Enjoying a Drive on Super Bowl Sunday

I decided to go for a drive this afternoon.  The temperature was a cool 45 degrees but I enjoyed the drive.

I drove for about 25 miles today.  I accelerated from 2,000 to 3,000 RPM about 15 times and let the engine brake the car to slow down. I've read this is a good approach to breaking in a new engine. I tried not to keep it at the same RPM for very long. I've read mixed thoughts on how to treat a motor during break-in. I put my foot in it about 2 or 3 times today and it feels fairly fast.


I noticed a slight hesitation when I accelerate rather quickly at about 2,000 RPM when in second or third gear.  The hesitation is not bad at all in second gear but is a little worse in 3rd.  I don't know if it matters that much as I don't plan on flooring it in 3rd gear when I'm only going 2,000 RPM.  Shifting into 3rd from second when I'm driving fast places me outside of the trouble spot.  This could be fuel or the timing, I'll worry more about this later.

The cam and lifters seem a little loud.  I've heard the Comp Cams XE series are loud due to the aggressive ramp angles on the cam.  I'm thinking of going to 3/4 turn rather than 1/2 turn past lash on the rockers to see if it quiets down a little.

I went up to near 80 MPH a time or two (to reach 3,000 RPM in 3rd gear) and the car seemed a little unsteady.  It was as if a front tire was not perfectly balanced.  I did rotate the back tires to the front while working on the car which might explain the change.  I'm going to take a look at them all and make sure everything is tight.

I need to fill a hole in the firewall but a perfect sized rubber plug does not exist.  I'll need to come up with something different to fill the hole.  The hole is about 1" x 2" but you would be surprised the amount of air which rushes in while driving.  It lets in a little bit of an engine smell which I'd like to fix before driving to work (professional, shirt/tie kind of place).

All in all, I'm pleased with how things are going on the car.  I'm glad to be able to go out an jump in the car and go for a drive.  I'd like to tweak some things while it is nice and cool (45 degrees today) and hopefully go to a car show or driving event this year.  It is about time I start enjoying this thing rather than just working on it all the time.