Technical Is this normal ?

So I have a 350 crate which I bought about 4 years before it was started. It was properly primed with the correct tool and oil was visible on both heads before it was started. After 500 miles I changed the oil for the first time today. Attached is a pic of the bottom of the drain pan. I edited the pic to increase contrast to bring out the specs of metal visible. They are very small. Full disclosure, I did not rotate the engine during storage.
Is this normal ?

 

could be.

Is the cam still working?

 

Hate these SBC visual signs... flattened a few bump sticks in those monsters...

 

Seems a little excessive. Cut the filter open and see what's in there.

 

Pull the rockers and do some investigating on valve tip height as its rotated. See if any cam lobes have gone flat. Whatever assembly lube that was used dried up or dissolved before it was fired.
If you find a dead cam, good time to swap in something better.
Or just keep driving it and see what happens hencho in Mexico small blocks may have some "self clearancing" clearances. They may have all been that way when new.....I never bought a new car that had a SBC.

 

That would scare me.

 

next time do not wait for 500 miles to change oil

 

I'm kinda in the camp that says if it was still running fine, no oil pressure issues, i would put new oil and a filter in it and fire it up, run it around the block a few times, and change it again. Like he said up there ^^^ tear that filter open and see what's in it.

 

Thanks guys, just got the alert from HAMB. It’s running really well. It doesn’t heat up at all. I just put in a new filter and fresh oil. Break in lube added before start up. I’ll drive it a bit and change the oil again as suggested. Don’t have a warm and fuzzy feeling about this.

 

It could be better and it could be worse, I'd run it until it was a problem.

 

Good luck, Dean. Hope it works out.

 

Change oil , cut old filter , inspect . Add magnets to both rear of valve cover oil drains ( dont block them ) for a quick visual check . Make sure you use oil with plenty of zinc .

 

Thanks Don, we’ll see……

 

Probably a combination of machining debris that didn't get washed out and normal break in wear. You said you had to magnify the pic for clarity, so if it's that tiny, I wouldn't worry about it unless you see a bunch more when you change oil again. But it's not my engine, so worry if you want...

 

Who wants to worry ?? Gonna cut open the filter I just removed, run it, change it again and see. Hope you’re right

 

You could send an oil sample in And have it analyzed, then find someone smarter than me who could tell you where the metal came from.

 

It came from Mexico

 

Was the drain pan absolutely clean? If it's not giving you trouble, run it for awhile, and drain it into a clean glass baking pan. Why jump off the cliff, when all you want is a better look.

 

.................

 

Don’t think I mentioned jumping off a cliff …….

 

Dino, what was the prognosis?!

 

It’s all good ! Changed the oil and filter, ran it for a while, changed the oil again and it was clean. Probably as previously stated, just some ‘dust’ from the machining and casting. Thanks for asking

 

That's Good News!

 

Fabulous news there.

 

Bad camshafts leave micro size bits of iron and steel, not chunks, they wear off a little at a time. Stick a magnet in the old oil and see wha type of metal it is. I like a large magnet on the bottom of the filter and one at the drain plug on the bottom of the pan. Pull the magnet off the pan before draining so the oil flushes any contaminates out. You would have a misfire if it was the camshaft or valve train.

 

The Mexico built small blocks had an issue with I believe the cam or crank moving front to back changing the timing & also creating metal chips, Paul at the "Cars" rod shop in Omaha correctly diagnosed the issue.