I would like to thank each of you for your time/advice/and UD for the cam. Without your help and giving of your time I know this would have never went so smoothly. Monday afternoon my new baby Rat came to life for the first time. It was mounted on a Costco engine run stand in my driveway. I used a marine 6 gallon fuel tank with a primer bulb and filled the fuel bowls before cranking. A garden hose was used for cooling with adapters and no thermostat and I was able to keep the temp. between 180-190 depending on rpms. The engine fired on its first revolution which actually scared me and held 75 lbs. of oil pressure cold and later when warm at idle 47 lbs. I run it for 30 to 40 minutes and shut it down....making sure to close off the water supply prior to shut down to avoid shocking the aluminum heads. I rolled it back inside and allowed it to cool. I pulled off the exhaust and valve covers and re-torqued the heads. I also added a 1/2 turn more pre load to all the valves which originally had a 1/4 turn and had a very faint tick. I changed the oil and re-torqued the intake and put everything back for a second run. I just came in from its second run of about 45 minutes when I ran out of fuel...only started with 3 gallons on Monday...It might be thirsty...:yes: Today after getting most everything dialed in I took a little stroll around the back side to listen to it out the exhaust....UDHarold...:bow:. To say the least I am thrilled with its semi mild lope and 15 to 16 inches of manifold vacuum at idle and silent valves and lifters. I expected a cloud of smoke on initial start up but I have yet to even see a whisper thru my downpipes and mufflers....:noway:. I did rev it a few times today and she rev's like a 2 stroke...very responsive....Again I want to thank you guys.....I owe you all.....:thumbsup:

What cam is in there?

Vince its a 223/231 .575 lift with all stock ZZ454 valve train with no mods. I only took it to 5500 rpm's today till it hit the rev limiter. I also wanted to test it as well... as my car has no Tach. I am running a reproduction 4346 Holley 780 and it was very responsive and clean right out of the box....To say the least I'm thrilled and sipping a Crown and Coke as I type. Now its time to freshen up that glide.

Great story! All the above mentioned gentleman are the men when it comes to helping so many people with their engines and projects etc. Mike has helped me tremendously on 2 of my engines and I run one of Harold's recommended cams! This is the greatest muscle car web site bar none! Thanks to everybody that contributes to helping here on TC! Would love to see pics of your engine running on Costco engine stand!

Bob

Bill, I second what blazerbob said. Are you puttin that 454 in the 67? Or-

Bob you are dead on with these guys....What a asset to myself and many others here on Team Chevelle. I cant count the hours I have spent on this site trying to learn as much as I can....There are many others I need to thank as well and they know who they are Including Al and Dot for keeping this site running :waving:...I'm going to try to put a couple pics in this post of it now back in the garage as we are having a brief shower....I am so relieved as to how things went with this engine start up I'm almost giddy. Yes John I am putting it in the 67 and hoping it will be a nice beach cruiser.
Oh well that didn't work I tried to link them to this post...But they are now in my showroom and available in the link below.....:thumbsup:

Hi Bill,

Beautiful chevelle...congrats!

I'm hoping to start my UDHarold roller cammed 489 soon myself.

Are you happy with the Costco stand? I've been trying to talk myself into one, but with tax and shipping, it gets a little pricey. Any chance you might sell that one when you're done with it? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to ask. :thumbsup:

Anyway, enjoy cruising along the beach. I'm in Tallahassee and try to make it down there a few times every summer...such a nice area. Panhandle beaches are the best.

Take care,
Jason

Hey Jason thanks for the kind words.....Overall I am very happy with the run stand. I wouldn't say its construction is Heavy Duty and the assembly instructions may be lacking a bit....but it does preform well. They are made to fit a lot of different engines so they have slip joints reducing its rigidity some. They could however be easily welded to increase that once your determine where you might want it or even some bolts added for that matter. I am going to hold onto it as soon as its freed up this time I am going to put my 396 on it so I will be able to run it periodically. This stand was shipped in and it does weigh quite a bit. You might be able to order one online if your traveling near one of their stores and pick it up yourself. If I remember correctly they have stores in south Florida and quite a few other locations. I don't know how to weld but one could be fabbed up quite easily with a set of drawings and a trip to the salvage yard for materials. They do work great and allow you to leak check everything prior to installation. I recently helped a friend install a new motor with a flat tappet cam and he did have problems with cooling in the car during break in with our heat factored in.....With one of these you just add a little more water from your hose...No shut downs and no mad scramble for fans trying to add more air flow to the radiator. The beaches in the panhandle are the best and I love living here.....fishing not bad either.....:yes:. But please feel free to drop me a line when your coming down this way and hopefully we could hook up. Best of luck on your new engine and I'm sure you will be very pleased with your UDHarold cam.....:thumbsup:
John one other thing about the stand was their wiring instruction for the gauges were really lacking with no reference to any wire colors or terminal lettering. After fooling with the temp and oil pressure gauges one whole afternoon I just rode into town and got mechanical ones and resolved that issue. The Tach and vacuum gauge worked fine thou as did the ignition switch.

