Letting it warm up

[rendyx]

I've been wondering, when I just start my SHO, how much should I restrict my performance driving and revving before it reaches "normal" temp? Thanks!

 

[Mike Kopstain]

I baby my car until it's warm. It lets all of the oils thin out a bit and get into all of the crevises. Whatever you do, don't be like half of the idiots I see at the car shows who start their engine and then immediately rev it up. That is just insanely dumb. The whole upper end of the engine is dry.

 

[wuzzzer]

I usually wait until the temperature needle is at least above the bottom line in the 'Normal' range.

 

[pete c]

Could somebody post a link to that excellent article about oil I saw here a while back. 1 read through that and you will never rev a cold engine again. It is an excellent read.

 

[rendyx]

To bring this topic back, I think I may have found the oil article, but it's now gone. It was on a server in Texas (don't think it was Scott though thumbs_u ).
And would you guys say keeping it under 3 grand is resonable? I heard that from someone, and I'd like to know what you guys say, as I otherwise have no clue how gentile to be! Thanks again! thumbs_u

 

[Slo-Sho]

Since I can remember, the mullet heads ALWAYS rev up their muscle cars on start up!

 

[Red Raspberry]

And just before they shut it off too. Gives the cylinders a good wash down.....

 

[93MTXSHO]

My grandfather was a Ford mechanic from the 30s to the 50s. He's always said to keep the revs down until the engine's warm. The only thing about that is it takes so darn long to warm up. It takes mine at least 5 miles in cold weather to get to operating temp and then the heater doesn't work worth a crap. It only works on panel-floor with the temp on 90 and the fan manually on high, and even then it's pretty **** poor. I was thinking that maybe the blend door is stuck, but I don't hear any noises and the A/C seems to work really well. (No self-diagnostic codes, tried twice.) Any suggestions would be appreciated. Anyway, my grandfather has told me over and over again that you don't want to rev an engine past about 3 grand until they're warm. If you do you risk them coming apart. Keep in mind that he is talking mostly about flathead and early OHV engines, not modern OHC. I still think that you need to be careful. I almost never take it past 3.5 until it's warm, seeing that the SHO's redline is at 7 grand.

 

[Daysho]

Here you go thumbs_u http://www.shoclub.com/lubrication-oil/lubrication-oilpart1.htm

 

[pete c]

MTX, I'd be willing to bet that half the motors grandpa worked on never saw 3 grand after they were warm! Ask him what the redline was on a 30s era ford flathead v-8.

After reading that article I try to keep it below 2500. That's plenty high enough to shift, even going up hill. I believe that at 3 grand on a stone cold motor, you may be risking oil filter blow-by. For those of you not familiar with the article, that is when the oil reaches such a pressure that it bypasses the filter. This is normally not a problem, but, with some filters it may cause some gunk in the filter to shoot past.

 

[drivinhard]

The engine coolant temp doesn't really tell the whole story either. It takes 20-25 miles of 70 mph hwy driving just to get the oil temp and trans (MTX) temp to register.

 

[shojuan]

Just another reason to run good synthetics IMHO.

Rick

 

[93MTXSHO]

petec,

My dad and I have several of those 30s era flatheads around, specifically one in a 37 Ford Pickup (all original), and one of those primitive Y-block V-8s in a 56 Ford Pickup (all original, except "upgraded" engine). (We kinda like the pickups, we're currently restoring a 38 Ford Pickup, to original specs of course.) Anyway, the 37 runs about 2700 RPMs at 55 MPH and will last to at least 4500, maybe more. Grandpop tells stories of going 110+ in those old flatheads. As far as the Y-block goes, it's a 312 out of a 57 T-bird, E code (for those of you that that means nothing to, it makes 245hp and a shitload more torque, and they're hard to come by.) Anyway, my dad and I have fun driving those old things and working on them. You talk about oil pressure by-pass, those old flatheads don't even have an oil filter, and guess what Ford's recommended service interval was, 2000 miles, or more often if the oil looked contaminated. That's why even today I believe in conventional motor oil (especially in the SHO) changes every 2000 miles. I think that's why a 351 Windsor has 265K on it and very very little rod knock on startup. Just my opinion. Take it or leave it.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

93MTXSHO:
petec,

My dad and I have several of those 30s era flatheads around, specifically one in a 37 Ford Pickup (all original), and one of those primitive Y-block V-8s in a 56 Ford Pickup (all original, except "upgraded" engine). (We kinda like the pickups, we're currently restoring a 38 Ford Pickup, to original specs of course.) Anyway, the 37 runs about 2700 RPMs at 55 MPH and will last to at least 4500, maybe more. Grandpop tells stories of going 110+ in those old flatheads. As far as the Y-block goes, it's a 312 out of a 57 T-bird, E code (for those of you that that means nothing to, it makes 245hp and a shitload more torque, and they're hard to come by.) Anyway, my dad and I have fun driving those old things and working on them. You talk about oil pressure by-pass, those old flatheads don't even have an oil filter, and guess what Ford's recommended service interval was, 2000 miles, or more often if the oil looked contaminated. That's why even today I believe in conventional motor oil (especially in the SHO) changes every 2000 miles. I think that's why a 351 Windsor has 265K on it and very very little rod knock on startup. Just my opinion. Take it or leave it.

Wow... I thought the Chevy hotrod motors I worked on were simple, then I tore down a flathead. We rebuilt the whole motor in 3 hours taking breaks to talk. A far cry from the 2 weeks it would take me to build a SHO motor.