Good news! Got her together and fired up a bit ago! Started on the third kick and came to life, no smoke of any kind. I do have an exhaust leak at the header that I'll need to fix before I take her for a test ride.
Got out on my first test ride. Seems to be running fine, though my mid pipe came loose from between both halves of the exhaust. I'm sure that made it run a little doggy. Any break in tips for the new rings? Also can't seem to find the head bolt torque specs in my manual. Thanks everybody.
Head nuts are 25 to 30 ft/lb for std studs.
42 ft/lb for HD studs.
Re-torque after the engine has cooled overnight.
Piston rings.
The first 20 miles or so are crucial.
Don't baby the engine, open it up and make it pull but without over revving in any one gear.
Don't cruise at constant speeds or you will glaze the bores.
All this 500 miles before going over 4000 rpm etc is crap , run it up to 5, 6, 7 k rpm in short bursts while loading the engine.
Use the engine for breaking by shutting the throttle to back load the rings.
If done correctly you will end up with higher compression numbers and fully bedded rings and bores within a few hundred miles.
I'm at about 35 miles now. Half of that city driving and highway, and the rest throwing it through some twisties and getting on it. I've been avoiding constant rpms the entire time though because I've been warned about glazing before.
