Motor break-in question??

[Marc]

I have rebuilt a 318 to put in my 1966 Clark RV. I will have a break-in period that I am not sure will be very easy to manage in a small bus sized 9000 pound RV. I will do the cam break-in stuff then I have to seat the rings and drive the beast 500 or so miles...
I also live in the middle of Hollywood. I am surrounded by small streets and kind-of a distance from any freeway that has no traffic to seat the rings and do all that stuff.
I thought that I could have a few weeks of "after midnight driving" while there is no traffic to do this stuff ... OR ... I had another idea...

What if I took my rebuilt motor and put it in my 65 D100 for the break-in. It is much smaller and lighter than my RV, I already have the bell-housing that has the multiple bolt pattern to accept it, I already have an HEI set-up in my truck and my slant six said it wouldn't mind... haha

Would there be any reason to not do this? I have heard conflicting theories about motors being broken-in in the vehicle they are meant for and others saying that it is a great idea. ?? I have heard random things about the the motor not being used to the load after break-in and what-not.

Everything will be plug-and-play except getting a radiator for the V8 and carb linkage. Even the exhaust pipes from my RV will bolt to the motor and clear the axle and everything else. How much clearance is needed from the bottom of the oil pan to the front axle?

Frankly it is more of a space issue than anything else. Breaking-in a motor on my truck is much easier to fathom. Especially because my truck is MUCH more manageable in the middle of a city than my RV. And motor swapping into my truck is rather simple due to the nature of how the motor is mounted in my RV. So if there were a problem it would be much easier to pull the motor from my truck than my RV.
I also live on a street where I have no driveway and street cleaning twice a week so motor swapping on the street has to be pretty quick. lol

Thanks in advance everyone. I know there are a lot of questions in here. Just wanna make sure this is feasible before I start yanking out the slant 6.

-Marc

[truckluvr]

Moly or cast rings? the D should give you adequate load to break in a 318. Once your cam is broke in take it out at night and floor it to highway speeds (or whatever you can get away with) then completely decellerate and repeat about 4-6 times (drive it like you stole it). that should break in cast rings. Moly rings will take at least 500 miles to break in. Use straight 30 wt. and change filter after 100miles and oil and filter at the 500 mile interval. The straight weight oil will help suspend metal fragments long enough to reach the filter till your motor breaks in. They normally run quite hot during breakin so run cold water from tap through motor while breaking in cam and watch temp during ring breakin just in case you need to pull over to let it cool down. All depends on how tight you do your build of course.

[Marc]

I am pretty sure the rings are cast. I will check tomorrow. I just went .30 over on the block and .10-.10 on the crank. All new everything inside with a mild Mellings RV cam and a high volume Mellings oil pump. Nothing too nuts as it is only for my RV. I wanna still try to get OK mileage. lol
I was planning on the ring break-in on the freeway at night. Would it be a problem to have to drive 15 min to get to the freeway? At lights bring the RPM up a little for oiling purposes until I get to the freeway? Driving it hard should be fun... and I always love the sound of a good V8 on deceleration.
Good tip on the straight weight oil and changing the filter at 100 miles and 500. Thanks for that. :)

Other than the obvious basics (oil psi, engine temp etc) anything to look out for?

Not my first time working on motors by any means but this is my first motor I did a complete/full rebuild on and I just wanna make sure I'm not missing anything. I was going to get some ZDDP additive to use during break-in unless there is a good oil brand to use for break-in?

THANKS!!!

-Marc

[wideblock]

i always did the initial break in right in the driveway. follow the specs for the cam break in, then get her adjusted and ready to drive so to speak. then i run it in the driveway at various rpms for various periods of time for at least 20 minutes after it reaches full operating temp. then i shut it off, let her cool down, check all the fluids and do it again. then ill change the oil and filter and just drive it easy the first couple three days and go on with life as normal after that. never had any issues this way.

[truckluvr]

good point wideblock. it will burn oil like a banshee during initial break in with cast rings. DO NOT use any additives. Straight 30 wt mobil or chevron oil works perfectly. Additives are recommended for high lift cams with high seat pressure springs. Sounds like you probably should do your ring break-in just driving around the block. Just keep it in first gear for your hard acceleration /hard decelleration run. careful not to rev it too much. It will generate a tremendous amount of friction heat for the first couple of hours of run in time so probably should keep it close to home just in case you need to shut it down to cool down. Moly rings won't generate as much initial heat but take much longer to break in. Just plan on driving it around the block a few times until you think it's road worthy, then take it out for a on highway drive. Then just do an oil change and should be good to go.

[Marc]

That sounds good. Thanks a lot guys. I think that I am just getting overwhelmed by the amount of ways people break in motors and for so many applications. My motor is not a performance build. Just trying to make sure I do it right!!
Any other tips?

-Marc

[wideblock]

friction and heat break in the rings and the cam, no need for a load. we used to do initial break in on everything from stock 4 bangers to full race engines sitting on the stand. all the major auto manufacturers do the same thing. putting it on the road before at least a good run in the driveway is just asking for issues. we would be sure there was a tach hooked up, run 1000rpm for a few minutes, bump it to 2000rpm for a few minutes, then go to 3000rpm. wouldn't touch the throttle until it had built oil pressure at idle and we would actually limit water flow so that the engine, once warmed up would run around 195 to 200 degrees or better. wouldn't over heat it, but you want it to run a shade on the hot side to really seat everything. usually used a 195 t-stat for break in then swapped to a 160 or 180 before it hit the road. usually 2 30 minute runs were all we did before it hit the chassis. if you do 5 minute increments, that's: idle, 1000, 2000, 3000, 2000, 1000, then let her settle to idle before shut down. go full throttle too soon your gonna have a lot of blow by and possibly ruin new gaskets. i never understood the "drive it like you stole it" thinking. nothing is seated, or broke in, hit it too hard and too fast, your liable to be starting all over. one other thing, after the first run, we would always go back over the engine after it had cooled off and recheck torques on the intake, and heads just as a precaution.

[Marc]

I have one more question... The motor is going to have a front sump pan on it. It is the pan that was on the old 318 in my motorhome. Since the motor will be going into my motorhome when I am done I need that pan on the motor...
I think I will have enough clearance with a front sump pan in a 65 D100... but how many inches from the bottom of the pan to the axle is safe?? I don't wanna have to break-in the motor then pull the oil pan/pump/pick-up tube and swap it before I put it in my RV. :) Just wanna break it in and put it in the RV and be good.
So, yeah.. how many inches from bottom of oil pan to front axle is good? I think I will have about 3-5... I will have to measure it again but the front end is pretty stiff with the slant six in it now...

THANKS GUYS!! Looking to do this next week if I can find a V8 radiator that will bolt into my truck. :)

-Marc

[soopernaut]

I'm pretty sure all Sweptlines came with front sump pans so you shouldn't have a problem.

[Marc]

This swap is turning out to be epically easier than I was dreading. lol So, I basically I just need a fuel pump... Unless the mechanical fuel pump for a slant 6 is the same for a 318... If that is the case I have 2 new ones and would need NOTHING. lol
HOLY CUBIC INCHES BATMAN!! What am I waiting for?!

-Marc