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There are two curcuits on a carb. One is the idling curcuit and one is the throttle curcuit. The Throttle curcuit should be closed all the way, and the idle curcuit is adjusted separately. It looks like your carb has had just the opposite done with all the carbon buildup. This happens a lot. Fram oil filters got a bad name several years ago because they ruined a lot of (I think) LT1's. I heard they left out a spring that kept pressure on the bearings. They corrected the problem, and paid for some engines, and I haven't heard anything since. You could probably use lard to prime an oil pump if you wanted to, as long as it pulls the oil through and gets pressure quickly. Whatever is used will absorb and be dissapated in the oil. Do you have to change the oil when you first get it running? No, but a lot of people do. If you are not sure of how to put the bottom end together, have a professional do it and learn from them. With the clearances set up properly, before the head goes on, you should be able to turn the engine over using a socket on the crank.

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I want to be different like everybody else.

Yeah!!!!!!! I agree totally. One time I had a Honda 350 that I had bought brand new and got in an accident by an old guy with one eye hitting me from behind. I repaired that bike which had a bent frame and had to remove everything off the frame first. I was just 16, and mostly working on my own while my dad milked the cows. When I came back after my first year of college I put the whole thing back together. (After straightening the frame with my friend's tow truck winch!) I forgot to add the oil.

What do you think happened? I only got a couple hundred yards down the highway, and the engine seized. I almost spilled, but held on to a stop.

So that should show, if there's no oil at all it won't go far. It must have been a spun bearing. The oil galley goes to three destinations: the oil jet, crankshaft, and cylinder head. There must have been a blockage in the crank system, and I think it was a turned bearing.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

This time around, I'm going to assemble the engine in the shop on a stand. I'll be checking each bearing with plastigage. I gotta get it right.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Hey John didn't you say that you found one of the dingle berries from your cylinder hone in the oil pan? do you think it could have blocked the oil flow some where?

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Did a v8 conversion in 1981 on my '76 luv
Current Fleet
#1 1980 Black 2wd, #2 1980 Blue 2wd, #3 1980 Black 4x4 #4 1980 black 2wd Long bed #5 1979 black 4x4 #6 1977 red 2WD
pics
http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q223/gs11x/

No because it couldn't get in to the oil galley. There's a screen on the oil pump. However there is one still missing, which I will look for when I pull the engine out.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Boy howdy it stick tight in just a couple of minutes.I would like to look at the pressure relief valve and see if it is stuck open.

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1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

That LUV 1.8 engine ran for carb adjustment time, and break-in time, and over 12 miles to stop and see a friend, and then we were five miles or so down the freeway before it failed. It was more than a couple minutes. It didn't seize, either.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

did you do all that on the first day the motor ran? that and you said that you didnt break it in for very long. plus you had the sythetic oil in it.

what weight was the oil?

whenever i build a fresh motor i usually dont take it for a drive the first day it runs. i usually run it for initial break in. then run it 2 or 3 times later that day till the motor is to operating temp, and then let it cool. then the next day i usually take it for a drive, but at low speeds. ill drive it at low engine speeds for about 2 days if i put alot of miles on it, and then i can start getting into it. it usually about a week of driving before i see what the motor will actually do.

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

I feel so mad that I didn't break it in right and I have to do it all over again. Well this time around I will be much more careful, cuz I want to have a LUV running down the road trying to loosen my load. (BlackLuv can have something to say here) Anyhow, it's amazing how much you don't remember after being out of it for some years.

I had 5W-30 detergent oil in it first, then after breaking it in by running at about 2000 RPM for ten minutes, I changed the oil. I can't really say what RPM it was cuz I didn't hook up a tach, and it was probably less. I got a deal on full synthetic oil, (Pennzoil 10W-30) and then I also bought a Fram "Tough Guard" oil filter. When I changed the oil, my neighbor Jeff and his brother Adam were here, and they said fill the filter half full, so we did, and I put it in. It sounded the best I'd ever heard it, and really had awesome response from the throttle. I didn't race it, or try to spin out, or any of that. Later that evening, my wife and I rode around the block one time. The next day was our inspection date, and we went to see a friend who is 13 miles from here, before going on the freeway south to the inspection station in Tacoma. This was my second inspection appointment, as I had canceled the first one for repair of the broken tensioner adjuster. I admit I was pushed for time. I didn't use any plastigage on the installation of the main bearings or rod bearings. I just put new standard-size parts on it because I was seeing the standard sizes coming off. So I think what happened was I didn't get the right size parts in, and the crank wasn't ready for the new bearings either, and some of them must have turned. I'm going to be able to look at it better when I get it out and put it on an engine stand.

