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engine break in headers

M

Mesopic

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hi everyone
Rebuilding my 440. i wish to put headers on it, however it is not recommend to break in an engine with headers, i do not have any exhaust currently. Has anyone broken in a 440 with new headers? can i do it safely?Thank you
 
Never heard of not being able to break in a motor with headers. Lots of guys do it, with the engine still hooked up to the dyno (separate from the car).

Wouldn't even guess at the reason why someone would say not to.
 
Broke one in with the TTI's. No problem. After about 800 easy street miles, shred the tires and bump the rev limiter a few times. My 440 liked that.
 
i am in the same situation, think you got things mixed though. if like me you have a new set of ceramic coated headers it is not recommended to use the headers when breaking in a engine as the coating on the headers may get cooked. i am looking for a set of stock manifolds to use for the breaking in .
 
For me, the coating did not cook. Polished, ceramic, overpriced TTI's survived.
 
Why would breaking in an engine cook ceramic coating? It's not going to run much hotter, if at all, during break in....I can see it happening to headers with poor ceramic coating, though....
 
Yeah you can sure ruin a set if you're not careful. A new engine fired for the first time is out of tune and the exhaust can get hotter than normal due to tuning issues making it lean out. I would just look for some old manifolds.
 
caveman85635 said:
Why would breaking in an engine cook ceramic coating? It's not going to run much hotter, if at all, during break in....I can see it happening to headers with poor ceramic coating, though....
Click to expand...

Retarded timing causing a good portion of the charge to be burning while exiting the heads. Running a locked out distributor set at 34 degrees for fire up and ring seating would prevent burning up your headers.
 
I didn't know of this till after I cooked them. Mainly on the bends where the tubes get the hottest. I had my timing pretty much right at 10* BTC when I fired her up. Was not a new motor, just new cam.
To me just another reason to go roller.
 
moparmarks said:
I cooked the ceramic coating on my new Headmans when breaking in my cam.
Click to expand...

I had the same situation 10 years ago - cooked the coating right off the first 6 inches of header during cam break in. The engine runs great, but it got a new set of headers right after. I'm looking to bolt on manifolds and cob together a short pipe next time I break a motor in.

- - - Updated - - -

caveman85635 said:
Why would breaking in an engine cook ceramic coating? It's not going to run much hotter, if at all, during break in....I can see it happening to headers with poor ceramic coating, though....
Click to expand...

The engine will run hotter - even with timing/mixture spot on. More friction as pieces in the engine break in.
 
I broke mine in with no coated headers, its the coating that will burn off that's why they say don't use ceramic coated ones for breaking you will ruin them. But regular ones are fine
 
i just broke in my 440 with a brand new set of regular headers. ive heard it will ruin a set of ceramic coated headers.
 
Hemirunner said:
Retarded timing causing a good portion of the charge to be burning while exiting the heads. Running a locked out distributor set at 34 degrees for fire up and ring seating would prevent burning up your headers.
Click to expand...

This really the truth guys. We learned this very early on breaking an engine in on the dyno. Late ignition timing will cause the fuel to finish burning in the header. Bingo, headers glowing red. Every time we advanced the timing things cooled right down.
 
Also too rich a mixture will produce a higher EGT.

During cam break in you will run the engine at about 1500 - 2000 RPM, so your timing should be set at that RPM for max advance. Also use a carb that has a known history of running well and not too rich.
 
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