New engine is running

I got her out on the road yesterday for the first test drive. I got on it once and I can tell it has alot more power than before. Power flattened out at about 4800 rpm's before but now it's still pulling good at 5,000 I didn't want to turn it to hard yet so that was where I let off. The cam is really tame and doesn't seem to buck or anything crazy. It does seem to lope a bit but it's not as aggressive as the B303 I've had in a another car. I haven't even done any tuning yet. I know I've picked up a good bit of power but I don't know how much of it is because of the problems that the other engine had (Rings were broke and the bearings were wore out) or the mods I've done.

I am getting a check engine light now that I wasn't getting before and the thermostat seems to be sticking sometimes so I have a couple small issues to sort out. I'm gonna get a new thermostat today and double check everything. Overall I'm happy so far.

The car really just did not pull above 4,800. It ran a 9.07 @ 79mph in the 1/8th before the new engine. It was very torquey but just did not pull good in the upper rpm's. The car only has 78,000 miles on it but the previous owner drove it with a bad harmonic balancer for no telling how long then it sat for over two years without being cranked. I believe it broke the two rings upon initial firing after those two years.

I reringed a 88gt forged piston shortblock and installed a crower 15511 cam and put my heads and intake on it after I done some work to them. I don't think I picked up too much from the port work though because I am not a pro porter and I didn't want to mess anything up so I limited the work I done so I wouldn't mess anything up.

I installed a new thermostat and drove the car about 15 miles yesterday. I got to pull the codes on it because I keep getting a check engine light but other than that it seemed to run pretty good. It pulls hard to 5,500 rpms and I don't think I lost any torque. It will still just light the tires up from idle in first gear.

I'm gonna keep it! If I ever decide to sell the car or put it back stock for some reason I will have the original engine to go back in it. I didn't put the factory oil cooler back on the car either. I got all the original parts except the original mufflers and 3.08 gears.

Well I pulled the codes yesterday and I have two. left bank lean not switching and right bank lean not switching. I'm gonna check everything for vaccum leaks clean the maf and double check everything in the morning. I believe this is a condition that already existed but got worse with the engine transplant. I'm wondering if the bend in front of the mass air meter (CAI) is partially causing the problem.

The good news is other than the lean codes I'm surprised that the engine idles and runs as good as it does. It pulls much harder through the mid range and top end.

I checked the PVC yesterday but I have a few more things to check. I'm gonna make sure it is not a vaccum leak before I do anything else.