Ted could you explain this one a lit more "the engine is being loaded and unloaded repeatedly against a water brake so that the rings are being seated to the freshly honed cylinders"  Is the common on dynos ?  Ive always thought it best to have the engine in the car for load.



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

I remember an older tech bulletin for the Chrysler Hemi drag race engines that simply stated ‘Make six half throttle passes to seat in the rings’.  The dyno does this much quicker and in a controlled environment.  If there’s a problem, it’s best that it happens on the dyno and not in the vehicle.  I dyno a large number of restored Corvette engines not for the power numbers but to simply insure that the engines are in good condition before being installed in their chassis.  Nothing worse than doing a bunch of detail work on the engine compartment and then having to pull the engine for a problem that could have been found before installing it in the car.
 
Consider the water brake on the dynometer as being an adjustable torque converter.  The dyno can be used to simulate the loads imposed on an engine both in normal driving and full throttle driving.  When loading an engine on the dyno to seat the rings, I’ll simply put the engine at roughly 100HP for a couple of minutes at a time which would be like climbing a stiff hill or pulling a trailer.  The rpms for this are kept at some value less than 3000 rpms.  The blowby from the breather can be observed to slowly diminish during this procedure which is also another good indicator that the rings are being properly seated.
 
When making or modifying a ‘map’ for a fuel injected engine, the engine will be ‘driven’ on the dyno similar to what is occurring in an automobile by varying the throttle and load controls to simulate running through the gears.  By doing this and observing the various instrumentation that’s included with the dyno, the ‘map’ can be modified to improve the engine performance and/or drivability characteristics.  It’s much quicker and more accurate doing it this way than taking the car out and doing it by ‘seat of the pants’.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Teds method on the Dyno is the best way, BUT! many of us are just back yard shade tree mechanics without the luxury of having a dyno. I just have a homemade stand on wheels I can roll out of the garage and fire the engines up to break in the cam, check for leaks or any other possible problem. Much easier to re torque the heads, set valves etc then when its in the car.

Thanks Ted.  Is that a common feature on dynos?



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

After running in the cam and lifters for 20-30 minutes @ 2000-2500 I change the oil, take the car to a secluded stretch of road and make five 3/4 throttle pulls in 2nd or 3rd gear (for a 4 speed) from 2000 RPM to 3500-4000 RPM in succession closing the throttle and coasting in between to seat the rings. Who needs a dyno!? lol


"FREE SAMPLE"

That would be a ‘Yes’.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

What was engine break-in procedure in Ford's engine plant in back in the ages when the Y-Blocks were brand new? I think they didnt lose much cams during the sessions.


Hyvinkää, FI

Thats the same question I asked in an earlier post but didn't get any reply..

I'll bet the answer is "none"!
Every original from the factory Y Block I've torn down has had a bad cam with several badly worn lobes. Several years ago I went on a quest to find a good 1957 stock cam for a project and pulled several from junkyard engines...all were bad. I gave up. 



"FREE SAMPLE"

according to local cam grinder,the worst year for cam problems in canada was 1956
cams made in 55. his comments was end of the day production wher left without washing after parkerizing which afected lobes on1 end. eventually that was corrected. i have several good cores from 57 engines .
does any members know how to id when and where cams wher procesed.
another cam grinder who specializes in cummins eng. cams for dodge trucks gets his cores cast in the us to his specs,claiming most replacement cam blanks are from china and poor quality. he also claimed a regrind 
is good bet as the core is proven.  seems even scrubey boys have the lions share of cam issues thes days.
  good stuff for users to comment on. my info is mostly hear say.