Thread: FE 352-old rebuild question

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I have a 352 FE that was completely rebuilt. I trust the guy who did the work, engine was out of a '61 galaxie and is in a '63 F250 project that I picked up recently. I am guesstimating the rebuild was done at least 10 years ago and never started or even filled with oil. Before I go thru filling/fueling/priming/firing, is it anything I should check first? Thanks in advance.

Wow, sitting 10 years! Can you see in the cylinders? Any rust ? I guess if I was going to start this now, I'd pull the distributor and use a piece of hex stock or a priming tool and drive the oil pump so it pushes oil to the top and all the crank bearings. Then I'd turn it (the motor) by hand to reset the distributor and the number 1 cylinder back to 10 deg Before Top Dead Center. If it turned easily, and quiet.. I'd say connect the battery and check it for spark, if it does have spark then drop a small amount of gas in the carb / intake and crank it, see if it'll start. If it does, then connect the hoses, radiator & fuel. Add fluids and then restart with a high idle (1500 to 2000 for 30 minutes) to break in the camshaft. Don't forget to add a zinc additive to the oil, these old style flat tappet cams will need that at every oil change.
Good luck with this, let us know how you make out!