383 new rebuilt starting issue

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darty mcdartface

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I recently rebuilt a 383 for my 76 swinger, it’s a little hotter than stock with an Edelbrock top end kit and Icon dome pistons. I had the rotating assembly balanced, checked all clearances, installed all oil galley plugs, primed the oil system before starting, and by that point had already spun the engine over a few times by hand. Upon initial start the engine started making a not so happy grinding-ish noise. I stopped it there and started to investigate. I used a borescope and saw nothing of concern inside the engine, but there was a bit of metal in my oil (engine probably ran less than a minute total), I’m getting around 53 psi of oil pressure but I noticed oil hadn’t even splashed the inside of the valve cover and the oil that was getting to my top end wasn’t shooting out and instead only dribbling. Any ideas on what could be wrong with it?
 

Grinding noises + metal in oil with less than 1 minute of run time means engine has to come apart. All will be revealed then! Before removing engine make sure grinding noise is not external:
- ring gear hitting starter
- flex plate/flywheel bolts not hitting block
- crank pulley bolts not too long
 
Did you do anything different in the bottom end like rods, windage tray and oil pan?
 
Nothing new down there really. Got a new stock replacement oil pan, some ARP con rod studs and nuts, and that’s about it. Crank was polished and checked for cracks, con rods were checked for roundness when the rotating assembly was balanced, and obviously new bearings.
 
Also one thing to add, after looking at the videos that were taken when attempting my first start, it seems like the engine ran for probably a little bit longer than a minute, though I know it doesn’t really make a difference, just wanted to get my facts straight.
 
When it was primed was it dribbling like it was when it was running?

Apply the kiss principle first, imo.
Check all the obvious simple stuff.
 
No idea what it was doing while running as I had the valve covers on. I took them off after to start looking the engine over and noticed the oil hadn’t even splashed the valve cover anywhere. I tried priming it again with a valve cover off and noticed it was only dribbling out of the rockers.
 
Each time I primed it I went inside the car and bumped the starter occasionally to turn the engine over little by little and I made sure that oil came out of every rocker.
 
Check in the Bellhousing; there are several things in there that can make grindingish noises.
I know that won't solve your metal in the filter dilemma, but that could be a second issue.
Also, pull your dipstick out, and make sure it's still a dipper.. I've seen them get caught in the crank and look nothing like they're supposed to. and that could be the source of both problems.

As to oil in the rockers, it's not a Chevy. Mopars do not send much to the topend. If yur sure you assembled it right, and you have decent oil-pressure, then it's probably ok, but without a video, IDK.

BTW:
You know that there are left and right rockers, right?
and the rocker shafts fit multiple ways, only one of which is correct, right?
 
I’m gonna check the bellhousing next time it’s not raining. Dipstick looks fine and it’s the same one I used in my other 383 that I pulled out for this one. I’m not the most knowledgeable on this subject but if I’m correct, the side of the rocket shaft with a bunch of holes faces down? I’m also using 440 source max wedge reproduction adjustable rockers and I shimmed them to be as centred as possible on the valve stems, and they have a very obvious left and right rocker design.
 
There's a notch in one end of the rocker shaft, front on the driver's side head, back of the passenger head, holes down. The cam should oil the top end at 40° past top dead center?
 
It seems like I may have to switch my shafts around as I don’t recall a notch being on the front of the drivers side shaft.
 
Admittedly, I am a small block guy. I may be wrong on the notch thing. If I am wrong , sorry for misleading.
 
I checked my rocker shafts and the oil holes were offset to the wrong side, fixed that but I highly doubt that was the source of my issues. Still nice to prevent a future issue though. Gonna check out the bellhousing one of these days when the rain goes away again.
 
I was able to look into my bellhousing today, found my starter gear to be halfway engaged into my ring gear, fingers crossed that’s the issue.
 
Hopefully that’s it, but….
Have you bumped the engine over with the starter since the engine was last running?
If so, the starter will often stay engaged until the engine fires.

You could try turning the engine over with a breaker bar to see if that allows the drive to retract.

My other thought was……..there was mention of metal in the oil?
If so…….That’s not coming from the starter.
 
Definitely gonna have to try spinning the engine over by hand, hopefully starter doesn’t retract. I know the starter won’t cause metal in oil but as I’ve looked at the dipstick a few times since trying to start, and in better light, there’s not much metal at all. No flakes, no chunks, just a slight streak of grey on the dipstick. When I first looked at the oil it was on the darker side outside so I wasn’t able to see it the best. Gonna check the starter out and look for any other issues before I try to get it going again.
 
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