how to "re" break in a motor??

[slow93]

well i just bought an old maverick drag car that has been sitting for about three years..it will still start real easy and all that but im kinda leary of gettin on it too hard because of how long it sat..what is the best way to bring it back to its old way of life? ive heard maybe changing the oil and then letting the car run for about a half hour and then changing the oil again..dont know if this will do any good or not..if anyone has any suggestions on what to do i would appriciate it..

 

[304billet]

u s/h already changed the oil before starting it up. oil is only good for 3-6 months sitting.

then u s/h have primed the motor by pulling the dizzy and using a drill to spin the oil pump drive shaft, ever before starting it up.

Now if u have not done either, drain the oil and change the filter. The motor has already been broken in. all u can do now is romp on it. usually when a motor sits for so long, the valve seals go bad and sometimes the piston scraper rings stick.

all u can do now is change the oil and run it.

next time u buy a used race motor, have them do a leakdown test to see where the compression is at. s/b between 2%to 10% on a street motor more on a drag motor. I would think that 15% on a drag motor would be my limit of acceptibility. have them put it on a chassis dyno to see what the rwhp is or at a minimum an engine dyno to see if it is still a good build.

 

[vristang]

Fuel system cleaner
Coolant flush
oil/filter change

I think that is about all you can do.


jason

 

[slow93]

well i had to start it to load it on the trailer, i dont have a winch, but im definetly gonna change the oil and filter, maybe a couple times before i take it to the track..it was started from time to time during the three years and it still holds 80psi of oil pressure at idle so hopefully it will be ok

 

[v8only]

sweet, what are the details on the car? I'm putting close to 15-20 grand in a full maverick resto right now on our 72 that we've had since new, love mavericks. Mine is a 72 with a 302 that I'm swapping in a 5.0 roller efi powerplant.

cruise over to the forums at maverick.to, good site


as well, i have no clue as to the powerplant in that, but thorley headers JUST released some headers that will fit the 302 perfectly with clearance.

 

[slow93]

it is a 75.. mexican block 302, ported 351w heads, and all the little stuff..disc brake 9" rear with 4.86s.. its got all lexan windows and fiberglass bumpers and hood...its just a little project i picked up so i will have something that is automatic to race..my mustang is a 5 spd and i get tire if shifting every now and then

 

[Busted07]

Neat car, but the pink stripes HAVE to go.

 

[JChalfan]

Neat car, but the pink stripes HAVE to go.

That's a really cool car though, I've always liked Mavericks. I like the twin scoops on the grabbers.

It should be pretty fast, those mavericks are light.

 

[slow93]

oh yeah, the pink stripe is gone as soon as it warms up enough for me to mess with it..im pretty sure the guy i bought it from said it was 2800 pounds

 

[Busted07]

I think a set of drag lites or pro stars would change the whole look of that thing.. im just not a fan of the torq thrusts / cragar ss..

Ok, ill quit now

 

[slow93]

thats ok, i agree with everything that you have said so far..lol whenever i get the cash together i will prolly put some draglites on it, the cragers are 14 in and its gettin too hard to find tires (especially slicks) so they gotta go too

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

this is how I broke mine in, I had an exploder shortblock shipped to me, I turned it over a couple of times, made shure i had good oil, started it timed it, backed out of the garage and did a 20ft burnout with open headers, and I had it runnin all of 30 mins.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

1975? Hmmmm so it probably made it into the hands of an '80s rocker, which would explain the pink stripe and Craigers

Looks pretty sweet though!

 

[slow93]

haha, yeah you are prolly right

 

[JChalfan]

A set of the old-style (pre big-brother) bumpers would look really badass on there, off a 70 or 71. Dunno when they switched to the bigger ones. I would guess they're a straight bolt-up swap, but I could be wrong.

 

[slow93]

well since these are fiberglass bumpers im gonna leave them on there..at least for now..i dont mind the bigger bumpers personally