My friend just got a new LT1 crate dropped in his car.

Should we beat the hell out of it or drive it nicely to break it in?

 

It has a roller valvetrain, so the only thing you need to do is seat the rings. Take it out and accelerate at 1/2 throttle in third gear, then let off and let it coast in gear. Do this about 10 times or so, andd you should be good to go. That's what I've always done, and Ive never had any ring sealing issues. I had about 2 miles on my engine the first time I ran it through the gears. Hell, when a fresh motor is dynoed it is typically run for 20 or so minutes, then the oil is changed and pulls are made. Usually after a couple of pulls the engine will loosen up a little and produce a little more power.

Run the hell out of it.