Newly built 6 years ago. First time starting?

[Patman]

I had a vortec 383 built about 6 years ago for my 85 k10. It’s been sitting in a clean dry place since then. No oil in it.

I’m installing this engine into my 79K 20 with a 400 that I’m tired of chasing issues with. I’ve looked in the cylinders of the 383 as best I can without pulling the heads and they look very clean and bright. I’ve squirted a little WD-40 into each cylinder to prep it to turn it over. I’ll let it sit over night before I do much cranking in it.

I pulled the valve covers and noticed some spots of rust on the springs. I’m under the impression (from what I’ve read in other forums) that I need to change the springs as rust will cause eventual cracking on the rusted areas of the springs.

Other than addressing the springs, priming the oil pump well and properly and maybe priming the carb a bit. Cranking it over a few times before starting it. Other than that, am I missing anything?

I’m tempted to pull the intake just to verify the cam is well lubed well before breakin.

Anyways, any advice yall could give would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[PrairieDrifter]

I had a vortec 383 built about 6 years ago for my 85 k10. It’s been sitting in a clean dry place since then. No oil in it.

I’m installing this engine into my 79K 20 with a 400 that I’m tired of chasing issues with. I’ve looked in the cylinders of the 383 as best I can without pulling the heads and they look very clean and bright. I’ve squirted a little WD-40 into each cylinder to prep it to turn it over. I’ll let it sit over night before I do much cranking in it.

I pulled the valve covers and noticed some spots of rust on the springs. I’m under the impression (from what I’ve read in other forums) that I need to change the springs as rust will cause eventual cracking on the rusted areas of the springs.

Other than addressing the springs, priming the oil pump well and properly and maybe priming the carb a bit. Cranking it over a few times before starting it. Other than that, am I missing anything?

I’m tempted to pull the intake just to verify the cam is well lubed well before breakin.

Anyways, any advice yall could give would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Personally I would pull the intake and lube the cam as best as possible. Definitely prime the oil pump and oiling system.

Verify the lube that it went together with isn't all gummy and sticky. And no rust on the cam lobes

If you found rust on the valve springs i would also pull the oil pan just the have a look at everything.

I'm extra, but I would consider replacing main seals and cover gaskets.

I would make sure you have a good known working carb for a cam break in. Have the timing light ready of course.

 

[Ricko1966]

Have it timed before you start it,have the fuel bowls filled. Put a box fan in front of the car blowing through the radiator. I'd run it the first 300 miles at lower rpms on break in springs or just the outters on a set of old springs. To static time it when you are coming up to TDC#1 line up your 10 degree mark. Make sure you know where your timing marks are. Then line up the stator poles in your distributor and snug it up should be close enough for breaking in the cam.Fill the fuel bowls through the vents unless you have an electric pump in which case turn it on until you get fuel pump shot. I change my oil for the first time hot right after breaking in the cam. I don't want all the extra BS in my oil,and the oil comes out more complete hot. And don't overkill on your springs,more is not better when it comes to pressure,you want enough but that's all so check with whoever ground your cam

 

[Patman]

PrairieDrifter, good call on the mains a cover. Will do.

Rick1966, I’m so ignorant regarding setting timing. I’ll be doing some YouTubing of sure.
My balancer has a series of timing marks and so does the indicator on the block. Not sure how to get those dialed in properly. Again, YouTube..

Thank you guys for the help.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

I lube my engines by starting them.

Every engine, every time. I don't care how long it's sat. Fire it up.

 

[xm20k]

I lube my engines by starting them.

Every engine, every time. I don't care how long it's sat. Fire it up.

You say that till you see a stuck cam bearing eat a cam tunnel. Or any stuck bearing eat the block for that matter.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

You say that till you see a stuck cam bearing eat a cam tunnel. Or any stuck bearing eat the block for that matter.

I'll say it then too.

Has to happen first to know though.

Feel free to take em all apart, finger bang em to death, paint them with lube, crank them for hours without coils...

I start them.

 

[xm20k]

They make a tool to lube them with a drill, then spin it by hand and go from there.

 

[Ricko1966]

Here's another simple method. Just plumb your prime tool in where the oil pressure sender goes,blow a 1/2 quart of oil in at about 10 psi put your sender back and your good.Let the pressure bleed off before unscrewing the priming tool.

