The V8 Owners Forum -

So, is running an engine unloaded ok for bedding in a new cam alone?

I am currently building up the block Pete/Sidecar kindly donated, this has done 5000 miles with the crank and pistons as fitted but i will be using a new cam. Ideally i want to be able to run it (and therefore run it in) before i fit it into the vehicle as i will be taking the car off the road to do the swap.

I dont really want to take a week off only to find the engine doesnt want to play.

How crucial is getting it to 2000rpm right away? Am thinking if timing is not quite right etc and need to stop to tweak things.

Sorry to hijack- but thought it wasnt really worthy of its own thread...

Quagmire wrote:So, is running an engine unloaded ok for bedding in a new cam alone?

I am currently building up the block Pete/Sidecar kindly donated, this has done 5000 miles with the crank and pistons as fitted but i will be using a new cam. Ideally i want to be able to run it (and therefore run it in) before i fit it into the vehicle as i will be taking the car off the road to do the swap.

I dont really want to take a week off only to find the engine doesnt want to play.

How crucial is getting it to 2000rpm right away? Am thinking if timing is not quite right etc and need to stop to tweak things.

Sorry to hijack- but thought it wasnt really worthy of its own thread...

There is always a big bun fight over this subject. Rover would not have run the cam in so maybe a low lift cam and light valve springs are OK. Heavy springs and a lumpy cam might need more care.

If your bores are already run in then you won't do the motor any harm, it gets tricky if the rings need bedding in at the same time, you don't want the bores to start to glaze. (I think that the block I gave you will need at least a hone and new rings).

If the timing is not quite right then it won't really matter as long as the lump is running and its not miles out. If the motor starts to get hot you just need to kill the engine stone dead and let it cool down. You can blast the rad with a hosepipe whilst it is running to help with the cooling.


As to the 5K miles, the lump had only done that in my car but I don't think that the rebuild was that good. I think that the crank should be OK and probably had new shells but I suspect that the bores were just honed and the old rings bunged back in! One cylinder was down to 102 PSI

Pete