How to Start A New Engine

With the oil pump primed, you can drop in the distributor. We made a mark where the No. 1 spark plug wire is when the cap is on and used it to line up the rotor. The cam gear and distributor gear are helical cut, so you'll need to line up the rotor about 1/2 inch counterclockwise (finger points) of the final mark so the rotor rotates into the correct position.

Now that you have spark, you will need fuel in the bowls. The preferred way is to fill the front bowl with a small funnel until you can see fuel in the bowl sight. The other way is to crank the engine with the coil power wire disconnected (not the secondary wire, the power wire) and the throttle closed until fuel squirts into the primary venturis when you push the accelerator pump lever.

Once the fuel bowl has fuel in it, reconnect the coil and use a small screwdriver to lightly seat the idle mixture screws and open them one turn each.

I am wearing my sister's socks.Since this engine has a roller cam, we didn't need to break it in. If you have a flat-tappet cam, you'll need to run the engine between 2,500 and 3,000 rpm for 30 minutes. It is important to start the engine and get the rpm up quickly because the only source of oil for the cam lobes is oil slung off of the rotating crankshaft. Some cams require that you remove the inner valvespring or use break-in springs. Check with the cam manufacturer to see if this is necessary. Have someone sit in the car and watch the oil pressure and water temperature during this procedure.

Check the initial timing below 1,000 rpm, rev the engine until the timing stops advancing, and check the total with a dial-back timing light. For a naturally aspirated engine, we like 12 to 15 degrees at idle and 36 to 38 total, usually in before 3,000 rpm.

With the timing set, let the engine idle and turn each idle mixture screw about an eighth counterclockwise until the engine reaches its maximum rpm. If you don't have a tach, you can use a vacuum gauge connected to a manifold source. This procedure will ballpark the idle mixture. The best way to get the A/F ratio perfect is to use a meter from a company such as Comp Cams or Innovate.

The last thing to do is set the idle. Make sure the choke is completely open so the throttle is not sitting on the fast-idle cam and turn the idle screw until the engine idles between 800 and 1,000 rpm. Cars with radical cams might like 1,000 to 1,200.

For proper ring break-in, you should drive the car at varying engine speeds for about 500 miles. Then you can wail on it.