Bringin her back from the dead

[Nightrage]

It's a little tight, but I'm getting used to it pretty quickly. I think it's just because I'm used to the clutch in the Honda, which feels like nothing is there.

[raroZ28]

Do you know how to properly break in your new engine?

[Nightrage]

Do you know how to properly break in your new engine?

No beating on it/ excessive "spirited" driving, don't let it sit at one RPM range for too long, change the oil out at 1k. That was my plan.

The mechanic took me for a ride in it. It's vibrating harder due to the polyurethane motor, tranny and torque arm mounts, not to mention my tires are flattened slightly on one side from sitting for so long. Replaced an O2 sensor and he fixed some EGR issue and the car is running beautifully now. It's shaking harder due to the harder mounts, but it's running like a raped ape.

[Nightrage]

I HATE THIS CAR!

But only because I can't drive it 24/ 7!! I just went on a nice, long drive. My mechanic told me to vary the RPM's while I'm breaking it in, so I kept it between 55- 70 MPH, but switched between 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th every 5- 10 minutes. Between riding at 3- 3.5k RPM for a while, doing a decent amount of idling at the shop and sitting through a ton of lights and traffic, I still managed to pull over 15 MPG. I know I keep repeating this, but I had forgotten how powerful this car is. It might not run 11's, but it pushes me in the seat now without even trying. I seem to recall making a lot of posts about my car feeling like it was less powerful than it should be. All that is gone now . I'm wondering if the heads were milled at all, since they're re manufactured. I wish I had money to do some bolt ons and get it tuned. I foresee a considerable amount of money being put into this car in the future.

[ryan34]

sweetness! Glad to hear you are enjoying your self!

[raroZ28]

Sounds like you got it. I wouldn't floor it, but you want to take the car through the rpm's through the first few gears. Take it up to 4500-5k and shift.

What I did with the second engine I built was took it up in RPM's and ran through the gears, then slowed it down, and went through the RPM's again for the first 100 miles. That engine had perfect compression for it's entire life and broke in beautifully.

As long as you don't baby it, but don't dog it, it should break in nicely.

Did you ever figure out the cause of the vibration? I was thinking it could be drive shaft related.

[Revver]

From http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

"What's The Best Way To Break-In A New Engine ??
The Short Answer: Run it Hard !

Why ??
Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.

If you think about it, the ring exerts maybe 5-10 lbs of spring tension against the cylinder wall ...
How can such a small amount of spring tension seal against thousands of
PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) of combustion pressure ??
Of course it can't.

How Do Rings Seal Against Tremendous Combustion Pressure ??

From the actual gas pressure itself !! It passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall. The problem is that new rings are far from perfect and they must be worn in quite a bit in order to completely seal all the way around the bore. If the gas pressure is strong enough during the engine's first miles of operation (open that throttle !!!), then the entire ring will wear into
the cylinder surface, to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.


The Problem With "Easy Break In" ...
The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run.

There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!

If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again.

Fortunately, most new sportbike owners can't resist the urge to "open it up" once or twice,
which is why more engines don't have this problem !!

An additional factor that you may not have realized, is that the person at the dealership who set up your bike probably blasted your brand new bike pretty hard on the "test run". So, without realizing it, that adrenaline crazed set - up mechanic actually did you a huge favor !!"

[Joshu]

Like a raped ape. Never heard that before. *inserts into vocabulary*

[Nightrage]

Sounds like you got it. I wouldn't floor it, but you want to take the car through the rpm's through the first few gears. Take it up to 4500-5k and shift.

What I did with the second engine I built was took it up in RPM's and ran through the gears, then slowed it down, and went through the RPM's again for the first 100 miles. That engine had perfect compression for it's entire life and broke in beautifully.

As long as you don't baby it, but don't dog it, it should break in nicely.

Did you ever figure out the cause of the vibration? I was thinking it could be drive shaft related.

I've been trying to do just this. Not beating on it, but not going too easy on it either. I have to admit, I haven't taken it beyond 4k RPM though. Guess I'll have to do that.

As for the vibration, we credit it to the after market bushings and my partially flattened tires. I didn't have it up on jack stands or cinder blocks while it sat for a year and a half, like a jackass, so my tires are a little flat. Not horribly flat, but enough to be somewhat noticeable. He checked the drive shaft and all related parts and everything is in surprisingly good shape. What added to the issue is that I was traveling on a less than ideal road surface. Once I'm one something that's nice and smooth, the vibrations are hardly noticeable. On anything less than perfectly paved, the vibrations kick in. I guess I have to readjust to the stiffer suspension too.

[raroZ28]

From http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

"What's The Best Way To Break-In A New Engine ??
The Short Answer: Run it Hard !

Why ??
Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.

If you think about it, the ring exerts maybe 5-10 lbs of spring tension against the cylinder wall ...
How can such a small amount of spring tension seal against thousands of
PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) of combustion pressure ??
Of course it can't.

How Do Rings Seal Against Tremendous Combustion Pressure ??

From the actual gas pressure itself !! It passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall. The problem is that new rings are far from perfect and they must be worn in quite a bit in order to completely seal all the way around the bore. If the gas pressure is strong enough during the engine's first miles of operation (open that throttle !!!), then the entire ring will wear into
the cylinder surface, to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.


The Problem With "Easy Break In" ...
The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run.

There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!

If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again.

Fortunately, most new sportbike owners can't resist the urge to "open it up" once or twice,
which is why more engines don't have this problem !!

An additional factor that you may not have realized, is that the person at the dealership who set up your bike probably blasted your brand new bike pretty hard on the "test run". So, without realizing it, that adrenaline crazed set - up mechanic actually did you a huge favor !!"

That's the guide I've been using since 2003.

[raroZ28]

As for the vibration, we credit it to the after market bushings and my partially flattened tires.

I know when sitting for a long time tires will get flat spots that can cause a rough ride.

How much you asking for that Del Sol? Those cars are pretty sweet. They're not quick but they look cool, I like the targa top, fwd for winter and you can't beat the reliability and gas mileage. I would love to own one of those.

[Nightrage]

I know when sitting for a long time tires will get flat spots that can cause a rough ride.

How much you asking for that Del Sol? Those cars are pretty sweet. They're not quick but they look cool, I like the targa top, fwd for winter and you can't beat the reliability and gas mileage. I would love to own one of those.

$2,300. You don't want it. I'm pretty sure it was in an accident before I got it. The hood and windshield are a little off and I suspect it's from frame damage. I replaced the radiator support bracket when I first got it, because it was rusted and damaged. I couldn't sell it to you.

[Joe 1320]

FYI, GM tests motors at WOT before they leave the factory.


I would suggest running it a few times at WOT up to about 4500 rpm. Then put a couple hundred easy miles, then change the oil and filter. You'll be good to go.

[Nightrage]

Alright, revved a little quicker than I expected, but I made a WOT run to 5k. I didn't think it would happen so soon, but I'm left wishing she had more power :-(

[raroZ28]

Alright, revved a little quicker than I expected, but I made a WOT run to 5k. I didn't think it would happen so soon, but I'm left wishing she had more power :-(

If you wanted more power you should have had the heads ported, put in a mild cam (maybe a hot cam), and get a tune. She'd really scoot. Once you do the heads these engines really wake up.

My car scoots like madd. Stock LT1's feel like 97 Mustang GT's to me now.