Thread: Tips before starting cam build

Hey, I've fairly well got far in my build and stuff, engine got back in car yesterday evening.

Car is a '04 Comp-G w/ 65k

What I've put in is ; New head gaskets, got the heads magnafluxed + milled + ls6 springs + modded retainers and viton valve seals, ls7 lifters and a XP cam.

Now what my question is ; Is my order / "break-in" / oil change order fine.

So on the startup tonight what I planned to do is ;

1; Fill it up with new coolant & oil,
2; Do the security relearn for the Overkill PCM
3; With the fuel pump relay removed; prime the engine oil pressure for a few cycles, waiting a few secs in between.
4; Re-install fuel pump relay and attemp to crank, see if everything sounds fine or not,
5; If everything sounds okay, let it idle up to operating range, bleed coolant,
6; One coolant is bled, change the oil a second time,
7; Crank her up again, go in for a 100-200 drive
8; If no rod knock, change oil for a third time,
9; Be happy that my cammed build works, have a beer, or two, or three.


Anything I missed?

I changed my oil after 1000 miles then 3000 after that.

Well I started it up, lifters took about 2-3 mins to pump up, then it sounded pretty darned good, had no issue starting at all and so far made its way home, about 20km done.

Left it idle for about 15-20 mins to bleed coolant and see if everything is fine, changed oil, now my mech suggested that I keep this oil for a ride back and forth to work, about 300km, then change oil(That would be my third one)

Now I'm pretty slow on the throttle, keeping it under 2-3k as much as possible.

No need to be easy on the gas. Go beat in it. You won't hurt anything

Mmhm, just for a peace of mind, I like to keep it slow / out of boost.

So far I've got 50km on it and about 1h30 of running since the cam swap, 2 oil changes, 50km on the second oil change.

Everyone suggests me to drive at least 500km with it, which I will do, so if I change my oil next thursday evening, I'll have roughly around 500km.

So far everything seems to run fine, anything I should worry about still? May I release some of the stress and enjoy the lope?

Well coolant... All I did was drain it before cracking the engine open, then emptied the whole remaining in block with a vacuum/straw.

Main thing about oil is to make sure there's no trace of coolant left, thus after the job, drain it, put fresh oil/filter, let it run till you have time to bleed coolant of all the air, then shut down, drain again, and drive it for 500 miles or so, then change again. This is what I've been recommended, and after blowing an engine in the past after a LIM job, I take no chances anymore.

Also another question to pals with XP cams, what is your vacuum like? Idling mine seems to be around 15-16 in/hg. If I recall it's lower due to the cam & drive-by-wire TB.

Honestly when I did my cam swap I didn't do any of that or motor swaps just started them up at the first crank. Never had a issue at all. Only thing I did is the oil and coolant of course but besides that ran it slow till I got a tune 2 days later.