Getting ready to fire it up!!!

Alright everyone, it's the big day!
As far as I know, I have covered all of my bases and this motor should come to life. I just have a few quick questions:
1. In regards to a 4 barrel carb., do you guys use gasoline or that spray stuff, and which barrel/s to you put it in?
2. Is it okay to fire up an engine with just the headers installed?
3. What are the odds of an engine blowing up the first time it is fired up?
4. What is the quickest and easiest way of checking that the spark plugs are receiving spark?
5. If the spark plugs are not receiving spark, what are the possible problems?
I know questions 4 and 5 make it seem like I have not in fact covered all of my bases, which I suppose, in this case, I haven't. But just go with me on this one. I'm pretty sure I should get spark...lol!
Thanks!
Keith

what cam ?

TheFrog wrote:Alright everyone, it's the big day!
As far as I know, I have covered all of my bases and this motor should come to life. I just have a few quick questions:
1. In regards to a 4 barrel carb., do you guys use gasoline or that spray stuff, and which barrel/s to you put it in?
2. Is it okay to fire up an engine with just the headers installed?
3. What are the odds of an engine blowing up the first time it is fired up?
4. What is the quickest and easiest way of checking that the spark plugs are receiving spark?
5. If the spark plugs are not receiving spark, what are the possible problems?
I know questions 4 and 5 make it seem like I have not in fact covered all of my bases, which I suppose, in this case, I haven't. But just go with me on this one. I'm pretty sure I should get spark...lol!
Thanks!
Keith

1 If its a holley with out an electric fuel pump, fill the bowls front and rear through the vent tubes on top. If it has a elec. pump turn it on and check your fuel level through the sits plugs on the side
2 Yes
3 slim if all was check during assembly.
4 pull the plug that you want to check, put that cylinder at tdc on the compression stroke,(with your distributor close in time) hold that plug to the engine to ground it and move your distributor back and forth with the ignition on, it should arc. Then follow the firing order through all eight.
5. That needs to be addressed when the time comes, we need more info as to what ignition system your running.
6. If a flat tappet cam is being used, the engine needs to start as soon as you crank it and be brought to above 2000 rpm and varied in rpm for about 30 min.watching oil pressure,temp, ect. An engine oil such as Rotella, Vavoline VR-1 or equivalent with plenty of zinc and a engine break in additive

Hmmm? What cam? Honestly, that is a really good question. I have no clue!
I didn't build this engine from scratch. I bought it like this and have been working on getting it to this point.
Let's see, how do I go about finding out what cam it is and how important is it to know that? Sorry, still new to this stuff.
Keith

IDT-572 wrote:

TheFrog wrote:Alright everyone, it's the big day!
As far as I know, I have covered all of my bases and this motor should come to life. I just have a few quick questions:
1. In regards to a 4 barrel carb., do you guys use gasoline or that spray stuff, and which barrel/s to you put it in?
2. Is it okay to fire up an engine with just the headers installed?
3. What are the odds of an engine blowing up the first time it is fired up?
4. What is the quickest and easiest way of checking that the spark plugs are receiving spark?
5. If the spark plugs are not receiving spark, what are the possible problems?
I know questions 4 and 5 make it seem like I have not in fact covered all of my bases, which I suppose, in this case, I haven't. But just go with me on this one. I'm pretty sure I should get spark...lol!
Thanks!
Keith

1 If its a holley with out an electric fuel pump, fill the bowls front and rear through the vent tubes on top. If it has a elec. pump turn it on and check your fuel level through the sits plugs on the side
2 Yes
3 slim if all was check during assembly.
4 pull the plug that you want to check, put that cylinder at tdc on the compression stroke,(with your distributor close in time) hold that plug to the engine to ground it and move your distributor back and forth with the ignition on, it should arc. Then follow the firing order through all eight.
5. That needs to be addressed when the time comes, we need more info as to what ignition system your running.
6. If a flat tappet cam is being used, the engine needs to start as soon as you crank it and be brought to above 2000 rpm and varied in rpm for about 30 min.watching oil pressure,temp, ect. An engine oil such as Rotella, Vavoline VR-1 or equivalent with plenty of zinc and a engine break in additive

1. Alrighty, I do not have an electric fuel pump so I'll go ahead and put fuel into all four barrels through the vents.
2. Sweet, did this already.
3. I hope all was done correctly since it was assembled when I got it. What happens if it does blow up? Can it kill me?
4. Okay, I think I understand this correctly.
5. Totally understandable. Hopefully this won't even be an issue.
6. Uhhh, what? This is totally foreign to me but now I know why it's important to know what type of cam I have. What if I don't have a flat tappet cam? How do I know?
Thanks,
Keith

are you spam?

cool40 wrote:are you spam?

