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500 miles!

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drooartz

drooartz

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Hit the 500 mile mark this evening!

500miles.jpg


I'll be doing a full oil/filter change Monday night, and will give the full car a once over to make sure everything is as it should be. So far the only issues are an oil leak (still not quite sure from where, could be dipstick tube, oil pan, or maybe the timing cover) and a few rattles/buzzes that are RPM specific. Something loose somewhere...

I've been very good about following my break-in instructions and driving the car gently for these first few miles. I've been gradually pushing a bit harder, though still not digging in all the way. I did bring the car over to Park City on Saturday morning for our local Cars and Coffee. Just a few cars, but it's only our second one up here.

cac100515.jpg

<span style="font-style: italic">You can just see the Tunebug's bonnet behind the Cobra</span>

The drive there is just over 20 miles so not that far, but does have a section that gains just over 1000' (6000' - 7000' elevation) over a couple of miles at freeway speeds. The Tunebug pulled it well at just about 60 with no overheating. For contrast, the old motor was good for about 35, overheating all the way.

I still haven't really dug into the throttle yet, though I did find myself on a nice deserted stretch of road this evening and pushed just a bit. Woohoo!
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Nice and well done.
 
Most of those miles have just been around the valley where I live, and it's not very big. The folks who live on the roads I chose will be happy that I won't be buzzing by their houses every night now that I can range a bit farther. :smile:
 
I'm curious about the break in instructions that you've been following....? What are they and where did you get them?
 
The instructions came from Hap who built my motor. I've got a couple pages of notes from conversations with him plus the printed notes he sent with the motor. In essence:

1. First startup, run 20 minutes at 2k RPM to bed in the new cam.
2. After a few heat cycles re-torque the head.
3. For first 500 miles keep the drives short (30 minutes or so) and watch temps to make sure nothing overheats.
4. Change oil and filter at 500 miles.

I'm sure every builder has their own set of instructions and break-in philosophy -- I just did my best to follow Hap's instructions as closely as possible.
 
when I got to 500 I started really feeling good about things, my first hundred were a terror, really I had 600 when I felt like I was driving a well oiled machine (not road).

Mark
 
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