[DeTomaso] oil injector question

[jderyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/18/09 10:26:28 AM, asajay at asajay.com writes:

> The thing that really kills engines is folks who start them up and start 
> revving them right away before the oil pump has a change to circulate any 
> oil.
> 
Quite true. But sometimes.... I remember talking to a Ferrari mechanic at 
the Monterey Historics one year about their odd start-up procedure. The 
'factory' drill for the '50s and '60s V-12s is, the engine is fired and 
immediately revved to 2000 rpm, then dropped to idle, then pulsed back to 2000, going 
up and down this restricted rev-range every few seconds. Any more revs and 
the cold thick 20W50 oil develops too much pressure and ruptures the oil 
cooler. Any less and not enough splash-oil is thrown around to lube the 
cylinder walls and cams, but too long at any one rpm causes wear to the bearings 
and cam followers. This annoying low rpm pulsing continues- by a trusted 
specialist- until the temp gauge needle moves off zero. Then the first couple of 
laps are taken at low speeds to get the gearbox lube warm, before the driver 
finally gets to stomp on it. 
'50s and '60s Porsches with Hirth full-roller crankshafts also needed to be 
started and driven this way or the hardened crank could break, and it was 
"recommended" in the owners manual for my '55 Speedster with a plain bearing 
crank. This was a true PITA in winter. We've all heard cars being "shown 
off" revving this way in the pits before a track session; well, now you know it 
ain't necessarily showing off- its the way it has to be for any kind of 
engine longevity!
Later, another method was used: Todd Glyer's late '60s Chev/McLaren has a 
110VAC heating blanket wrapped around the dry-sump tank and it takes roughly 
30 minutes (in CA summers!) before the many gallons of oil are warm enough 
to allow the highly tuned engine to be safely started.   FWIW- J Deryke