Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area The Engine Shop 261 caddy stroker almost ready.

I finally have this engine installed and assembled. I plan on starting it for the 1st time this Saturday. I still have to change/modify my manual choke cable to work with my dual carbs. They are new Daytona universal carbs with an adjustable main jet. They look a lot like the old Stromberg bvox carbs.. [img]https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...name/1610400750601738484940648665665.jpg[/img]
The cable to my original Rochester is still in the truck, with the old mounting clip attached. Before I get into it, any advice, pics, etc, are appreciated as usual. What do you guys do to start a new engine?

Sure looks nice!

Ed

Way nice in fact. Almost crisp, i guess thats what id call it.

To me the most important thing to do is prime the oil system. Remove the distributor and use a long cutoff screwdriver chucked in a drill and spin it clockwise and continue until you have oil dripping from the #1 and #6 rockers.

Also don’t use starting fluid as it will wash the oil from the cylinders. If needed, use gas instead.

I’m sure others will chime in to help you get that beauty started. Good Luck!

Pull the distributor , prime the oil system , fit dist , start engine , run at fast idle to run the cam in (20mins) . Rejoice

Prime the carbs aswell so you don't have to crank it too long waiting on fuel to get to them from the tank.

While you're priming the oil system, spin the crankshaft a little with the starter. It distributes that pressurized oil evenly all the way around the bearings. Did you use plenty of assembly lube on the camshaft and lifters? DO NOT idle the engine after the initial startup. As soon as you see oil pressure, bring the RPM up to 1500-2K for about 20 minutes for cam/lifter break-in. Stovebolts don't have enough valve seat pressure to need special low tension run-in springs like the small block round track engines I used to build with triple springs.
Jerry

Boy that looks terrific. May I ask what all you did to fit the caddy pistons and later rods?

Dragsix. Man, it's been so long since I started this project. Tom Langdon is who supplied me with the right pistons and much of the knowledge. I can't remember what caddy they came from, but 289 comes to mind(fuzzy). The offset ground crank came from a guy out of Oregon who's name escapes me now. I got ahold of an engine builder through inliners.org who is not too far away. The engine was built 4 years ago and transfered into my truck. Since then, it's been in my garage waiting for me to get the carbs, fit the manifolds, do the linkage, oil lines and filter mount, etc...
Due to covid and lack of work, I've finally had time to get on this. I'm not complaining!
I'll post more info about the engine as I find it. I'm learning this all over again after so long...

I'm in the process of building a similar stroker engine that uses 292 connecting rods, but without the oddball grinding of the center of the rod journals. I made thrust washers for both sides of the 292 rods to match the width of the 235/261 crank journal, and TIG welded them to the rod caps, then reconditioned the rods to be sure any warp or out of round from the welding was corrected. I'm also using regular 235 or 261 pistons instead of the scarce and pricey Cadillac ones. I'm using bronze bushings in the small end of the 292 rod in the 235 engine, and Teflon thrust buttons to keep the original wrist pins centered. The 261 wrist pins will press fit into the 292 rod.