LT1 Engine break-in procedure

[89Firebird2.8]

Been a long time since I posted here since i sold my bird. My friend still has his 95 Formula, and about 6 or 7 months ago, at 170,000 miles, the engine developed a crack in the cylinder wall and hydrolocked.

A new crate motor is being installed as I type, and he is pretty much clueless about break-in. He is also clueless about using the internet, so I figured i'd come on and ask for him how to break in an engine correctly.

[silicon212]

This engine has a hydraulic roller camshaft in it, so there is no special cam break-in procedure to be followed. you may start it up and idle it right away to check for leaks and make any running adjustments.

To bed the rings in properly, what I like to do with a new engine is take it out on the road somewhere there's not a lot of traffic, and run it hard to about 45 MPH or so (not from a standing start though, make sure you're about 20MPH or so before you punch it), then back off and let it engine brake to about 20MPH, and repeat. Do this for about 10 times. Keep in mind that during the bedding in phase, oil consumption will be higher than normal and you may see blue smoke in the exhaust. This is nothing to be concerned about; it is completely normal. Keep an eye on your oil level.

Other than that, be gentle with it (no lugging, towing, high RPM or anything else) for at least the first 500 miles. Change your oil and filter at about 500 miles, then again at 1,500 miles, then again at 3,000 miles, and then normal change intervals hence forth.