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[Ricko1966]

I have no idea what kind of tear down,inspection etc you are going to do. But if you have the pan off put a decent size magnet on the bottom of the pan and get a magnetic drain plug. Oil changes look at your drain plug, if there's anything stuck on it,inspect what's on it. This is preventive in case your flat tappet cam goes flat. Between the magnet and the filter,you'll have a much better chance of catching the trash before it goes through the oil galleys.If you aren't going that far in stick a magnet to the bottom of the pan,and still use a magnetic drain plug.

 

[Ricko1966]

PrairieDrifter, good call on the mains a cover. Will do.

Rick1966, I’m so ignorant regarding setting timing. I’ll be doing some YouTubing of sure.
My balancer has a series of timing marks and so does the indicator on the block. Not sure how to get those dialed in properly. Again, YouTube..

Thank you guys for the help.

I don't trust you tube or AI seen way too much wrong stuff on both. I was very pleasantly surprised I went to look for a better explanation of static timing for you. Goggle search nailed it. I use method A. I have my doubts method B works,but I've never tried anyway I took screen shots for you, it's not hard line up your 10* mark,line up the stator poles in the distributor,have the carbureator full of fuel. It will start right up. Beats the he## out of having a buddy twist the distributor while you crank,setting the carb on fire once or twice etc.

 

[Old Guy Bill]

A little rust on the springs? No big deal, just change the oil & filter after some run time.
Spray some light oil in each cylinder
I'd just pre-lube it with a drill through the distrib hole then fire it.

 

[Fr8dog]

Is this an oem style hydraulic roller camshaft and lifters or flat tappet cam/lifters?

Roller is easy peasy, no break in required.

Flat tappet, pre-oiling, getting initial timing set before starting, might want to pull intake and pour GM EOS all over cam/lifter valley, fuel primed, radiator and block filled with water/coolant, new tested thermostat try to get all air voids out before start, on first engine start immediately raise rpm to 2000-2200 for the first 20 mins. Do not idle or excessively crank eng before cam is broken in. If you do all the items above you won't have to shut down due to fuel leaks, overheating etc etc.

 

[JasonStern]

I had a vortec 383 built about 6 years ago for my 85 k10. It’s been sitting in a clean dry place since then. No oil in it.

I’m installing this engine into my 79K 20 with a 400 that I’m tired of chasing issues with. I’ve looked in the cylinders of the 383 as best I can without pulling the heads and they look very clean and bright. I’ve squirted a little WD-40 into each cylinder to prep it to turn it over. I’ll let it sit over night before I do much cranking in it.

I pulled the valve covers and noticed some spots of rust on the springs. I’m under the impression (from what I’ve read in other forums) that I need to change the springs as rust will cause eventual cracking on the rusted areas of the springs.

Other than addressing the springs, priming the oil pump well and properly and maybe priming the carb a bit. Cranking it over a few times before starting it. Other than that, am I missing anything?

I’m tempted to pull the intake just to verify the cam is well lubed well before breakin.

Anyways, any advice yall could give would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Disclaimer - not an SBC guru, but learning.
In general, the rust on internal engine parts in an unused motor regardless of how long it has been sitting should be concerning. That only happens if the components weren't properly sealed (thus access to fresh oxygen and moisture).
The real question is engine life expectancy. Filing surface rust off and using a shop vac is perfectly sufficient for a budget build, but negligent for any build of value. The springs are relatively cheap, and a slight tear down would allow a fresh coat of assembly lubricant to help reduce wear during break-in.
The rust could wear off during normal driving. But the oxidized metal flakes are still in the engine. The oil filter should catch this, but the debris still has to move through the engine to get to the filter before it can be filtered.f
As for break-in, I'm on team MotoMan. Again, not advice. If it blows up early, it was probably going to blow up shortly anyway. The Porsche factory procedure is pretty similar. Run it for a minute or so to check for leaks or other obvious issues, then run it at 80% for an extended period. If it blows up, blame dumb internet advice. Or accept that it's a complex mechanical device and something likely went wrong during the assembly. Try to address the weak point, then try again.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

I put these pushrods in my 6. 0 8 years ago after I transposed 6800 to 8600 for shift points and bent the originals.

Still in there today, still a running driving engine.

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