Well tommorrow morning first thing I am off to the parts store to get 2 BRAND NEW L31 Vortec heads and a Eldelbrock Air Gap Vortec Performer intake, then while I am at work, my dad will be putting the rest of the engine togather. One thing i didn't thing about, valve covers, the ones I bought won't work. So gotta take em back and drop an extra 50 bucks to get center bolt valve covers. I sure hope this elkie is grateful for all the time and money spent on it. Might check into filing it on my tax return as a dependant. I am actually shocked how when i got the car, everyone looked away as it came by and had no comments, month later, slap some nice wheels on, flowmasters, and a hood scoop, "hey nice car". And it still need body work, paint job, rear-end, interior.....man, might file bankrupcy. Can't wait to get the engine in, starting Wednesday night, hope to fire and drive it Thursday night.

So, When breaking in an engine like I have manage to put togather, best way to do so? Miles, driving conditions, what is the best way to break it in proper?

How I did both my Camaro and the new motor in my Elky is:

1. First 500 miles kept it below 3500rpm. Changed the oil after 500 miles and looked at the oil plug (magnetic) for metal. Some metal is normal I just looked for an excess amount.

2. After the first 500 miles I'll start increasing the rpm at different times higher and higher until I'm going to wide open throttle and shifting at high rpm. During this time I'm listen for anything that doesn't sound right.

3. Second oil change at 3000 miles.

Might be overkill but my Camaro has 49k miles on it and still runs great.

You may want to have the engine oil analyzed after each oil change. It'll tell you if there is abnormal bearing wear or other contaminants in your new engine. It's good insurance. Autozone used to sell a test kit for around $20. Fill the small bottle with old oil and send it away in a pre-paid mailer. The results come back in a few weeks.

:mrgreen:

Autozone used to sell a test kit for around $20

The test kit is made by http://www.titancheckup.com/

I found an old report from a sample I had sent them. They check the oil for the following: Water, Fuel, Anti-freeze, Chromium, Copper, Iron, Lead, Tin, Aluminum, and Silicon.

I think oil testing is a good practice to follow for peace of mind when breaking in a new engine.

:mrgreen:

* Get a can of GM EOS and add it to the oil before you do the first start up.
* Be sure to pre-lube the engine with an oil pump primer for a few minutes- long enough to pump oil throughout the engine.
* Run it for the full 20mins above 2k rpm to break in the cam
* Change the oil
* Drive it nice for about 100 miles or so- vary the rpms
* Change the oil again
* Then Drive it like you want to drive it.

Thats what I do anyway....

I would be interested to hear from someone about how brand new engines in new cars are "broken" in... Does the factory do something like this before the car leaves the plant for the initial startup/oil change?

If you think about it- most new cars get hammered on just test driving them- with as few as 10-50 miles on them. People buy them brand new and start hammering on them too- and most cars don't see any problems with that... Would be interesting to know what they do with the initail startups/oil changes

Anyway, hope this helps!.....