Well, I finally got the remaining tasks finished on my motor ( reconnecting harnesses, pulleys and belts, radiator and hoses battery etc.) and decided it was time to fire it up. After pouring a little fuel in the carb she come right to life......then died ...added a little more petro. Fired up again and got the dist. in the right spot.....revved the motor up to 2000, then noticed the header starting to glow.....shut it off, then realized a carb connector wasn't all the way in . Started it once more and she sounded strong and healthy.......Revved it for awhile until things started feeling really hot and realized my fan was not cycling......Shut it off again and noticed coolant spewing from the plug fitting in the water pump....Glance at the temp gauge and was near the red....Quit for the night.....when in checked this site out and did some searches to learn how to test my radiator fan switch. Couldn't wait till tomorrow so I went back out to ground the wire which connects to it.. Sure enough when I did so...nothing .... I remembered my knock sensor wire connector being identical so I grounded that wire and wall -la , fan kicks on.. I wasn't sure back when I first connected those wires if they were right...Now my concerns, if I haven't bored you to sleep yet.. .. Since I only averaged about 5 minutes of 2 grand revving, did I risk the proper breakin of my cam? I thought I'd try the whole deal again tomorrow. I can say the motor sounded quiet and smooth...no ticking or knocking sounds, but I did notice once I got out of the gas she wants to die instead of idle good, unless I bump the throttle a few. Any experienced comments appreciated...thanks

 

My engine overheated during cam break-in also... Next day I got a new heavy duty fan clutch and finished off the break-in. No ill affects and the engine has been running great for 3 1/2 years.

I'd check your timing, sounds a bit retarded if the headers are glowing. Also check for vacuum leaks. When you say the water was spewing from the water pump, was it coming out of the little weep hole or somewhere else? Friend of mine had a water pump go bad last week and water was shooting out like old faithful from the weep hole.

 

Richrad,

That's not uncommon. Higher TPM, no-load operation tends to heat an engine and turn valves cherry red because of the low air flow. Add the extra friction of new parts, and it's going to get quite hot. Boiling over happens more often than not.

So, you've got five minutes done. Refill everything, restart, and finish the remaining 15 minutes. No problems.

 

Well, it was leaking through the fitting hole for the heater hose. I have a plug there temporary. Today I fired it up again and the fan came on correctly....no leaks. Once I put the timing light to it I noticed that it was way off....adjusted that ,wondering if thats what made the headers glow...Idle quality is decent now also.....My headers are making some serious heat and they are coated so I'm thinking still lean? But I am a first timer for headers...Other than that, A small valve cover leak due to a loose bolt. Now to get it off the ramps and fill the p/s pump..

 

thanks for the info Vader, I think it's well broke in after todays run. This motor heats up very quickly, but the fan kicks in now ..although it runs for some time before it shuts off

 

My headers glowed red after cam swap, timing was off and valves were too tight causeing fuel to get into the headers and reignite..