440 brake in process/ engine breathing

Bill Mandaro said
Hey ya’ll, my 440 is almost ready to drop in and run but I got some questions. For starters any tips on the break in process will be appreciated. I’ve got a flat tappet cam so I’m aware I’ll need the zinc additives for the oil, I also learned from some research that the 1st 20 minutes of run time it should sit at about 2k RPMs. Now as far as Air cleaners go my buddy gave me a little 6x3 air cleaner and talked about building an acrylic box scoop and getting it to all sit outside the hood seeing as there’s a big hole in it already from the previous owner. I’m out of time and $$$ for this project so that’s not happening. For the break in I’m probably just gonna leave the hood and air cleaner off. After that though I need an air cleaner with really good breathability, any suggestions?

First off do NOT add zinc to an oil. It will not mix with the base oil.

The ZDDP in those additives isn’t the same as what is blended with the oil when it’s made.

Buy a break in oil.

Vary the rpm during break in. It changes the speed that the lifters rotate.

Keep the timing up. You should have 35-40 on it during break in at break in rpm.

Retarded timing causes heat in the exhaust and it’s damn easy to stick a valve.

If you are running a dual spring, pull the inners out, run it 20 minutes the put the inners back in and give it another 20 minutes.

A spring with a flat wire damper in it is not a dual spring. It will have two round wire springs.

Don’t crank on it to get it started. If it doesn’t fire up immediately STOP and figure out what’s going on.