Dan

That is because you are stressing the metal beyond its yield point; that is, causing it to have permanent deformations each time you bend it. Frames are designed to never ever reach points of yielding stress, so from a structural point of view, give it heck as soon as you want to. Mechanically, i got nothing...

Sorry, Structural Engineering major side of me kicking in. [/b][/quote]
Yah, there isn't any danger of damaging the structure. Most of the concern has been with parts "seating". A lot of parts need to move to be properly greased, lubricated etc. Seals may need to reach operating temperature to properly seal. I think it is good to take it easy for the first few hundred klicks but use the full rev range as kevin said.

In the end, follow the manufacturers suggested break-in procedure. The engineers know best.

kevinb120

The manuals on new cars say there is no "break in period"- only avoid long distance constant rpm drives for the first few hundred miles.

Dan

Then that's the answer.

burningman

so much for my beach cruise

derynf

I plan on just driving to and from work for a week or two.

Then my wife and I will drive it from the bay area up to Sonohimsh, WA to have it painted my Mike Lavalee ( www.killerpaint.com ).

Should be good for about 1200 freeway miles. and one hellava a paint job.

Honda Hater

cars that are run hard fom the start run hard till the end at least 302s do
case in piont mikes stang was beat from 50 miles throughout its 130000 mi life span and he drove it like he hated it we had a blast he got greedy with the nitro
and burt 2 pistons with a 275 shot on his stock 89 coupe

chris babied his 95 cobra till it got to 2500mi and then drove it like a madman and he blew his engine "siezed" at 85 00 mike drove his car far harder than chris mind you taking to 5600rpm whenever possible befor a shift and cris only took the cobra to5000 for every shift but were good drivers and both shifted properly NO POWER SHIFTS for the t 5 to live

and ben bought a 93 brand x with an lt 1 and beat it off the dealership lot all 3 drove bout the same and his is still running hard tyo this day at about 150000
mi and its stock

so if i could afford one id baby it for bout 50 mi and them wring the daylights outta it

derynf

Two things:

"Drive it like you stole it"

"Run like someone's chasing you"

bghiggins

I don't know if I will be able to resist; a good bit of advise is if you must do it, then do it only in the first couple of gears (where the engine load is the lowest and thus prevents cylinder temps from going too high).

acadian

I agree with the majority of you on here... vary the rpm, drive it fairly hard... just don't go crazy and do any burn-outs, wheelies, etc... for the first thousand miles.

GhostTX

Yah, there isn't any danger of damaging the structure. Most of the concern has been with parts "seating". [/b][/quote]
You're missing my analogy.

Abuse something it'll break fairly quickly. Take care of it and it'll last a long time.

Flyinlow

Are you going with flames or a complete paint job? How much is it going to run you?

derynf

Are you going with flames or a complete paint job? How much is it going to run you? [/b][/quote]
Mike and I are working on a design.

I'm wanting flames running from the back of the front wheel wells across the front 1/4 panel and wisp out across the doors. If he has to sand the back panel it'll real bite $$. With in the flames I'm wanting a couple of Mustangs runing . Kind of opposite of the running with the herd. I'm hoping for the look of "is that horses in the flames" type of affect.

Mike says anywhere between $35-4800. If I want to get a strong coat of protection after he's done, he offers a triple-double clear coat. But odviously that would be much more.

I will definitely post pictures and if he lets me any preliminary designs.

future9er24

there goes my plans for doing a burnout the day i get mine and waking up my entire neiborhood

Dan

You're missing my analogy.

Abuse something it'll break fairly quickly. Take care of it and it'll last a long time. [/b][/quote]
Sorry, but I don't see any analogy in that post.

BTW, just FYI, I'm just completing a degree in Civil (Structural) Engineering also. I'm very familiar with yield/ultimate points hehe.

ManEHawke

I think people should just drive the car normally like any other car. Special techniques arent required, just drive legally for a while and you're set.

burningman

WarningSLO

Hey Dan, are you graduating this month? I've got another year of school left, but I'm wondering how the job market for civil/structural is these days. I'm in California and it was a great market when I entered school, but I'm not so sure anymore.

derynf

[/b][/quote]

Nice, but not exactly. You do great work.

Let's see it in black.

DrunkenDragon713

BM love the colors, but not a vert fan...

justgreat

break in oil, babying the car on a new purchase, that's all history...the manufacturing process has been fine tuned to a high degree and right out of the box you can run em hard and long....in fact, on a high compression high output motor there is a driving procedure for ensuring that carbon buidlup and deposits don't form in the combustion chamber...this is mainly for drivers who baby the car or do alot of intown driving where the motor doesn't get a chance to stretch it's legs.
jackg 90seville 94k