Thread: engine not fired up since rebuild, still ok to start up?

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I have a SB 350 that was rebuilt almost 15 years ago, and never fired up.
I'm trying to determine if I can prime the oiling system & try to start it, or if I should disassemble it to remove all the old assembly lube, relube, reassemble, etc. Engine was rebuilt by a shop, so don't know exactly what lube was used. Looking for opinions & commentary. tnx.

fill the filter, spin with the starter for about 20 seconds twice and make sure you have gas to carb and properly wired to run-------let it light off for a few seconds with a slight rev to 2500-300 and check oil pressure-if good continue----

Maybe remove the plugs and squirts some oil or foaming storage oil into each cylinder? My brother has a similar issue. He bought a new ls1 about 10 years ago and it's still sitting in the shop, never fired, while his '40 Ford convertible sits on hold. He'll probably sell the whole project (including new TCI chassis and 4L60E with computer).

What I did was take out the distributor and ran the oil pump for awhile with a drill and pump shaft. I see no reason to take it all apart. At the very least pre fill the oil filter before start up.

Does it have a flat tappet cam if so remove it and relube it with some cam lube make sure you use oil with high zink content and a zink additive or you will wipe out the cam and if that happens and you run it for too long the metal from the cam will wipe out the bearings also if it set for 15 yrs with the valves adjusted you will need a new set of valve springs.....ted

The zinc shouldn't be a problem unless you changed oil.

Springs could very well be crushed.

It's not a race engine, right? I'd do as Jerry said in post #2 and see how it does.

How many engines sit idle for ten, twenty, thirty years or more and once shown to be free to rotate start and run just fine? Think of some of the barn finds brought back to life. I have a brand new ZZ4 sitting in the barn, sold in 2009, and it's not coming apart before it fires. Granted that's only six years at this point....

If this is a flat tappet cam motor, any extreme pressure lubricant that was used on the camshaft and lifters has long since turned to cardboard. After I wrote the following tutorial, it was amended by other savvy hot rodders to the point that I consider it the best flat tappet cam tutorial anywhere. Pull the cam and lifters and start from scratch, would be my best advice. Agree completely with Ted in post #5 above. Try to identify the cam if you can, and use springs that complement the cam and lifters. Iskenderian 205-D springs meet OEM factory replacement specs, with open pressure of 268 lbs @1.200". Use the least pressure that will get the job done.

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ips_and_tricks
In #2 and #3, use Isky Rev Lube. It is a molybdenum disulfide compound that will offer max protection until the cam and lifters get happy with each other.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/isk-rl-1
The link for the oil priming tool has gone sour, so use this one....
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pr...fdkaArVo8P8HAQ
The bushing on the bottom of the shaft closes off the oil galley so that you will get oil to both banks of the motor. Using a straight stick with no bushing will allow oil to the driver's side valves only. A 3/8" drill motor will work fine. Stop priming when the drill motor gets good and hot, just before it frags itself.

Here are a couple of other tutorials that I wrote which you should find helpful...

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...stment_SBC/BBC

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...op_dead_center

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Originally Posted by rspears

How many engines sit idle for ten, twenty, thirty years or more and once shown to be free to rotate start and run just fine? Think of some of the barn finds brought back to life.

That's true, but those motors already had been running during their lifetime and the cam and lifters were broken in. The OP's motor does not have that advantage.

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9 times out of ten--------the motor gets f'd up during the dissemble/re assemble process------


His location is San Jose so hasn't went thru freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw and the assembly lubricants used will still have a micro coating of any surface they touched-they only work for the first revolution anyway and get wiped off-----In fact I don't like using them on the bearings/crank as they make it hard to turn and you can't reliably tell if you have a tight spot during assembly-I actually like 5w30 for assembly -------


some people might not consider me a savvy hot rodder, but many others do consider me an accomplished record setting racer, machinist and engine builder and I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express a few times-------




And the valve springs will be fine to start the engine----more likely to f something up changing them-bent valves, lost keepers into engine, etc

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

and I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express a few times-------

Hell Jerry, that's all you had to say......

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Isn't Hooke's law the one that applies to springs??
In the issue of springs being compressed over a period of time-I have found more damage done to parts involved with the compression rather than the effect on the spring----------with extremely high seat pessures-bent push rods, broken rockers(yeh, even extremely high dollar ones like Jessels, etc) A stock level spring will not have any adverse effect on it from being compressed another 3/8 to 1/2 inch from the closed valve ht.

To be safe, if one was concerned rather or not it has a flat tappet cam, it would be easy to pull the intake off and examine the lifters. If it is determined a flat tappet cam exists, could you not just pull the valley plugs above the cam and squirt some new cam lube through the holes, then pull the valve covers and remove the double valve (inner) spring for cam break-in and start the motor as Jerry suggested in post #2?
Just asking..

SBC's need the distributor body in the block when the pump is spun, or the oil doesn't get anywhere. Just using a shaft won't do the job.
I would pull the intake and lifters and put cam lube on everything, then fire it up. Face it, if you wait till you have time for a complete teardown, it'll be another 15 years.......

The real oil pump primer tools have a dealie on the shaft that fits in the space of the lower dist hole and closes off that leak to make oil go thru the galley on that side------


However, the issue that EVERYBODY misses on all these internet discussions is that those assembly lubes are so thick in viscosity that at normal ambient temps-they actually block the flow of oil thru all the circuits that normally lets oil get to the top of the motor and the engine actually gets starved for lube during these warmup break in periods-use a thin oil for assembly and oil will flow and sling and drain to the areas that it needs to lube-----if you want to actually help it some put a electric heating pad around the oil pan tp pre heat the oil some and somehow pump warm (hot) water thru the cooling system--


Did you ever look at the warmups for Nascar, F1, Indy car????????Why do you think they warm up top fuel, funny and pro stock??