to go buy a cheapo set of gauges to finish the break-in and get her off to the tranny guy next weekend.

I'm going to lose my right thumb nail and a lot of skin - but it's still worth it.

Mac.

Sweet!!

so why wouldn't it start before?

will stopping before total break-in adversely effect the cam and lifters?

Originally Posted by padresag

glad to see that you got it going. who are they all going to bug now that it is running
ron

We still don't have pics

[daverod]

I want a video or somthing with a sound track. You're so good at posting stuff I'm sure you could pull it off. It does'nt even have to be your engine just any 283.

[Desert1957]

[ol Curt]

[QUOTE=joe231;3358570]Sweet!!

so why wouldn't it start before?

will stopping before total break-in adversely effect the cam and lifters?


Without pics or a video, I'm going to assume you are just having a nice dream.

[daverod]

Dreaming If you are dreaming beware of the wetness.

[ol Curt]

Originally Posted by daverod

Dreaming If you are dreaming beware of the wetness.

[4dranch]

Nice Mac,
Glad everything worked out
And glad no humans were injured in the drama..

[1964C10]

Mac, nice job!! As far as coolant coming out of the catch bottle, get that checked out thoroughly one of the ways that can happen (you didn't eloborate on how much etc) is if your head gasket is leaking and blowing it into the water, if the leak is small enough you might not notice it in performance but it will cause it to bubble and eventually boil. Been there done that but of course on an old engine not new like yours As said above, video........... lol

[jason65]

Great news Mac. The coolant was probaly nothing but it beeing to full and an air bubble. A fresh rebuild will build extra heat cause the tolarances are so close any way. I'm happy for you. What did you do with your timing?

[jchav62]

Finally! That's great news! I'm with the other guys, there was probably just an air bubble in the coolant system. Happens all the time with a new engine. If you had a temp gauge, you would notice it fluctuating too. Since it already spewed a little, the bubble is mostly likely out of the system.

[padresag]

when it is running next you may want to just bleed off the heater whih will get the air out of the system (providing your heater is hooked up). with the heater control valve open, disconnect the upper most heater hhose at the firewall until fluid is running out continually
ron

[MacAttack]

Thanks for all of the encouragement guys.

I have a tendency to over focus when doing stuff like this and I ended up doing the 180 degrees off routine, pulling all the wires off the cap, getting the cap off the motor (the 4th screw in back - at the firewall was a read SOB, both coming off and going back on), taking #1’s wire and plug off the engine,
cranking the motor around until it blew my thumb out of the hole (this is when I still had a right thumb), the pulley read TDC so I didn’t press my luck and the rotor was pointing at the firewall - toward where the passenger sets.

Then, just to be dramatic - and because all the ignition wires were loomed in, with custom ties and loops bolted in at the back of the block, I set up my little Coleman jumper battery - with a hot lead - and one by one - went through all the wires in sequence, according to the numbers on the intake manifold.

#1 wire was just left of center (looking from the front of the truck to the back) and around I went until we were ready to light her off. Cranked for a couple of seconds and then noticed the hot lead for the distributor was clipped to the "-" pole of the battery. Again - over focused on the wire issue.

Put it on the plus side and while leaning way out over the driver’s side fender - worked the two barrel to choke and give the engine some fuel.

Hit it again and it exploded to life - scaring the living crap out of both me and the boy. While trying to hit the choke mechanism my hand somehow flew forward and the ol’ thumb went right into that spinning fan. I think - it was all a blur. Once the engine speed was down from shutting off the choke - it stalled.

We got the first aid kit out and wrapped some gauze and blue masking tape around the thumb and tried it again. She lit instantly and I watched the hand held gauge until I got her up to 2,200 RPM. That lasted for about four and a half minutes before the radiator cap seemed to snap open and the coolant rushed down the exit pipe. I can remember thinking, "This isn’t going to be good" and a few seconds later the catch bottle was full and over flowing.

I have not a clue why it did that - other than (hopefully) it had to "burp" itself.

Did you know you actually have to put the key in the truck before the stock gauge will register? I’d concentrated on the ignition wire so much that I forgot to put the key in the dash and actually turn it on. (Dope) I was using a remote switch on the starter - so I didn’t even stop to think about the electrically driven temperature gage.

Oh the drama.

And on the question of whether or not it harms the cam and lifters to run only five minutes: Academic. I couldn’t see continuing to blow coolant all over the place and the block possibly over heating.

May be a mistake - but it’s too late to worry about it now.

Besides - my thumb is killing me.

[jason65]

Good to get that reward of hearing it run for all your hard work. I hope you got a pic of the thumb.

[jgh64pkup]

im pretty sure but dont quote me on this
the cam needs a 20 minute break in at 2000 rpms before any load is put on it
in my case it would be trying to launch my truck in the carport