Projects New engine has oil in the exhaust

you can spend a lot of money on speed parts to go fast, but need a good foundation to build on. seems this block is worn.

 

That' Not a crack it where the head gasket sat.
At this point I want an engine that goes 0 to 60 eventually. I'm building this truck as a driver to have some fun. I can' afford another short block so I have to use what I have at this point.

 

No.,. A .030 piston will not fit a standard bore unless it is real worn out... REAL worn out!

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Ok so it was bored at some point then.

 

Hopefully bored then honed. Honing gets the 45 degree cross hatching, which is for oil control. Boring leaves a machine finish and honing is a ground finish. If you have .030" pistons then hopefully this was done correctly. Also a small block chevy everybody should have a torque plate for honing.

This mimics the head installation, I wouldn't go without myself.

 

Did a leak down test on my SBC a while back and recall reading that if intake valve is leaking you should hear it through the intake/carburetor and if exhaust you should hear it in the exhaust, otherwise it’s rings or head gasket. Head gaskets usually affect adjacent cylinders but not always. I used a professional tester I borrowed from a friend.



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Do you have a pic of the head gaskets?
I have seen it multiple times at work with guys using cheap Chinese no name gasket sets and having immediate head gasket failure

Looks like you have an oil and coolant issue.

The rust in the exhaust ports confirm that.

Also with the shadowing on the top of the cylinders and the fact the inside of the engine still wears old paint and grunge would have me questioning the quality of parts used.

Everything could be good but go through it all now not later

Get the heads checked.

Can you get the block out or oil pan off to confirm ring gap and orientation?

 

I hate to say this, but I am agreeing with those who suggest a complete teardown and careful reassembly, checking every part along the way.
Now that you've opened it this far, I think that from here forward you will have just about as much time and work invested in tracking down hidden puzzles as you would invest in disassembling it completely and making sure everything goes back together just right.
Unless you find something glaring and obvious very very soon, a teardown might be more rewarding.

Over the many years, I have seen such crazy stuff such as one journal on a crank ground slightly more than the others and passed-on rather than the shop redoing the job, a freshly bored cyl that should have been sleeved, a ring gap that didn't match the others for whatever reason, even a cracked ring from a heavy handed assembler...
Many "good" shops will sometimes get a worker that would rather cross his fingers and hope that a mistake might stay hidden, rather than be seen having to do a job over when they are trying to keep up....
I myself would at this point worry forever if I didn't do a teardown to make a list of what was right, what was marginal, and what was goofed-up.
That may actually save time compared to the time spent puzzling and guessing.

WHY BE ORDINARY ?

 

I just called the shop and they said the heads are warped .008 they also said the valves were fine but they are going to grind them anyways.

 

Pulling the motor isn't really an option, I would have to pull the body off my truck so it'll have to go till she blows, if it runs when I put it back together it will be a small miracle.

 

And it had felpro .039 blue gaskets.

 

OK, I kind of don't like watching a dog chase his tail. I have been following this post since it started. I made a couple suggestions, but I got the feeling that everyone said " Ya OK but you are the new guy on the block and you don't know shit". I am probably wrong but that's how I feel. So if it was my engine. Reading the problems that were mentioned the first thing I would have done would be a leak check on the intake, then the cooling system and finally the crankcase. For all cylinders to be effected there has to be a major leak. About the only thing that can leak that much oil and water is the intake. I say this because the entire engine is affected and not just one or two cylinders. My guess as to what happened is.......The heads were extensively milled and the block was also milled (decked). The reason I say this is in one picture it looks like the top edge of the intake flange is above the valve cover gasket rail on the head. In another picture, a piston is at top dead center ( I am assuming ) and it looks to be protruding above the deck quite a bit. Now milling the head and decking the block will move the head down and in from it's factory spec. If the end rails that seal the intake to the block were not adjusted, the intake may not be able to lower down enough to allow a good seal between the head and intake. Thus there will be a vacuum and water leak between the manifold and heads. The leak will be distributed evenly thru out the engine. Whenever a head is milled the intake flange must be adjusted to maintain a proper seal in the gasket area. Milling the heads and decking the block also screws up the valve train geometry. I would check the heads and see how much they have been milled. There is a formula for SBC as to how much to take from the intake flange in relation to the amount milled from the head and the amount that needs to be taken from the end mating surface of the block. It's on line if you need it. That's my two cents worth of shop talk. By the way, .008" warpage on the head ain't gonna mean shit. Dan

 

I was going to say all that ( especially the .008 part) but I'm more of a newb than you................

 

The machine shop said they were definitely milled I'm going to have them measure the cc's of the head to see how much they were milled. The pistons are .023 down from the deck and the intake was about 1/8 from the block front and back. Definitely could have been leaking at the intake gaskets but for the runners themselves they were dry as a bone. I have domed pistons so that's what is above the deck surface. This is the last time I buy an engine like this, plenty of I told you so's to go around.

 

We had a run in stand with a Go-Power dyno so we could test an engine before it was delivered. We would invite the customer to see it run before he took delivery. These days it's too easy to take it in the ass with some of the people out there.

 

I always look for the best in people but I'm starting to see shit a little differently after this.

 

When I get the heads back what is the best procedure for reassembling and what gaskets should I be looking for

 

If the heads are warped, have you checked the block deck for flatness?
SPark

 

At this point I would look at everything as it’s sometjing effecting all the cylinders

Is there anyway to confirm
Head and intake mating surfaces?( something machine shop can do?)

What about using an stock 0.041 head gasket? Or a laminated gasket?


I would bring the heads and intake to get inspected and like instated pull the block or oil pan and confirm the rotating assembly is correct.

 

A water leak at the SBC intake manifold will not effect all cylinders, rarely any cylinders will see any water. You can get water in the crank case easily or out on top of block someplace easier.


Some weird obscure break internally in the intake might let water into the plenum that can get past the intake valves to all cylinders, but that's calling for a zebra hunt when you see horse tracks.

 

I'm going to do that today

 

I want to use a thicker gasket, what's the thickest I can safely use.

 

I haven't even cleaned it yet

 

It kind of looks like this to me.

 

Sweet pic

 

Your counter top blends in well with the combustion ring of your gasket.

 

Probably not the best choice for a photo shoot

 

Cometics makes them up to .120 compressed thickness but they are expensive at $80 per side. I was always an old school guy that liked the steel, original equipment gaskets. When Fel Pro came out with the blue composite head gaskets, I saw a lot of failures in high compression engines. Even the Victorcore gaskets seemed to fail. When the parts guys would ask if I wanted the good gaskets I would say yes, I want the stamped steel gaskets as I never had one of them fail.

I learned from a diesel mechanic to paint the steel gaskets with high temperature aluminum paint then K&W made a Copper Coat spray that I've used on steel and copper gaskets. I've seen people use multiple gaskets of steel or copper to decrease compression before various thicknesses were available. The shop that did the heads can likely help you with what thickness to use.