I'm breaking in my SBC 383 and whenever I put a little load on the engine it pukes oil out of the valve cover breathers. I've got the Moon breathers on the side of the valve covers and never had this problem with the 327 I had in it. Is this something that will go away after the motor breaks in or will I have to do something drastic (like plug in breathers)? I'm thinking about making some sheet stock baffles to fit on the inside of the valve covers over the breather holes to block the oil but allow the engine to breath. Has anyone else tried this. By the way, I'm running a PVC valve out of the p***enger side valve cover. HELP.
I had the same problem with my supercharged 283 SBC. I modyfied an EMPI breather so it would not look out of place on my car. I posted it, but I dont know if you could still find it...
derelict - if you have the 90* breathers on the lower side of the valve covers you need to baffle the opening on the inside, or you will fill them with oil. A simple piece of sheet stock cut to fit the mounting screws of the breathers will deflect the oil being thrown from the rockers. It's best to put the breathers on the top of the valve covers, or the top side by the manifold. Hope this helps. Dan
Do you have the room to try flipping the valve covers so the breathers are toward the intake? It might be enough to make it stop puking oil, and you'll then save yourself the work of making the baffles...it's at least worth trying before making the baffles...flipping the covers around only takes a minute...
fresh motor? it should get better, put the baffles on the inside, to keep the oil from splashing directly into the vent path. you are using the foam inserts aincha? use more breathers, I used four big ones on my last big block, without 'em she would puke oil at higher rpms. you can also put socks on em if you plan on rompin on it. Paul
A friend of mine had this problem when he put a blower on his sbc. He never solved the problem, just modified the breather and attached a rubber hose that came out underneath the car. Didn't stop till he sold the blower.
Had that problem with the pan-evac system on a 355 sbc..., switched to a Chrysler oil separator cap and it stopped the oil loss! Kind of looks too modern for a traditional "Hotrod" but if you paint it black and Dr. it up a bit it would look right!
Wingnutz is on the right path....I've run a sbc with some stout compression and have run the pan vac system for over 25 years and it solved the problem of oil all over the engine and firewall.....if there is one problem with the pan vac that I have experienced is that from time to time the value on the collector will drip....in that case you just cleanin out, blow dry....puttin back on...plus they do look cool!
Okay, last night I made some baffles out of a couple of old aluminum event plaques (lousy deals anyway) and that seemed to work. I've got the socks on as a backup anyway. Thanks for the tips everyone.
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