The odometer moved for the first time in 3 years today!
I broke in the new 350 for a half hour moving between 2000 and 3000rpm last week. This week was spent bolting up the rest of the driveline - rebuilt driveshafts, bumpers, etc.
Today I took it out for an 8 mile spin with open headers (well, it has a y-pipe technically) and ran it through some acceleration and decelerations.
The good:
- no major leaks to speak of
- clutch seems to function well - though this new low profile assembly will take some getting used to. Pedal is SOOO light.
- plenty of power - not noticably more gutsy than the 283 but MUCH smoother.
- oil pressure is about 20psi hot, at idle. Climbs to 60 when cold or when moving.
-temperatures all stayed reasonable - 190ish at idle, 175ish when driving, 220ish immediately after shutdown.
The bad:
- steering is a bit off center and wonky, which makes sense given that I modified the Saginaw box mount slightly.
-minor driveline vibration I’ll need to track down.
- POSSIBLE rod knock (which would be very bad) but given the open exhaust exiting right at my feet - I suspect it’s the exhaust. More on that to follow.
Given that this truck was built by an idiot (me) everything went pretty well. My only concern is I heard what MIGHT be a knock when I got back from the test drive. I strongly suspect it’s the open headers or an exhaust leak somewhere, a stethoscope didn’t pick up anything - but I won’t know more until I get some exhaust on it and I can actually hear.
Sure does look (and feel) good having it mostly back together again - hopefully it survived break-in
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