Tips for starting engine on the ground

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MOPEkidD-3 said:
Sooo what about the other issues; electrical, cooling, trans lines?
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I did this years ago with a 400 and a 727 trans with a couple of wood blocks under the motor mounts and it didn't fall over.Some wooden supports as pictured earlier would be much better but do keep away from exhaust heat.

One nearly painful lesson I learned is to be careful about where you locate your fuel supply...keep it in front of the engine far from the exhaust heat.Best to use a low profile metal boat gas container that can't be accidently knocked over.Don't ask how I know this.

If you have the rad hooked up and securely mounted with some type of good pusher fan you should be ok for cooling but you need to have a way to monitor the engine temperature.A gauge is best but one of those point and shoot temperature detectors would do the trick.Do use a thermostat in the engine to get it to run up to operating temperature.

You'll need to have some sort of trans lines if you use an auto trans as one of the outlets will be pressurized and will be pumping out fluid.Just a couple of short lengths of steel line joined with high pressure hose securely clamped would do it.You won't need to cool the fluid if the trans is in park but you will need to have fluid in it and a way to plug the tailshaft.You could use the slip yoke part of an old driveshaft as long as the trans is in park.

As far as electrical,basically all you need is an ignition system and a way to run the starter.
If you're firing an engine for the first time,you want it to start right away and keep running so you want your ignition system to work properly from the get go.
One way to test it when it's all wired up and powered up is to pull the distributor and spin it manually to verify you have good sparks coming from the coil.If that's ok then reinstall the distributor and set that to a ball park setting that you can run the engine on.
If you're running electronic ignition,turn your engine by hand to about 10 degrees BTDC and line up the reluctor to the pickup and this will get your timing in the ball park for startup.

You'll also want to have a known good carb that's filled up with gas and have your fuel system primed.I use one of those hand squeeze boat fuel pumps to get fuel to the carb for the initial go then let the engine fuel pump do the work afterwards.

Also be sure to prime the oil pump beforehand,do you know the procedure for that?
 
67GTConvert said:
I did this years ago with a 400 and a 727 trans with a couple of wood blocks under the motor mounts and it didn't fall over.Some wooden supports as pictured earlier would be much better but do keep away from exhaust heat.

One nearly painful lesson I learned is to be careful about where you locate your fuel supply...keep it in front of the engine far from the exhaust heat.Best to use a low profile metal boat gas container that can't be accidently knocked over.Don't ask how I know this.

If you have the rad hooked up and securely mounted with some type of good pusher fan you should be ok for cooling but you need to have a way to monitor the engine temperature.A gauge is best but one of those point and shoot temperature detectors would do the trick.Do use a thermostat in the engine to get it to run up to operating temperature.

You'll need to have some sort of trans lines if you use an auto trans as one of the outlets will be pressurized and will be pumping out fluid.Just a couple of short lengths of steel line joined with high pressure hose securely clamped would do it.You won't need to cool the fluid if the trans is in park but you will need to have fluid in it and a way to plug the tailshaft.You could use the slip yoke part of an old driveshaft as long as the trans is in park.

As far as electrical,basically all you need is an ignition system and a way to run the starter.
If you're firing an engine for the first time,you want it to start right away and keep running so you want your ignition system to work properly from the get go.
One way to test it when it's all wired up and powered up is to pull the distributor and spin it manually to verify you have good sparks coming from the coil.If that's ok then reinstall the distributor and set that to a ball park setting that you can run the engine on.
If you're running electronic ignition,turn your engine by hand to about 10 degrees BTDC and line up the reluctor to the pickup and this will get your timing in the ball park for startup.

You'll also want to have a known good carb that's filled up with gas and have your fuel system primed.I use one of those hand squeeze boat fuel pumps to get fuel to the carb for the initial go then let the engine fuel pump do the work afterwards.