Thanks Bill.

I do have a welder, so maybe I'll try and fab one up.

Question...could you explain a little bit more about the water? I noticed it didn't
have a radiator, so I was wondering how to keep the motor cool.

Sounds like a hose feeds the water pump? Does water just run out the other side
after it cycles through?

And if I fab one, is this a special fitting on the costco stand or something I can make?

Sorry about all the questions, but I'd really like to do this. Beats pulling the motor
to fix leaks.

Thanks,
Jason

Hi Bill,

Glad to hear all went well, I was happy to help :)
Thank you & everyone for the kind words, we try :beers:

Jason you are correct no radiator needed....It did come with fittings for your original radiator hoses. You feed thru the water pump with no thermostat and it discharges out the upper hose. It allows you to control the engine temperature by water flow. I added a small ball valve on the feed side...I think I will switch to a globe valve from now on as you really had to be careful as it opened and closed very fast. You can make your own fitting as well with PVC pipe bushing and threading in a hose adapter and just hose clamp it in your radiator hoses. I used a wash machine hose on the discharge side to get the water to the ground and close enough so I could monitor flow. (CAUTION) please be careful and shut off your water flow prior to shutting down your engine as you do not want 60 or 70 degree water flowing into a hot block and aluminum heads. Jason I really enjoy this set up it allowed me to be very close to everything as it was a 1 man crew doing the runs. I didn't have any leaks (well one small one on a fuel line that was easily fixed by snugging it up) but it does give me piece of mind. I can now concentrate on all the other things that are new under the hood on initial start in the car. It also made it very easy to pull it down and re torque everything. Please feel contact me if you need any further assistance....:D

Jason you are correct no radiator needed....It did come with fittings for your original radiator hoses. You feed thru the water pump with no thermostat and it discharges out the upper hose. It allows you to control the engine temperature by water flow. I added a small ball valve on the feed side...I think I will switch to a globe valve from now on as you really had to be careful as it opened and closed very fast. You can make your own fitting as well with PVC pipe bushing and threading in a hose adapter and just hose clamp it in your radiator hoses. I used a wash machine hose on the discharge side to get the water to the ground and close enough so I could monitor flow. (CAUTION) please be careful and shut off your water flow prior to shutting down your engine as you do not want 60 or 70 degree water flowing into a hot block and aluminum heads. Jason I really enjoy this set up it allowed me to be very close to everything as it was a 1 man crew doing the runs. I didn't have any leaks (well one small one on a fuel line that was easily fixed by snugging it up) but it does give me piece of mind. I can now concentrate on all the other things that are new under the hood on initial start in the car. It also made it very easy to pull it down and re torque everything. Please feel contact me if you need any further assistance....:D A guy i know used to change out the water in his block during rounds of a race, it cracked either one of the heads or the block. Both the engine and cooling system should be kept as close as possible in operating temperature during operation and be allowed to cool together when shut off also, once cool, warming the engine and water again at the same time should be O.K. though. That is a great looking '67 SS convertible you have. I really like the unusual color.

Thanks Bill. That explanation helps a lot.

I've been looking around the net quite a bit and I think I'll try to
fab one up. Can't be too hard...


Thanks again,
Jason

Thanks Harold its supposed to be Maderia Maroon its close but comparing it to the original cowl paint it might be a slight bit off.....Your welcome Jason good luck and your right should be easy to fab up. I need to repaint my engine in my boat and re gasket it this winter as well so it's gonna pay for it self quickly.

Bill,

Thanks for your kind words. It was entirely my pleasure, and I hope it brings you many happy years of driving.

UDHarold