Finally my braand new 350 (after 2 weeks of prep and taking out the old engine) is in and running. And boy does it idle smooth.

Few questions though.

1) 59 pounds of oil pressure @ idle??

2) With timing light on plug#1 TDC was +50 degrees?


As of right now I am running the engine to break it in. Temp is shi of 210 (100-210-260 are the numbers on the gauge).

 

Good to hear!!

1. What oil are you using? Should be no heavier than straight 30.

2. What balancer and timing mark are you using? Did you check the accuracy of the mark before you put it in, while it was easy?

Temp sounds fine for a new motor. They always run a little hotter for the first few thousand miles, maybe as soot builds up in the exhaust ports and forms a layer of insulation I would expect.

 

Yeah, before it went in everything was good

Balancer, piston, and distributor all matched when I installed it. We cranked it up yesterday and it idled smooth as silk, it just that when we put the timing light on it we had to advance the timing light to around 50 before we could see the mark on the balancer.


-when we first craanked it--
It idled smooth with the distributor turned counter-clockwise as far as it would go(advancing the timing).

--made distributor adjustment--
We then rolled it back inside and took the distributor out to move it 1 tooth counter-clockwise. It wouldn't run(backfired).

--readjusted distributor to original position--

It runs good. I've drivin it around town and has good HP. The only thing is that at idle it has a slight hesitation if you punch the gas.

running 5w-20 in it

 

Is that with the timing connecter disconnected ?

 

The oil pressure will be high for a bit, new engine=TIGHT engine.

Sounds like something might be up with the dist.

 

well the distributor is from the 305

 

That won't make a difference. But there might be something wrong with it, loose reluctor ring, worn gear etc.

 

I've always had high oil pressure.. used to be that the guage would almost never leave 60psi (pegged) so I thought it was bad.. but then I changed the oil, it drops to 0, and back up like it's supposed to... but now it doesn't stay pegged anymore.. when the car warms up and idles around 600rpms or so, it's down around 35psi, and anywhere over like 1200rpms it's pretty much pegged.. not sure if I have a high pressure oil pump.. maybe the engine was rebuilt right before I bought the car with a better oil pump... maybe that's the case on yours?

 

Well the engine is brand spanking new from the local GM dealer.

 

If it bothers you, get a new sending unit. It's the one piece most likely to fail. I'd say it's about 3 or 4 times more likely to be bad than all other pieces of the systme put together; so if' anything is wrong, it's probably that.

 

Still working out the lose strings on the engine. At idle it(350) smells like when I didn't have the PCV return to the air cleaner connected back when the 305 was in it. I didn't have time to check for vacumm on the canister but I did have time to stop by the local autozone (the guy with brains was working). Turns out there is a slight difference in the distributor modules for the 305 and 350. Can anyone help? A wire diagram would really help.