I also will be assembling the machined block and engine, but I will be a lot more careful and have Jeff help me, and even better, the engine will be in a stand. All the tips are appreciated, but I really am not convinced the oil pump was at fault. I think it will siphon it's own oil since it's so well machined. I think putting heavy grease in the engine would be an error, but I admit I haven't decided one way or the other. I don't intend to insult anyone on the forum, and I'm sure you will all appreciate the feedback both ways. I think if it were a crtitical operation, the oil pump itself would include those directions. I expect Bill (Nascar44) to show up here maybe tomorrow, and I will discuss this with him, too.

I've heard a little more from the machine shop, and they have magnafluxed the block and the crank, and determined they're both good. I'm quite sure the rods are good, and my head will be good, so it looks like so far it's a go. A true joint effort from Tazman, Catman, and myself.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

If a engine is assembled correctly with the right clearances the only breakin it will need is to seat the rings. The way rings are manufactured today they seat really fast. A few runs from say 20 to 60 miles per hour at full throttle and the rings will be seated if they are going to seat.

A engine built for high performance use should be started and run at a high rpm for breakin. The way you break it in is the way it is going to run best.

yeah, the breakin in the most important time in a engines life.

i was thinkin last night on a way to prime the engine. when i get to it on mine, i plan to pull the sparkplugs, and the fuse that runs the coil. then just turn it over with the starter untill the guage reads pressure. i also plan to have the valve cover off to see if the head is also getting oil.

i think that way would work quite effectively. since there will be no compression with the plugs out, itll turn over easy as pie.

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

I assume my eng. builder used a good assembly lube on my 80. I did not prime the oil pump. I pulled the coil wire off and cranked the eng. until the oil light went off and then some more. I had no problems and have over 6000 miles on it now. I always fill my filters before install.



I think you either just spun a bearing for whatever reason or that dingle berry is jambed in somwhere it shouldn't be and it starved for oil. Not right away.... but later. maybe even after you were on the freeway.


John... no appointments until after you know this truck runs for a day or to. Don't get rushed, ok? Lots of non freeway speed trips around the block. 40 - 45 mph or slower. Up to operating temp. and park it and let it cool ALL the way back down.

I know this is costing alot of $, but that van might brake down again. This truck will be like new and should run forever for you.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

The engine builder primed the pump before he installed it in the engine.

Rondog said he primed the pump. It shouldn't matter if the parts are assembled correctly the oil should be up to full pressure within a few seconds. I agree with running the engine with the starter to see the pressure come up and watching the top of the head to see the oil reaching there too. I will do that, but I'm not convinced about filling the pump with something so viscous as vaseline. Maybe Rondog could call his engine builder, or for that matter, maybe I should start calling around to see what others might say.

The word from the machine shop is a week and a half, and my parts will be ready. So far it all looks good.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

I installed the pump and oil pan. I think it's a blame thing. They don't want to be responsible.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

When i refer to priming the pump i am talking about filling the pump with vaseline or oil not spinning the engine until you have oil pressure. I agree with spinning the engine until oil pressure is achieved. No oil pump should be installed in a engine dry.

If the parts are not assembled correctly meaning the clearances are too great the engine oil pressure will never reach a acceptable pressure.

I agree with this. Now that I think about it, I did prime the pump with eng. oil before installed it on my 1.8. But I forgot to do it on my 1.9 that I hope in drop into my 78 tomorrow.

I would think a thick STP oil would be good enough for eng. assembly and oil pump priming, especially if you are going to have it running within a month. Longer than that maybe a grease would be needed.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

But I did install a brand new pump dry, and drove 150 miles around on it. That time I hadn't removed the front cover. There was also a lot of tune up and carburetor adjusting done, so I would say that engine ran at least four hours, and did NOT break down. I tore it apart to fix the broken timing chain adjuster, and decided to improve the rebuild by replacing the rings and bearings, which I do regret, but now it's going to be done right, and I only live once with a LUV or without. I'm convinced it's worth it to be with.

Luvrv8 said if you ran that far it isn't without oil, so the claim that several of you make is not valid, as I have proven.

The engine failed from poor assembly and wrong-sized bearings, which led to oil starvation, but not from lack of oil pump performance.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

The only fly in the ointment on the dry oil pump is, if you can remember that far back, the Castrol Syntec synthetic oil commercials where the engines were drained of oil, both dino based and synthetic, and then ran until they died. The superior characteristics of the synthetic supposedly let it run for over 30 minutes, as shown in their 30 second commercial.

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If you think no one cares, try missing a couple of payments...



FIAA!

SFPP!

The devil is in the details. I never used synthetic in the LUV until the last run.

See I know this is confusing, but I got 1351 photos taken of my LUV over the last five months. These photos are grouped in five different categories to separate and distinguish them. I have to think of the progress of this restoration in stages to keep it clear in my mind, and some of you might not start at the beginning and read it all to understand this is the third time around. The time I drove with the new oil pump was the first time I drove the LUV, and that was the time the pump started out dry with no thought of priming an oil pump. It ran fine, and never overheated.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.