“It’s A Christmas Miracle!”

That’s what the kids kept saying. Today was the first startup of the new 455. The first attempt was foiled by a low battery. In the second attempt the timing was off 180 degrees. After charging and timing, the engine started immediately and with a vengeance. Open headers with 3 in collectors brought the neighbors out (literally). Thanks Joe for building a good engine (So Far)!

For posterity, here’s the highlights:

• The engine has already been run about 30 minutes by the original builder to break in the cam. This was about a year ago though.
• Primed the oil pump with a drill prior to starting. Oil pressure read ~50 psi while priming. Primed for about 30 seconds.
• New Lunati 5w30 break in oil and a new Bosch filter.
• All new fluids (Coolant, PS, Trans)
• 11 degrees initial advance at idle. I’ll dial in the timing curve later.
• ~50 psi oil pressure at idle, ~75 at higher rpm.
• ~16-20 inHg of vacuum at idle with no vacuum users hooked up (brakes, distributor, etc).
• RPMs were varied between ~800 and 2k.
• Ran the engine long enough to time and bring up to temp. Coolant temp opened the thermostat. About 5 minutes total so far.

Everything seemed to be spot on! Enjoy the video! It’s not the best quality, but a smart phone is what I had.

Tomorrow the front end goes back on!

LEFTLANEBRAIN