Scuba Steve

The car runs again! I got the engine back together a couple of days ago but was having engine ground issues. Anyway, the car idles around 1,000 rpm, not as smooth as I'd like (needs new gas). Oil pressure is really high; right around 4. Is this normal? I'm getting some smoke off the exhaust manifold, probably from some oil dripping off when I took the camshaft assy and head off. I don't think it's a leak since all gaskets are new and I torqued down the exhaust like it was supposed to be... better double check that.

Time to go back to the garage to celebrate!

GlenL

Rock On, Steve!

Nice, high oil pressure is a good thing. If it pegs and doesn't move around you might have the sensor wired wrong.

A little smoke is expected if things have been cleaned or handled with greasy hands.

Epic2112

Have you let it warm up good? The oil pressure will drop as it gets warm.

Scuba Steve

The smoke has more or less gone away. Saying my hands were greasy while installing the exhaust would be an understatement. I've let it warm up and oil pressure drops into the 3 range, up to 4 when I get on the gas. The needle bobs around some when the rpm is around 8 or 900. The speedometer bounces around plenty too. Tach works fine.

How much belt noise is normal for the car? I installed the belts this last weekend and forgot to put on the water pump guard (put it on two days ago). I went ahead and set the tension for new spec (~45 lb for timing belt and ~32 for balance shaft). Would that be too tight now? They aren't screaming, but I can hear them when the window is down and that's not something I'm used to with other cars I've owned. I haven't taken the car above 3K rpm yet, and probably won't until I change the oil this weekend.