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355 tbi break in..... questions

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dirtwarrior17

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Ok, how should i break in the 355? Should i wait until all the prominator stuff gets here or can i drive it until it comes? I don't want to wash down a ring or spin a bearing from too much gas in the oil but i don't know if that would even be a problem... my first couple oil changes(when i had milk in it) smelled like gas but it wasn't running right because of vacuum lines and a leaky manifold. I got it running right after that and now it idles and runs like it should but I still haven't put any miles on it just up and down the street. My question is (once i get power) can i drive it without the computer tuning stuff?

Motor has

holley 670 cfm 85 pph injectors
holley projection efi dual plane 2" intake manifold
crane cams hyd. lifter replacement l-79 cam .447 lift .222 dur
Camel hump heads
speedpro 10:1 flat tops
accel inline high pressure fuel pump
after burner headers and y pipe
3 inch single ex.
k and n

I bought the accel pump so i could support more power. the motor should put down 340-350 hp with the prominator but I won't have the prominator for another month or so. Will i drown my rings or can i drive it around town until i get the prominator and tuning stuff?
 
dont drive it until it is done. would you try to drive it if you were waiting on head bolts?

BTW, nice cam choice. i always like using 30+ year old cam technology on a fuel injected engine. makes them run great. :rolleyes:
 
.222 duration :eek: I I definatly would not drive that thing without some chip work. Unless you like ventlated pistons.
 
When there was only one reply I was going to post "just in case this thread goes on further"... :)

L79 cam comparison

I'm not sure that's exactly a fair comparison, but the dual pattern alone is more common of modern day cams.
 
beater_k20 said:
dont drive it until it is done. would you try to drive it if you were waiting on head bolts?

BTW, nice cam choice. i always like using 30+ year old cam technology on a fuel injected engine. makes them run great. :rolleyes:
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Beaterk20: i don't know if your trying to be a d#ck, or are and don't know it but step back and take look at what you write before you hit submit. Reminds me of the bs tim would pull.

I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO BUILD MY MOTOR FROM SCRATCH. I bought it as a longblock and thats the cam that came with it. the top line would have been fine... don't know why you decided to be a pr!ck... If i want to be brought down i'll ask for it.

The cam will work fine with fool injection... i know of 3 motors 2 being 355's that ran this cam with tbi. worked fine. the fact you think the l-79 makes a motor run "great" with efi shows just how little you know. why is there such a strong following for a cam that supposedly doesn't work with FI? because it does and does it with a lopey idle and decent power. Have you run a motor with this cam? seen one? heard one? read about one? I'm guessing no.

If i want advice on my cam and actually have a choice on my cam i'll ask for it. Its getting swapped out when i have the money.

So the answer is no to running it without the prominator?
 
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did you break the cam in?

i know your anxious probably with needing a job, moving out, etc but i would try to be patient... you certainly wont do the motor any good running it rich or god forbid lean.. it may not even be very drivable without the chip tweak..

maybe take that grand and buy a buzzbox to get around in, get a job and then put paychecks into the truck...
 
I heard and saw the motor running on a stand before i bought it and the builder told me it had been broke in on the stand but I doubt it ran for very long at all.

How should i break in the cam? I have already stabbed the throttle more than a few times to see if it runs right (it does).... would that have screwed anything up?

I still don't have power either so i don't know how it will drive but it looks like its gonna run strong without a chip... it gets better everytime it starts and the oil that smelled like gas was when it wouldn't even idle without some throttle because of being so rich... i think the computer finally started to make minor changes to the map not to mention the vaccum leaks that were fixed.
 
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its generally 2000 rpm for 20 minutes according to many.. i like to vary it a little between 1500 and 2000... i prescribe to the thoery of varying it a tad thruout the 20 minutes is best as opposed to a constant rpm......

wont hurt to take a peek at those plugs here and there too, to see how its running...
 
what about stabbing the throttle a few times? I have done it probably five times because i wanted to know if it was going to flood out under throttle...did that screw up anything when it comes to life of the motor?
 
your probably ok if he ran it on a stand to some extent... hopefully your talking stabs to 3500 and not 5000.. should be ok, lets hope... i generally wont bring a fresh mill over 4 g's for 500 miles or so... just keep it in mind when your getting all happy with skinny pedal...
 
lol....should have been right at or around 3500... i doubt it got over 4.

I just hope im happy with the final results... cost me 3000 and a place to live.
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
The cam will work fine with fool injection... i know of 3 motors 2 being 355's that ran this cam with tbi. worked fine. the fact you think the l-79 makes a motor run "great" with efi shows just how little you know. why is there such a strong following for a cam that supposedly doesn't work with FI? because it does and does it with a lopey idle and decent power. Have you run a motor with this cam? seen one? heard one? read about one? I'm guessing no.
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the first engine i built used that cam. i swapped it for something of equal duration, but also a split pattern cam. the difference in power was unbelievable. BTW, the "new" cam had less lift. the reason for the strong following of that cam is the cheap price tag, and the lopey idle which gives the image of performance. i think i paid 49.99 for my cam and lifters. ran them for a while, and loved it. then did some research, found out about split pattern cams, and swapped it out.
 
Hijack!!!

How easy it is to swap a cam out of a motor? Would I need to pull the block out of the truck to do it, or can I just take it apart from the top down?

Actually... forget the question about taking it out... I'm gonna be rebuilding a 327 on a stand, so it's not an issue...
 
beater_k20 said:
no need to pull the engine, just pull the radiator.

as for the 327, dont waste your time.
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Why not?? I thought the 327s were good engines? Should i just sell it broken for $300 on e-bay?
 
the cam he is talking about...crane cams hyd. l-79 replacement is 130.00 in jegs...

$50.00??????? :surepal: might want to check your sources.

the 327 is an awesome motor.... but not in a 5000 lb truck.
 
beastofablaze said:
$50.00??????? :surepal: might want to check your sources.
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local rebuilder sold it to me, and that's what i paid for it. i think it was a Blue Racer cam, or something like that.
 
its an inferior cam, no matter what type of induction you put on top of it. the technology is almost 40 years old, why would you run that over something that somthing that a cam company has come up with after 40 years of doing their homework to come up with a better cam? ever notice that nobody offers a "new and improved" single pattern cam? there's a reason for that. dual pattern cams make more power. sure a lopey idle is cool if you've got it in your Camaro for cruising around town and sounding cool, but i cant think of anyone who wants a lopey idle bad enough to sacrafice power to do it.

as for your 327, the potential just isnt there to make good usable power in a truck. you'd be better off building a 305 for your truck. 327s like the revs, not the low end power.
 
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