[will slow gto]

Originally Posted by jhein

Looks and sounds fantastic! What lifters do you have? They don't sound too loud in the video.

Agreed! I’d be very happy with that sound.

[Verdoro 68]

Johnson lifters. They're really not bad at all, I only hear them at idle. I'm pleasantly surprised by how easy this thing fired off! I haven't drained the break in oil yet so I hope I'm not jinxing myself.

[jhein]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

Johnson lifters. They're really not bad at all, I only hear them at idle. I'm pleasantly surprised by how easy this thing fired off! I haven't drained the break in oil yet so I hope I'm not jinxing myself.

Are they the short travel Johnsons? That's what I have and I think they're pretty quite.

Correction, mine are the "reduced" travel, .093.

[Verdoro 68]

These are the regular ones. I can also check my preload. I went pretty conservative on them erring towards 1/8 turn.

[grandam1979]

What did Butler recommend for break in?

[Verdoro 68]

I looked at both Butler and Comp roller break in instructions, as well as some others, and they were pretty much the same as a flat tappet so I kept with that.

Initial fire up instructions: https://butlerperformance.com/file/3...+Procedure.pdf

Cam break in: https://butlerperformance.com/file/1...t+Break+In.bin

[Vid]

Before you take it out again, be sure to wipe my drool off of the pics you posted, haha. Beautiful and congrats on the smooth fire up! It’s nice when things go right huh?!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

It all looks Born-With
Great Work !

What is your rear gear ratio ?

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

It all looks Born-With
Great Work !

What is your rear gear ratio ?

That’s the idea! Rear end is a ‘69 XH 3.55 posi. We’ll see if it lasts!

[Verdoro 68]

Drained the oil from break in last night. There was negligible bit of sediment on the drain plug which was nice to see. I did see some flecks when I drained the oil filter. Nothing uncommon for a new build but I'm glad I changed the oil immediately. Per Butler's instructions I put a fresh batch of Driven BR 15/50 in.

It's very angry on a cold start, but once it warms up a bit it idles smoothly and stays cool with the 160 degree thermostat. Oil pressure is where it should be. Looks like it's around 70psi which is perfect considering I added the shim in the oil pump for a little more pressure. Props to Ray Klemm for the awesome job on the carb. Only minor adjustments to idle speed needed! The new trans was thirsty. I think I ended up putting in about 11 quarts or so. It may want more when I'm able to take it out for a drive.

I accidentally debugged the perpetual GEN light as well. I was on the phone with M&H for a while and we were both perplexed. I noticed I was getting power to two wires at the voltage regulator when the car was off. I went to remove the bulkhead to check for power and continuity and noticed the offending wire lost power when I backed the bolt out of the bulkhead a few turns. Problem solved!

I still need to get the underside of the hood prepped and painted, the rain has been preventing that. After that, it needs an alignment and the A/C reinstalled and charged. My son is already bugging me to take to open shop night at his school.

[HWYSTR455]

That thing is beautiful!

.

[SD455DJ]

Very, very impressive Ken!

Dennis

[Verdoro 68]

There's such a "wait and see" on new builds. It takes some time to build up trust that everything is ok and will remain that way. I take the solid oil pressure and steady idle as a good sign.

Can't wait to get it out on the street to see what this thing feels like.

[Verdoro 68]

I pulled the valve covers last night to retorque the heads and noticed a few rockers looking cockeyed. I overlooked the fact that RAII heads used 11/32 pushrods and bigger guide plates which was giving the pushrods some room to pivot left and right. Glad I caught this early. I'll swap out to the stock plates when I get the restricted pushrods next week.

[Verdoro 68]

Swapped out the guide plates, put in the restricted pushrods, got everything lined up nice and straight and readjusted the valves. It made a world of difference with the valve train noise I was hearing! I'd guess a bulk of it was probably from the rockers moving left to right with the pushrods. There was the start of a funny wear pattern on valve stems so I'm glad I got that fixed.

Once the rain lets up I'll get the hood finished up and take it out for a spin around the neighborhood.

PSA to make sure your pushrod guide plates are aligned because there sure is a lot of wiggle room left to right. Check out how far I could skew the rockers!

[Verdoro 68]

Finally got the car out for a spin around the block today - WOW! This is the way I always wanted this car to run.

The Continental stall feels better behind the bigger cubes, but I'm still not sure I'm sold on it. However - OMG this thing has torque! I was not expecting to be able to break the tires loose at 1/4 throttle. The rebuilt trans shifts great as well.

On the first shakedown it was running pretty well, but I noticed it wanted to stall at lower RPMs. I goosed it and the stall flashed which sent the car sideways, but then the engine started missing in a big way. Oil pressure was fine and I didn't hear any weird valve train noises so I limped it home. I pulled the #1 plug wire off while it was running and didn't see any spark so I pulled the distributor cap. There was a bunch of oil slung around the cap and on the Pertronix reluctor ring. I think it was residual from when I had the engine on the stand.

I cleaned out the cap and wiped off the reluctor ring. It seems to have solved the problem and ran even better on the second pass. Found an exhaust leak on both sides at the head pipes and manifolds, but that was an easy fix. Rear main is also bone dry, knock on wood!

Now I'm on to annoying projects to get this thing roadworthy. I spent most of the afternoon sanding the underside of the hood and still have quite a bit to go before I can prime it. I also need to polish out the gunk the protective wrap left on the paint (don't leave that stuff on for a year!) and get the rest of the A/C system in.

Another walk around idle video: https://youtu.be/CkUVOc101Kc

[jhein]

Looks sharp and sounds great. Obviously you haven't driven it much but what are your initial thoughts on the cam choice?

[SD455DJ]

Looks great! Sounds sweet!

Dennis

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by jhein

Looks sharp and sounds great. Obviously you haven't driven it much but what are your initial thoughts on the cam choice?

I’m glad you all convinced me to go with the bigger cam! Even going gentle during the break in, I’m really happy with the way it pulls. It feels much more stout than I anticipated. I was worried the 114 would be too mellow, but I really like the way it sounds.

It feels like it wants a little more stall in it. I spent a bulk of the time in 2nd gear to keep it in the power band. I do have another converter the trans builder supplied that I may give a shot.

[Verdoro 68]

I think it's done(ish)?

Got the hood back on and aligned as well as most of the A/C system reinstalled except for one hose.

Took out out tonight for a longer cruise and it performed great. Oil pressure is great at cruise speed at 70+ psi. Once it's hot the oil pressure settles in around 40psi at idle and immediately spikes back up to 70+ as soon as the RPMs go up. The rear main and pan are bone dry.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for a new converter and retire the Continental. After driving it around, it needs just a little bit (few hundred rpm) more stall at cruise put it in the power band.

Gonna polish it up and give it a quick cleaning so we can make it to the first cruise night of the season tomorrow

I want to reiterate my thanks to everyone who contributed to this build. I learned a ton and it's really satisfying to know exactly what's in my engine.