Overheating during cam break-in

[84mcss]

I have an 84 SS and i just put on new heads, cam, and intake. When it came down to actually firing up my 350, it wouldnt start. Anyways, after a while we finally got the timing right and it roared to life. Now, i started my cam break-in (2000-2500rpm for 20 min) and after about 5 min into the break in, my temp gauge started rising. It got to about 220 so i shut it down. I let her cool down a bit and the same thing happened again. I have the stock fan on still so i dont think its generating enough airflow. My radiator is full and i adjusted my valve lash again with the motor running (valve covers off.) Any suggestions on what to do to get it to run cooler so i dont overheat on break-in??

Also, is it common to find some very fine metal particles and cam lube in your oil when you drain it after cam break-in?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[richtazz]

First, do you have a fan shroud installed? I had an 81 Cutlass with a decently built 350 chevy that ran 20-30 degrees cooler while sitting (or in traffic) with the fan shroud re-installed (I was young and dumb and thought it wasn't necessary). Second, you can run water from a garden hose through the radiator to keep it cool while breaking it in. It is a VERY bad idea to shut the car off during cam break-in. A little bit of metal particles is normal, but the oil shouldn't look like metallic paint.

[84mcss]

my fan shroud is installed with a new 6 blade flex lite fan and my thermostat is not sticking. I tried the water through the radiator and it kept my temp at about 160 during break in but after 5 min the temp went back up to 220 and all i had was a soaked engine. Im going to try a bigger aluminum radiator considering that im still using the stock radiator that was for the 305 that came with my car not a 400 hp 350. Hopefully that will solve my problem.

Thanks for the help. Any more opinions would help too.

[blazes9395]

take the thermostat out and reconnect. run it without the thermostat for the break-in, this should solve your hot running engine. Either way check your thermostat.