New Engine Break-In Proceedure

[John Hammond <426_maxwedge@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

OK guys, I'm sure this has been covered many times; but only days away from starting my new 440 and the nerves have really set in. The engine is a basic, average, street engine with a mild hyd. cam, nothing elaborate or seriously thumping. Block recieved a 30 overbore and the crank got a simple clean-up cut. The intake is a Edelbrock RPM and a Demon 650 round out the induction. The Demon is a mech. secondary and has just had a rebuild from a respected Mopar builder who speced the internals based on the engine/and cams details. Exhaust is Magnum manifolds into 2.5" tubes.  I have went over everything I can think of to insure all goes well without self destruction and have re-read everything I can find only to find a single constant amidst the conflicting opinions. "Above 2000rpm for 20 minutes." Fine, I can do that...Royay Purple break-in oil in the crankcase- check. Transmission filled- check. New plugs installed-check.  Several good ideas I've found: fans in front of the car, Video tape the experience, use water only without antifreeze during proceedure, any others ideas along these lines I'd appreciate....but what about the stuff not normally considered?  On stands or on the wheels?  In neutral, park, or on the emergency brake? (the 727 is a brand new rebuild as well).  The Mopar builder who's helped me this far stated it this way- Start it and immediatly take it to 2000 and within a minute or two begin varying the range from there to 2500 or 2600. Just maintain this, and attempt to make it to the 20 min. mark with a helper working to oversee any problems and keep it under 180 degrees. If it gets much over 180 and you are beyond 15 min. shut it down and allow it to cool down completely to ambient temperature. Once it is dead cold, restart it and basically repete the proceedure but on the second run to 180 degrees try to dial in the carb and the timing a bit closer while moving the range of rpm to 2200 to 2800. At or just beyond 180 degrees shut it down, and again allow it to return to dead cold ambient temperature. Change the oil and filter at this time going to a straight 30w quality oil in the brand you intend to use and add a ZDDP additive if posibble. Run the engine again from dead cold after the oil and filter change and stay with the 180 degree mark but vary the rpm range from 2000 to 2800 during the run time again making minor adjustments to the timing and carb settings as required. The motor should be pretty close by this point, run this time for 30 minutes if the temperature stablizes at a safe level. Shut the engine down again allow it to completely cool down prior to the first test drive. Drain the water and add coolant, start the engine and allow steam to escape before capping the radiator. Double check for leaks, if the gauges and everything looks ok: go for a drive on a lightly traveled road so that the car can be operated without starts and stops due to traffic and run to s.o.temp. in the rpm range below 3500 for a short distance. Allow the engine to cool down for a period and repete until 100 miles or so have been driven. From the 100 to 500 mile period, start the engine, always allow it to obtain s.o.temp before shutting it off, avoid idling as much as possible, keep the rpms under 4800, and change the oil and filter again at 500 miles. After this, drive the hell out of it. He feels that as much as the mating surfaces need to develop a smooth and  uniform wear pattern the thermodynamic cycling from ambient to s.o.t. aids tremendously in this reguard for long term durability. This factor isn't addressed in any of the other proceedures I've read or been told thus far. At this point I'll mention that the information comes from one of the top Super Stock Hemi engine builders in the country, not JoeBuck Shadetree, so I put quite a bit of faith into his reasoning. I of course will prime the oil pump, but the engine has been together for over a year and never been turned over at all. Should anything be done prior to cranking, due to this period, beyond oil pump priming? Gas tank is new, 3/8" line to carb is new, carb is fresh, what about fuel supply when the key is turned...should I trust the new mechanical Carter fuel pump or take other steps to minimize cranking time? If so, how do I go about that? Obviously I'm a basketcase on pins and needles here, so any and all info and insight you guys can provide is much welcomed.  Thanks to any and all who chime in with past experiences and tips or things to do or avoid. For as long as I've been working on this '64 330 wagon, (5 years and counting), this has been the most harrowing part of the project. I really hope that this aspect goes well and that all my worry has been unfounded and needless. With the help from the members of this forum I have finally gotten to this landmark date and maybe it'll be a Happy Mopar Christmas this year !

Always Mopar,
John Hammond
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