The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Fresh 235 Rebuild First Start tips? 59

Any tips on the first start of the 235. Any way to get some pressure or pre oiling going. It has sat about 3 months in the truck in the shop while I got some other things put together.

Yes, be a good idea to prime, or pump the oil pressure up before u start it, I use to use an old distributor with the gear removed an stick it in , an then use an drill to prime the pressure up. I use to work in a machine shop for 15 years & thats what i did was build motors amoung other things. It always worked good. Good Luck,

That is what I do too. Some use a large slot screwdriver shank and I have also heard of using flattened tubing. You will feel the drill load down as the pressure developes.

Also,remove the valve cover to see that oil flows during pre-priming.

Yep, spin the oil pump with the drill, I use a 3/8" rod ground on the end to fit the pump, mimic the tang on the distributor.

While running the oil pump also turn the crankshaft by hand at the same time, this assures you get oil in all the drilled passages in the crank and to the rods.

IF you like you can install the distributor and then without spark plugs in crank it over with the starter a few times, looking to see you get oil pressure. Then put the plugs in and give it a try.

Once started don't expect it to idle, best to run it around 1,000 rpm (more than an idle, but not really fast)for the first few minutes , as it will be stiff.

Grigg

Is there any problem with just removing the spark plugs, squirting oil in the cylinders, and then just cranking the starter motor for a while?

When I first started up my 261 after a rebuild, I did remove the distributor, used my electric drill (not cordless) and removed the valve cover. Ran the drill until I saw oil coming out onto the rocker arm assembly. Let this run for a few minutes to fully prime the oil pump and verified that I had good oil pressure at the dash gauge. After that, reinstalled the valve cover and started it up. Had a new cam so I did the recommended cam break-in procedure. Also used Valvoline straight 30 wt oil which has a good amount of zinc in it and added a pint of EOS oil supplement for good measure.

Found an old long screwdriver that fit perfect. made a nice drill piece and inserted in the slot and let the cordless drill have at it. Felt some loaded resistance after several moments but no oil up in the rockers......hmmmmm. Let it go a couple minutes and nada. Guess I will have the wife look at the Oil pressure (aftermarket) gauge while I spin it again when she gets here. Those rockers should show some oiling I would think. I would not think it would take more than a minute or so? Drill direction make any difference?

Rasman,

It sure seems like the oil should have made it to the rockers after a minute or so. The path from block to center oiler, depending on year of engine can be a tough gig!

The path can be through a very small, plug prone tube and sometimes through a hole that requires a special head bolt.

This can be compounded by rocker tubes that are plugged with black sludge or rocker tubes that have the little drip holes smeared shut by metal transfer.

Hopefully the engine rebuilder did the right thing in this area. Keep us posted.

Stuart

I suspect me here instead of the machine shop. They do top quality work and have done may of the old staight sixes. They did my 389 Pontiac Tri-power as well as a few other projects. I am going to carefully examine my attempt step by step and see what I am missing. I am going to turn the engine a bit by hand and start over.