Before starting up a rebuilt engine, the author strongly recommends that the spark plugs are removed and the engine turned over for perhaps twenty or thirty seconds using the starter motor – it will spin quite quickly without the spark plugs and hence compression. This allows the oil pump to get oil moving in the all-important mains and big end bearings before those components are subjected to the stresses which occur when the engine fires up.
A rebuilt engine does, contrary to popular myth. benefit from being given a 'running-in' period – that is, a period of use on the road when revolutions are restricted to perhaps 3,500 rpm and the engine is not allowed to labour in too high a gear. In other words, drive slowly and be gentle with a rebuilt engine.
•ato Ity
rte ifThe new and the machined engine components in a rebuilt engine will all appear to fit very closely with their neighbouring components, but they still have to be finally 'bedded in' by being run in the assembled engine. During this bedding-in period, wear of components (journats,crankpins, bearings, piston rings and cylinders etc.) is initially very high, but the rate of wear progressively reduces.
Before putting the car on the road the author strongly recommends that you run the engine for perhaps ten minutes at around 1,500 rpm and a further ten minutes at 2.000 rpm – then change the engine oil and clean the filter. These running periods can be increased and indeed many authorities will advise that both the periods and the revolutions are increased. The idea of this is to start bedding the engine components in before the extra stresses of feeding power through the wheels is brought to bear, especially on the mains and big end bearings.
Remember that component wear is also always higher when the engine is cold, so take it very easy on the road for the first few miles each day. If your daily journey begins with a long uphill climb then warm the engine through before tackling this!
The author would personally recommend that for the first 500 miles on a rebuilt engine you limit top then the generator pedestal, inlet manifold and carburettor, oil cooler and finally the generator and fan shroud.
You can test run the engine on the floor if desired and if you can obtain an early transaxle half casing complete with starter motor. However, few enthusiasts will possess this, and so they have to refit the engine and hope for the best!
Running in
Before starting up a rebuilt engine, the author strongly recommends that the spark plugs are removed and the engine turned over for perhaps twenty or thirty seconds using the starter motor – it will spin quite quickly without the spark plugs and hence compression. This allows the oil pump to get oil moving in the all-important mains and big end bearings before those components are subjected to the stresses which occur when the engine fires up.
A rebuilt engine does, contrary to popular myth. benefit from being given a 'running-in' period – that is, a period of use on the road when revolutions are restricted to perhaps 3,500 rpm and the engine is not allowed to labour in too high a gear. In other words, drive slowly and be gentle with a rebuilt engine.
•ato Ity
rte ifThe new and the machined engine components in a rebuilt engine will all appear to fit very closely with their neighbouring components, but they still have to be finally 'bedded in' by being run in the assembled engine. During this bedding-in period, wear of components (journats,crankpins, bearings, piston rings and cylinders etc.) is initially very high, but the rate of wear progressively reduces.
Before putting the car on the road the author strongly recommends that you run the engine for perhaps ten minutes at around 1,500 rpm and a further ten minutes at 2.000 rpm – then change the engine oil and clean the filter. These running periods can be increased and indeed many authorities will advise that both the periods and the revolutions are increased. The idea of this is to start bedding the engine components in before the extra stresses of feeding power through the wheels is brought to bear, especially on the mains and big end bearings.
Remember that component wear is also always higher when the engine is cold, so take it very easy on the road for the first few miles each day. If your daily journey begins with a long uphill climb then warm the engine through before tackling this!
The author would personally recommend that for the first 500 miles on a rebuilt engine you limit top
speed to around 50 mph, that you accelerate as slowly as possible and that you tackle steep hills – if at all – in a suitably low gear. He would at that stage be inclined to change the engine oil and clean the filter to get rid of any tiny fragments of metal which the oil should have cleaned from bedding-in new components. During the second 500 miles he would recommend a revolutions limit of perhaps 4,000 rpm, terminating again in an oil change and fitter clean. The next two 500 mile intervals should be marked with oil changes if you want your rebuilt engine to enjoy the longest possible life and, when you've gone to the trouble of restoring your car, who wouldn't?
Remember that during the running-in period, you are effectively 'blueprinting' some of the most important and stressed components in the engine. An engine which is abused during this period will inevitably last less long and wilt usually give less power and use more fuel than one which is run in correctly. However, don't be so single-minded during the running-in stage that you present a danger to other road users – if you crawl along the motorway at 35 mph then you will present a danger both to other road users and to yourself: avoid such roads until your engine is run in.
