13611

It's been a while since I've started and broke-in a new engine. That being said, my online search was a bit overwhelming! There's a lot of products out there. I'll be breaking in the rebuilt original 327. It has a flat tappet cam. I know I need zinc, but that's about it. What's tried and true around here as far as brand and viscosity? Thanks in advance!!! Matter of fact... all my systems are dry and will need to be filled. So, can I please get recommendations for the TH400 and original rear with posi?

doorgunner

Rookie here/can't give advice.......

wait for the experts to reply so everything will go well!

bashcraft

Brad Penn makes an oil specifically for engine break in with flat tappet cams.

http://www.penngrade1.com/Products/H...ak-In-Oil.aspx

jnb5101

Comp Cams sells a break-in oil.

AzMotorhead

If youre running a Comp Cam. Use their break in oil.
I've spoken with a couple of engine builders and they both said the same thing about Joe Gibbs BIO. They changed something in their formula and it caused a couple of cam failures, so use that at your own risk.
No matter what I'm using I always dump in a bottle of GM EOS Engine Oil Supplement on a new build

redcruz1120

After going around and around on the subject a few months ago I settled on Royal purple Break In Oil. A Parts house guy told me Royal Purple was over rated after I poured it in.after thinking about it a few minutes I thought to myself I would rather used a over rated product as opposed to under rated materials on my new $ ZZ5! I primed the engine before it was started and you could feel the viscosity at the drill. My TH400 took 11 and a half quarts to fill. I poured 4 quarts before starting and the rest right after starting the engine!... Good luck!!!

DUB

Check this out if you have not already.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-data-13.html

Look at page 243 and make your own decision.

I personally and professionally use AMSOIL break in oil and automatic transmission fluid.

DUB

lowbuck72

Regardless of what oil you choose ( I use a 30 weight non detergent), I am assuming you know how to spin the distributor shaft to prime the system, crank the engine with the coil disconnected to build up oil pressure, and run the engine at 2000 rpm for 20 minutes to anneal the cam and lifters.

13611

All good info gentlemen. And that link DUB... geez... talk about information overload!!! Good stuff, thank you.

Mark_Milner

I'll assume you have a new cam with lifters. If so, you have the cam lube on the cam lobes, correct?

Depending on the clearances (loose, tight, etc. build), I've run a oil weight to match. 5w20 for tight, 10w40 for very loose (.004 or more)

I get the cheapest oil I can in that weight. It is only going to run for 30 minutes to an hour and be thrown away. Oil is oil for that much time.

Run 30 minutes or per cam instructions (can be 20 minutes to 45 minutes at 1500 to 3000 rpm, depending on manufacturer).

Pull filter, cut it open, inspect.

Install new filter, run another 30 minutes of various lower speeds.

Dump oil and cut open filter again to inspect.

Put in regular oil with the name you normally use. Drive it 500 miles of various engine speeds, upshifting, downshifting, nothing hard but just varied. Try to match downshifting time with upshifting time.

Change oil and filter. Cut and inspect filter again.

Run this oil your regular change distance.

DUB

I feel like I am wandering into mine field on this one....but I will keep walking anyway.

So...you are basically saying that the oil you use to break in a new cam does not matter at all...and just put in whatever you can get your hands on???

And why not buy a oil filter that you can service and never have to buy another filter again.

http://gopurepower.com/

DUB

Procrastination Racing

Pretty much the same way we did all our race engines. Notice he said cam lube at top. You smear it with the heavy molylube and the cam rides on that to begin with.

Often I'd run the cheapest filter I could find to break in the cam. It is going to fill with molylube, junk, gasket sealer, and more. This still held true in engines we would wash with bottle brushes and Ivory Liquid AFTER they had been hot tanked.

The 427 ripped the center out of a new L88 clutch and we ran a triple disc racing clutch to hold it and pushed the car to 190. It wasn't some mild backyard build.

The 302 would run all day at 8000 and I could shift at 9500 if I wanted but I just had a hard time getting my head around that speed in a small block.

lowbuck72

I don't know if it's true or not, but when I first learned how to build engines, I was taught to use non-detergent oil for the first hundred miles. Something about the detergents and additives were not conducive for new bearings and seating the rings, cam too, I guess. Been doing it that way for the past 35 + years, and only had one failure, because one time I cheaped out and used some reground lifters, (never again).

bashcraft

I'm confused. Are you saying there's something wrong with these filters?

