I have a carbed 385 with a roller cam and all forged interenals. It is in the body shop right now getting painted and should be done soon. I want to drive it a little here and there to start working the kinks out of it so that by spring I can really have some fun. My question is:

Are there any major issues with doing this?
I am not going to drive it all the time, but should I just park it till it gets warm?

It has no heat, no PS and nothing else, only runs the alt. Thats it. It has a T-56 a chromoly DS and a Moser 12 bolt. (not sure if any of that helps you guys understand my situation)

I don't want to hurt the motor at all. I don't have a lot of $ anymore after doing this build so I def can't afford to screw anything up.

I am a mechanical engineer so I know all about parts getting brittle with low temp and all that stuff. Esspecially something that is forged.

Anyways, please wiegh in if you have any insight. I am not going to drive it more than from the paintshop to my house till I get more info on the subject... I hope you guys can help. Thanks in advance.

-Dennis

 

I dont see there being a problem with damaging your motor. You may have difficulties getting it to idle when cold. I would say just let it warm up for a couple minutes before you drive.
Also I wouldn't suggest using a heavy weight oil. The thicker oil IE 20w50 would be much thicker at lets say 20 deg. which would put strain on the oil pump and take longer to build pressure resulting in more time the bearings are without oil circulation. stick to a 10w30 or maybe less even...

 

right. Great idea. I have not even changed the oil once yet. It has less than 100miles still. I am going to change it when I get it back home. Maybe i will just use some thin oil like you said ^^^. It is def going to have a hard time idling, but whatever, it will be a bit of a bitch, no big deal, its not like it is my DD...................(yet), haha.

 

keep it in a garage where it will be shielded from the cold, start it up in the garage (with the door open of course ) and let it idle till warm, then u can drive it all you want. Most garages attached to a house tend to stay around 50 degrees. once its warmed up it wont get colder...u know that

i hope the bodyshop guys arent starting it up just to move it

BTW how is the paintjob comming? any news about how much longer it will be?

 

I don't think they are starting it up, but I don't know. They have had it for so long, I know they turned it on at least a couple times. Now that it is getting painted I dought it. The body guy got the flu, so there was a delay there. I know it is all in primer, so it should be soon. I hope to have it home by my birthday. I will be turning 23 on the 10th. I called the guy today and there was no one there Not a good sign. But not much I can do. I am def going to ask for some $ off due to the huge amount of delays.

I just want the paint to look nice and not be rushed, thats why it is hard to keep calling. The work looks great though. No locks, no antenna, no side blinkers and no gas door, looks REAL smooth. Maybe i will call again right now, and leave another message. UGH>.... I want to just sit in it!!! After all this time and $, I just want something I can sit in.

I know there are a ton if little things that need sorting out, but for now, I just want the paint done and the car sitting in my house again. Its been gone over a month and a half now!

 

Cold weather yay! dense cool air yay again! should make that engine run real good with the colder air. Just let it warm up before taking off in it.

 

make sure you got the jetting in the carb correct or that will be expensive.
every 30 degree change in temperature=1 jet size.
mine is real fussy in this cold weather untill warmed up to 180 on the water temp. You may have to make some mixture screw adjustments for the winter temps under 40 f.

 

i understand

 

Well today i am putting my foot down and calling the body shop till I get a response.

As for the coldness... Looks like I can drive it from what you guys are telling me.

To get it to run its best I was thinking about taking it to a dynoshop and having them tune it, and maybe ask to have them use the coldest air they can get into the place. Then I can do fine idle mixture adjustments at home. (I am super newbie still with carbs, although I am comin' along... Once I get the car back, learning can begin again.)

I don't mind paying to have it tunned now, and then again in the spring/summer.

It is my B-day this weekend and my parents are buying me a Dyno-tunning session, with the shop guys doing all the tunning!!

 

I saw the car today... it looks really good man. To tell you the truth the quality of the paint and bodywork blows my car out of the water, if that gives you any idea.

As far as the delays, chris sounded horrible today.. he has been really sick. The doors were a major set-back and same goes with waiting for some other parts. But the quality of work was worth the wait in itself. Trust me, i was the same way with my car. It was supposed to take a couple months but that slowly turned into 4 months... i was anxious and everything but i was happy when i got it back. Anyways, i hope ya like the way the car looks, and i'm glad to see i recommended Chris to do the body & paint. Car looks great man