Also be sure to prime the oil pump beforehand,do you know the procedure for that?
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this is funny !
 
adriver said:
I'm thinking it would be just as easy to put it in the car as doing it the right way.
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Not really the car is at a body shop getting spiffed up and is totally apart while the engine is in my home garage and my cousin wants to ship the whole thing done to Dubai when he goes back around the last week of December. It probably won't be done by then but once he leaves he won't be able to come back for a couple years at least (he's a UAE citizen here for college).
 
Well seeing how no advice is being offered I will offer mine. The use of wood for a base will work just fine. Because the engine has nothing to work against the torquing motion isnt that strong. Keep it low to the ground with a wide base and use some common sense. Your tranmission cooler lines,just hook them together. That circuit operates at about 15psi i believe. The output shaft will not move as long as you keep the trans in park. But you still need a yoke to prevent a loss of fluid. Use the biggest battery you can get. Make sure the cables are in good shape especially the terminals. Keep it simple. Power the ignition through a toggle switch and use a remote starter switch for the starter. Or short out the starter with a screwdriver. No alternator,right? Dont use jumper cables to hook up the battery. Give yourself plenty of slack on all connections. Keep your connections bundled and neat. Nothing to trip yourself on. Plan for problems. What if the battery dies? Or it starts overheating? Be careful and have fun.
 
hangn0ut said:
Well seeing how no advice is being offered I will offer mine. The use of wood for a base will work just fine. Because the engine has nothing to work against the torquing motion isnt that strong. Keep it low to the ground with a wide base and use some common sense. Your tranmission cooler lines,just hook them together. That circuit operates at about 15psi i believe. The output shaft will not move as long as you keep the trans in park. But you still need a yoke to prevent a loss of fluid. Use the biggest battery you can get. Make sure the cables are in good shape especially the terminals. Keep it simple. Power the ignition through a toggle switch and use a remote starter switch for the starter. Or short out the starter with a screwdriver. No alternator,right? Dont use jumper cables to hook up the battery. Give yourself plenty of slack on all connections. Keep your connections bundled and neat. Nothing to trip yourself on. Plan for problems. What if the battery dies? Or it starts overheating? Be careful and have fun.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips and yeah that's what I figured about the torque reaction from not being hooked up to anything. I watched a youtube video of a guy starting up and revving a 340 literally resting on the ground on the oil pan and it didn't flip over. I am going to go ahead and build a wood frame this weekend hopefully, and it won't just be a stack of planks... gonna use big threaded wood hex bolts or through-bolts to hold everything together. I have done a cam break-in before so I'm aware of the whole 2500-3000 RPM for 25 minutes deal and to just shut it down with no idling if something happens. This isn't a fully rebuilt engine BTW, basically untouched stock shortblock with stock heads cleaned up and a new cam/lifters. I know the engine ran well with no overheating etc. before we pulled it for the 'overhaul' and back then it even had a very slightly leaky head gasket and tons of junk in the cooling passages.

Here's that video, it moves around but it's not flopping all over the place out of control like some are suggesting.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndgYgQYrW7Y"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndgYgQYrW7Y[/ame]
 
It can flip over pretty violently if something breaks and the internals' rotational momentum suddenly whacks up inside the block and transfers all the energy there....so it can happen and has. The bracing is a good idea; you will only need it 'just in case'.....
 
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNP_2yPQXxE"]1954 331 Chrysler Marine Hemi - YouTube[/ame]
 
I have started up 2 different engines sitting on the floor just to show prospective buyer that they ran, didn't belch smoke or make any ugly noises. Only ran each about a minute, did not rev up very high. The V8 was quite stable, no drama. The inline 6 was stable until cutting the power, whereupon it tried to flip on it's side.
 
Why are all the You Tube videos done with Chevy motors?.....For the same reason everybody gave me **** about the wooden rotisserie I built after seeing one on a Chevy website. Chevy guys are so used to getting everything for Peanuts that they crap themselves at the price of real tools.
 
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