Uh, last time I checked I wasn't. Hold on, let me check again

#3.........if it blows up,you'll know it but it should'nt hurt much.

After reading this thread,the answer to #3 would most likely be very high.

KA-BOOM ......ouch

The answer to #4 is to take the plug out and reattach the wire back to it, then hold it in your hand tightly. Then have your wife or a good buddy to try to start the engine. you'll know pretty quick if it's firing

56Tbird wrote:The answer to #4 is to take the plug out and reattach the wire back to it, then hold it in your hand tightly. Then have your wife or a good buddy to try to start the engine. you'll know pretty quick if it's firing

Damn it Hobbs, you beat me to it! I was gonna say...

"Don't listen to that Blake guy, he's a newbie and has no clue how to check spark" and then list your exact procedure

On topic: Good luck with the new engine. Have several sets of eyes watching for leaks and watching the gages. Be sure to set your timing ASAP while it's running. If the timing is too high or too low then it can make a LOT of heat in the manifolds/headers.

Dang. dan. you shouldn't tell him that, after reading that thread.

Great guys, now I don't know who to believe!!!...lol!
So what I got was that my engine may or may not blow up, that if it does blow up I'll either be dead or hurt badly, that a good way to check if my engine is getting spark is to see if I get shocked and that I might be spam.
I guess after all is said and done, I'm going just see what happens.
Is there a way to check timing without a timing gun?
Thanks,
Keith

If your actually serious..you need to locate someone who has a clue about an engine and have them help you. you won't get hurt by the engine blowing up .Other than your wallet.Good luck ,you are going to need it.

please get video of the fire up..........

And either have a fire extinuisher handy...or push the car out of the garage before cranking.

just fire it up on some turbo blue... and hold it at around 7800-8000 for 20 min. a brick on the pedal will do just fine. if its a new tranny rebuild as well throw it on some jack stands and put it in 1st while your doing your break in. that way you can kill two birds with one stone. and if you wanna kill three shut the garage door and drink some beer and keep a good eye on her....

maverick wrote:And either have a fire extinuisher handy...or push the car out of the garage before cranking.

that is the best idea so far.

cool40 wrote:#3.........if it blows up,you'll know it but it should'nt hurt much.

I recommend NOT standing on the side of the engine...Because if it blows guess what direction the parts are going....

Sweet, thanks for all the help guys! Oh, and for the huge helping of sarcasm. I feel so loved and accepted .
Anyway, if all goes well the engine should breath life tomorrow. Either way, I'll definitely be letting all you guys know

TheFrog wrote:Sweet, thanks for all the help guys! Oh, and for the huge helping of sarcasm. I feel so loved and accepted .
Anyway, if all goes well the engine should breath life tomorrow. Either way, I'll definitely be letting all you guys know

No really,Good Luck and be careful. I'm sure it will be a learning experience

Get a timing light! before you even try to start it. Oh and video is good too.

Hey guys, I have an update!
So I had a buddy of mine come over with his timing light and help me with starting the engine. The cool thing was is that the engine fired up after just a few cranks. The bad thing was is that it kept killing itself by flooding. So much so that I had fuel leaking out of my headers.
Anyway, after checking all the possible problems we could think of, we finally found out that it was the carb. All in all, I think things went pretty good. I needed to purchase some new parts anyway.
I need to get a new carb, new water pump and new radiator. After this, I should be able to get the engine fired so it stays running and get it timed with the help of my buddy.
Oh, I'll try to remember to get video of everything from here on out and I'll keep you guys posted.
Thanks again for all the help!!!