About to start engine after 18 month rebuild

[dhopkins]

When starting an engine for the start time after a rebuild is there anything special I need to do? Should I hand crank it for a few revolutions to get the oil moving? Do I need to put more oil in than the amount I put in for an oil change?
Any tips?

[edmayo]

The method I use is to remove all the spark plugs, ground the coil high tension lead,( ie. remove the wire from the center of the distributor cap and ground it) put in the normal amount of oil. Now crank the engine for 10 to 15 seconds at a time until you get the oil pressure gauge to flicker. The engine cranks faster without the plugs in, easier to get oil pressure. Now check for any fuel or oil leaks. If you have carbs look down the throats and see if the accelerator pumps are squirting, if you have MFI you can temporarily hot wire the start solenoid on top of the fuel filter, in either case you want to know if the fuel system is full and ready. Reinstall the spark plugs, and the high tension lead. If you have any doubts about whether you correctly did the initial timing, now is the chance to check yourself. Turn engine by hand with the ignition on, pull the #1 plug connector, stick a screwdriver into the connector end and hold it a 1/4 " from ground, turn engine until you get spark from that #1 wire, look at crank pulley marks and see if spark occurred at about TDC. If you did all that correctly you're ready to start it. As soon as engine starts take it to 2,000 RPM and hold it there for about 5 minutes, the high RPM gets the oil really pumping around, and the cam lobes aren't too heavily loaded due to the RPM. Once you've done all this then you can let engine idle, set timing and mixtures.