Street Rat

I used Brad Penn 30w break-in oil. Changed the oil and filter after the initial start up/30 minute break-in period. Then changed oil and filter at 500 mile mark again. This time I used the 10w-30 Brad Penn semi-synthetic oil. I'm using a hydraulic roller cam by Howards and K&N filters.

REELAV8R

I never have used a break in oil.
Didn't know there was such a thing until recently when I rebuilt my 350. Still used regular oil for break in. Changed it. Ran 500 miles changed it again then regular intervals. Also used cheaper, coarser media, filters.
Found this oil at Walmart if zinc is a concern.

DUB

NO...I never wrote that....how did you deduce that out of what I wrote???

I wrote: "And why not buy an oil filter that you can service and never have to buy another filter again."

It was referring to all of the cutting open of oil filers for inspection that I commented on.

There is nothing wrong with these filters in my opinion. They are re-usable...and filter more consistently than a paper filter that if you plan on cutting open to inspect oil filters often. Magnets inside to catch metal particles....something worth looking into if you feel you want a change in filtration.


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Procrastination Racing & REELAV8R,

Not judging either of you by any means. Heck...if you are using what ever you can get your hands on and it is working I am truly glad. I guess... how can you know if something will work or fail unless you try it. I guess that I read too much...and know guys in NASCAR and top end machinists who build engines and talk with them. So...I must say that I am a victim of being made to be paranoid of making sure correct oils are used so I do not conflict with an engine warranty.

DUB

REELAV8R

As a businessman Dub I don't think you have the luxury of experimentation. You have costumers to build/work for.
I wouldn't have it any other way. If I wanted someone to build an engine for me I would expect him to use whatever precautions he deemed necessary to insure a successful outcome.
I have the flexability of experimentation due to it's being my own stuff that I'm messing with. If it fails then it's my own fault.

DUB

and thanks for the reply.....BUT....your success does kinda 'throw a stick' into the information that is out there....so you hopefully can see how I have to 'wonder'......is it all 'smoke and mirrors'???

I have seen lobes wiped off of a cam with flat tappet lifters....and I know what I do when I have to do to break-in an engine with valve springs with SERIOUS spring/seat pressure....but....it still makes me stop and think.

And yes...the 'laws of probability' can come into effect at any time.

DUB

Procrastination Racing

You pretty much have to go with the known good thing.


However, a couple of things.

First, most engines were built using cam molylube and then regular oil tossed after 30 minutes from the'90s back. Few used a break in oil Break in oil was an old myth from the term used as simply the first throw away oil used in a new engine. Now in the '60s and back, some manufacturers did use a break in oil to break in and seat the rings. Usually it was a required 500 mile oil change.

Second, zinc levels in oil has changed a lot in the last 10 years. It is possible that regular oil may not be sufficient. So we go back to what the cam manufacturer recommends. If he says water, we use water. If he says Bill Hayes lawn mower two stroke oil in the orange bottle only, then that is what we would use. After all, if you want the cam to work, and for the manufacturer to pay if it doesn't, you have to follow his instructions exactly.







In all fairness, the last 10 years, zinc levels in oil, all oil, has dropped a lot. Would the cheap Walmart oil for the 30 minute cam break-in work? I can't really say. I would assume the molylube from the cam manufacturer would be sufficient, BUT it would depend on what the cam manufacturer said to do for break in procedure.



The worse thing about reading too much is that EVERYONE writes something now. "If it is on the Internet, it must be true."

And everyone believes it if it is printed. I once tried to get a shop to cut a set of heads in a manner I wanted. Their expertise said it was all wrong. It didn't matter to me, it was an experiment, based on good research, and they were the only shop with equipment that would do it.

In frustration, I created a fake page in a fake book about head design and angle cutting and put in what I wanted. I printed that page and brought it to them. Once they saw it in print, they knew it must be "right" so then they did it. Until then, I was an idiot. After that, I was just following the "experts".

And the heads worked almost as well as I thought. But they were a lot of work to do that way, and too many really good designs have come along since to ever do that again.

And I have found a lot of really good engine and race guys who have drastically different ideas on what works and what doesn't. Yet they all seem to get the job done.

Like the old days when high nickel blocks were harder to find. A trick in South Florida was to run a chain through the block, drop it into the brackish water, let it rust really well. Then machine it as the rust harden the cylinder wall surface. Many builders swore by it, others swore at it.

Of course, many said those complaining about cutting rusted blocks were complaining because the rust ate up their bits faster and so they had to replace them more often which wasn't cheap.

I knew a couple of offshore boat engine builders who did just that and they had customers who could not afford to have an engine quit on them out at sea.