[r-mm]

I have a shelf full of nice high zinc/ZDDP conventional VR-1 20w50. I had planned to use this to break in my fully re-rebuild two liter motor, then I saw a quart of Comp Cams 10w30 break-in oil on the shelf and recalled I used it last year to break in my Porsche 964 motor at the advice of the shop who redid the heads. I really hate discussions about which miracle juice to use, they feel so futile as I have zero ability to truly research these things, it's all opinions and experience.

So. Those who build lots of motors. Do you use a dedicated break-in product or the same conventional oil you'll run the motor with?

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Regardless I will follow the normal procedures: ~20 minutes @ 2000 rpm, rad cap open, then varied loads no steady RPM cruising, drain oil after 200mi, next oil change after 1000mi then beat on it hard.

 

[1750GT]

....Regardless I will follow the normal procedures: ~20 minutes @ 2000 rpm, rad cap open, then varied loads no steady RPM cruising, drain oil after 200mi, next oil change after 1000mi then beat on it hard....

I was contemplating about this as well this week. I do see a recommended running in schedule in the factory workshop manual and was thinking of going with this with the car in stationary position.

For road running in I was going to follow the recommended factory procedure below....

 

[Andrew]

For an engine with new rings, follow the ring-maker's recommendation. Break-in oils are good, or regular oil with ZDDP added. Get the engine running right and not-leaking as quickly as possible, don't let it idle much, for the cam's sake if new cams and tappets. Go break in the rings as soon as everything is stable and running right, against a load. Revving in the garage won't do it unless hooked up to a dyno.

A lot of swarf, I think mostly from the cylinder walls as the rings break in, gets into the oil pretty quickly. So changing oil a few times in the first period is a good idea.

And don't forget head retorques.

Andrew

 

[1750GT]

Russ....I guess you'd be able to do as suggested by Andrew? I on the other hand can't get the car on the road till after I have it certified as roadworthy.....I think I have a dilemma...hmm.

 

[r-mm]

Yes my car is roadworthy but for its motor. I can certainly hit the road asap but noted several break in procedures beginning with ~20 minutes at high idle 2k rpm. I imagine I'd need at least 5-10 minutes to eyeball everything, so I plan for a bit of this before I start driving.

I have the hastings break in procedures and believe they worked well for me on past builds. I was mostly asking about the oil.

 

[Andrew]

I have built and run any number of engines on a little home test stand, before installation, to make sure things are basically OK. But it's really only for a few minutes to check function, compression, leaks, bad noises. Then it goes in the car and go out and break in the rings as soon as possible. All the ring makers' instructions say to do so immediately after getting the engine running happily enough to drive.
Andrew

 

[Andrew]

Read up on ring sites. Hastings, Perfect Circle, Total Seal, whoever. Once the rings are broken in, drive the car normally. Don't lug, don't hit redline, but you can drive it normally/moderately aggressively pretty soon, as long as you monitor temps and things are working right. Initially keep the rpm above idle a bit for cam lubing, but my sense is that’s for American V8s more, which always have cam oiling issues. Change the oil, retorque the head, then just use it. After 50-100 miles I don't even think about it as long as it's working well, other than staying away from lugging and redlining.
Andrew

 

[Alfar7]

I generally break in on the run stand as you describe in the first post. The oil I use for break-in is Rotella T1 40 wt. It has plenty of zink. (T1 available in 30 and 40 wt)
After the 3rd 20 minute run oil and filter changed to commonly Valvoline VR1 as these are race motors.
Heads torqued again to to 75lbft hot.

Unfortunately the Rotella variants of their 15-40 weight oils are now low zink

 

[180OUT]

On my last two builds (ported head cracked @ sparkplug hole necessitating build #2) I used generic 30 wt non-detergent w/ a zinc additive. Driving from Austin to San Antonio I took a back road so I could use the Hastings break-in procedure. Drained the break-in oil at 100 miles, switched to VR1 20-50 and all is well.

 

[RoryJ]

For what it's worth, I just had a Fiat twin-cam rebuilt using Hastings rings. The shop that did the work specified a break-in oil for the first 500 miles, I've been topping up with a Motul formulation to the same spec.

 

[andylarry]

Paul Spruell says 30wt non detergent oil for break in.

 

[180OUT]

Well, Paul is old school. As am I, I guess.