Can I make this trip so soon after my rebuild?

[mca]

Just curious ...

Planning on making 1000 mile round trip this weekend. I have just over 1300 miles on the rebuild. Valves were adjusted and oil changed at 700 miles.

Should I change the oil and check the valves before I leave or should I wait until I return? With 1300 miles on the engine, is it okay to make this trip where I will be running at a relatively stable cruising RPMs on the highway?

I am confident that the rings have fully seated. No smoke and not buring oil.

Thoughts?

[Rot 911]

You are good to go. Make sure you hit redline a few times. Seriously!

[RSBob]

Absolutely, rootin'-tootin'ly. Be sure to vary your RPMs a bit rather than running in constantly at, say 3000. And as the very wise Mr. Kurt suggested - yes don't be afraid to bump the red line - just don't run it at redline for any periods longer than a second (besided your max torque is not found at redline anywho.)

[mca]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Be sure to vary your RPMs a bit rather than running in constantly at, say 3000

See, this is my concern. I don't want to have to worry about varying my RPMs b/c it is a long trip. I have been worrying about that for 1300 miles now and was hoping that I was at a point where I could let it cruise.

At what point can I forget about varying RPMs?

[austin552]

What are you doing, the Dragon? Stop by and pick me up and I'll help.

[RSBob]

I drove 1200 miles on a new engine with less miles than yours with no harmful effects. I would drive at 60, then 65, then 70, then 75, with a few sprints and just keep varying it. It was a no brainer to keep moving the go pedal. You can do it. 7500 miles later - perfect compression.

[RoninLB]

Originally Posted by mca

Should I change the oil and check the valves before I leave or should I wait until I return?
With 1300 miles on the engine, is it okay to make this trip where I will be running at a relatively stable cruising RPMs on the highway?

I am confident that the rings have fully seated. No smoke and not buring oil.

if mine I would change oil and filter, check valve adjustment, throw a torque wrench on your head studs and only turn wrench clockwise.

What I would do after that initial break-in when on a highway at a constant speed is load the rings by decelerating a little bit and then floring it in the high traveling gear. The car won't appear to be anything reckless at all. Nobody will even notice. Doing that every once in awhile quickly became a habit and broke the boredom.

Your rings are probably broken in for the most part if you did a good job earlier but I personally feel more is better till 5k miles, especially with our type of engines.