A rebuilt engine does, contrary to popular myth. benefit from being given a 'running-in' period – that is, a period of use on the road when revolutions are restricted to perhaps 3,500 rpm and the engine is not allowed to labour in too high a gear. In other words, drive slowly and be gentle with a rebuilt engine.
•ato Ity
rte ifThe new and the machined engine components in a rebuilt engine will all appear to fit very closely with their neighbouring components, but they still have to be finally 'bedded in' by being run in the assembled engine. During this bedding-in period, wear of components (journats,crankpins, bearings, piston rings and cylinders etc.) is initially very high, but the rate of wear progressively reduces.
Before putting the car on the road the author strongly recommends that you run the engine for perhaps ten minutes at around 1,500 rpm and a further ten minutes at 2.000 rpm – then change the engine oil and clean the filter. These running periods can be increased and indeed many authorities will advise that both the periods and the revolutions are increased. The idea of this is to start bedding the engine components in before the extra stresses of feeding power through the wheels is brought to bear, especially on the mains and big end bearings.
Remember that component wear is also always higher when the engine is cold, so take it very easy on the road for the first few miles each day. If your daily journey begins with a long uphill climb then warm the engine through before tackling this!
The author would personally recommend that for the first 500 miles on a rebuilt engine you limit top then the generator pedestal, inlet manifold and carburettor, oil cooler and finally the generator and fan shroud.
You can test run the engine on the floor if desired and if you can obtain an early transaxle half casing complete with starter motor. However, few enthusiasts will possess this, and so they have to refit the engine and hope for the best!
Running in
Before starting up a rebuilt engine, the author strongly recommends that the spark plugs are removed and the engine turned over for perhaps twenty or thirty seconds using the starter motor – it will spin quite quickly without the spark plugs and hence compression. This allows the oil pump to get oil moving in the all-important mains and big end bearings before those components are subjected to the stresses which occur when the engine fires up.
A rebuilt engine does, contrary to popular myth. benefit from being given a 'running-in' period – that is, a period of use on the road when revolutions are restricted to perhaps 3,500 rpm and the engine is not allowed to labour in too high a gear. In other words, drive slowly and be gentle with a rebuilt engine.
•ato Ity
rte ifThe new and the machined engine components in a rebuilt engine will all appear to fit very closely with their neighbouring components, but they still have to be finally 'bedded in' by being run in the assembled engine. During this bedding-in period, wear of components (journats,crankpins, bearings, piston rings and cylinders etc.) is initially very high, but the rate of wear progressively reduces.
Before putting the car on the road the author strongly recommends that you run the engine for perhaps ten minutes at around 1,500 rpm and a further ten minutes at 2.000 rpm – then change the engine oil and clean the filter. These running periods can be increased and indeed many authorities will advise that both the periods and the revolutions are increased. The idea of this is to start bedding the engine components in before the extra stresses of feeding power through the wheels is brought to bear, especially on the mains and big end bearings.
Remember that component wear is also always higher when the engine is cold, so take it very easy on the road for the first few miles each day. If your daily journey begins with a long uphill climb then warm the engine through before tackling this!
The author would personally recommend that for the first 500 miles on a rebuilt engine you limit top
speed to around 50 mph, that you accelerate as slowly as possible and that you tackle steep hills – if at all – in a suitably low gear. He would at that stage be inclined to change the engine oil and clean the filter to get rid of any tiny fragments of metal which the oil should have cleaned from bedding-in new components. During the second 500 miles he would recommend a revolutions limit of perhaps 4,000 rpm, terminating again in an oil change and fitter clean. The next two 500 mile intervals should be marked with oil changes if you want your rebuilt engine to enjoy the longest possible life and, when you've gone to the trouble of restoring your car, who wouldn't?
Remember that during the running-in period, you are effectively 'blueprinting' some of the most important and stressed components in the engine. An engine which is abused during this period will inevitably last less long and wilt usually give less power and use more fuel than one which is run in correctly. However, don't be so single-minded during the running-in stage that you present a danger to other road users – if you crawl along the motorway at 35 mph then you will present a danger both to other road users and to yourself: avoid such roads until your engine is run in.
