Starting the 440 for the First Time!

[sevnt300]

So....8 months later and we finally got to light it up! The day started off with flames and raw fuel shooting out of the carb, then my vintage Sears tach wouldn’t work (later figured out it was user error), then I couldn’t find the timing mark because I forgot to cap off the vacuume advance, but finally got it dialed in. It ran spectacularly at a high rpm (probably more then 2000, since I was going by ear) until smoke began to billow out from the firewall when the voltage regulator melted down! All in all, I got about 11 minutes of break in before shutting it down. After all that, we still had to push it back into the garage. Wondering if I have to start the cam break in process all over again, or is 11 minutes good enough?

THAT WAS HILARIOUS JIM!
I found myself talking to you outloud telling you to move the distributor. Laurie was cracking me up with her "Mopar Mama" debute and Nick's moving the angle so "he could do the work" and then declairing "alright team.... what is this? how do I use it?" a truely priceless family video, well worth the cost of a voltage regulator.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

So....8 months later and we finally got to light it up! The day started off with flames and raw fuel shooting out of the carb, then my vintage Sears tach wouldn’t work (later figured out it was user error), then I couldn’t find the timing mark because I forgot to cap off the vacuume advance, but finally got it dialed in. It ran spectacularly at a high rpm (probably more then 2000, since I was going by ear) until smoke began to billow out from the firewall when the voltage regulator melted down! All in all, I got about 11 minutes of break in before shutting it down. After all that, we still had to push it back into the garage. Wondering if I have to start the cam break in process all over again, or is 11 minutes good enough?

Just run it for another 10 minutes.

Taking a break during run it won't hurt anything. You're just trying to avoid idling for that first twenty minutes because the engine doesn't throw much oil onto the cam lobes at idle. Once it's broken in after that first 20 minutes, the cam no longer needs all that extra oil for the lobes to stay adequately lubed.

Jeff

 

[stubs300]

Wondering if I have to start the cam break in process all over again, or is 11 minutes good enough?]

Just set your clock at the 11 minute mark and pick up where you left off for another 10+ minutes or so. Good Luck

 

[Samplingman]

THAT WAS HILARIOUS JIM!
I found myself talking to you outloud telling you to move the distributor. Laurie was cracking me up with her "Mopar Mama" debute and Nick's moving the angle so "he could do the work" and then declairing "alright team.... what is this? how do I use it?" a truely priceless family video, well worth the cost of a voltage regulator.

Yes truly a family affair! Sara was in the background with the fire extinguisher, I’m just glad she didn’t have to use it. I posted up all the other videos, not sure everyone can access the channel from the one video link. Take two, later this week...

 

[live4theking]

Whew, just the regulator.

 

[65sporty]

To hear your wife in the background yelling fire, fire. I had to laugh

 

[Samplingman]

And now, the rest of the story! The first time the 300 has moved under its own power since the late ‘90s from what I’ve been told. We ran it for 24 minutes at 2500 rpm. I shut it down when I thought it was getting uncomfortably hot about 230 on the bottom end, but relatively cool, around 180, on the top end, checking all around with a laser temp gauge. When we shut it down, it dieseled real bad, back fired and then blew water from the pressure valve in the radiator cap. This video is after we let it completely cool, reset the timing and idle, and opened the choke. Started and stopped without issue several times after that, so I think I’m satisfied at this point.

 

[stubs300]

Secure that battery before you do that again unless you're in the market for a new battery? It jumps bigtime when you dropped in into gear!

 

[Samplingman]

Secure that battery before you do that again unless you're in the market for a new battery? It jumps bigtime when you dropped in into gear!

Thanks, I saw that too after I posted the video. It is about 7 years old (that shows you how long ago I thought I'd have it running, lol), but I still want it in one piece!

 

[65sporty]

Was the choke closed some? The idle speed seemed high

 

[live4theking]

That has got to be a great feeling.

 

[65sporty]

Secure that battery before you do that again unless you're in the market for a new battery? It jumps bigtime when you dropped in into gear!

Thanks, I saw that too after I posted the video. It is about 7 years old (that shows you how long ago I thought I'd have it running, lol), but I still want it in one piece!

A friend of mine did something similar, he took the battery out of his Firebird to move a 67 Buick he had and it wasn't strapped in. While moving the car the battery fell out and he ran it over.

 

[Samplingman]

Was the choke closed some? The idle speed seemed high

I actually had it open. We had the idle up about 1100, it stalled the first time when it was set to 750. I have some fine tuning to do, I think the timing is still off, but I was eager to get it in the garage on its own power.

 

[Samplingman]

That has got to be a great feeling.

Yeah, a huge milestone, but still so much more to do just to get it roadworthy.

 

[stubs300]

A friend of mine did something similar, he took the battery out of his Firebird to move a 67 Buick he had and it wasn't strapped in. While moving the car the battery fell out and he ran it over.

It's just another example of, "You Can't Fix Stupid"!!!!!! Why do people still continue to do this ****????