Technical SBC oil leak

Dealing with something I have not seen before. Rebuilt 283 SBC with oil that looks to be leaking from the head gasket. The bottom edge, under the spark plugs. No oil anywhere above the spark plugs. Anyone seen this? Mechanical fan, so it is hard to see where it is coming from while running.

 

If it's on the left side, it's probably the deck plug that's loose.

 

I’m putting some run time in on a fresh W motor and I’m seeing a similar issue. Right front corner and left rear corner. New Edelbrock aluminum heads. I thought it might be seeping out from the drain back holes but they are on the inside corners of the heads. I’ll probably be pulling them back off soon to figure it out.

 

Yep, had the same exact issue with one of my blocks that I had sent out. Right at #7 cylinder. Bob

 

Me too, Bob, Me too... It was my own damn fault for not checking it!

 

It’s not leakin oil, it’s “Oozing Horsepower”!

 

Ditto.

 

Thank you for all the replies. I also got a reply from Dan Pate cluing me into the UV tracing fluid. Mix with your oil and use a Black light to illuminate. Oil path glows. In the end, it was the valve cover with a convoluted path down the head.

 

Easy Pleasy! Thanks for letting us know the outcome. Too many don't. And the beat goes on....

 

Look closely at the back end of the joint between the intake manifold and the block. The rubber piece the goes across the back is easily bumped out of place when ***embling. It's a common problem, especially with the old style 4 piece gasket sets. You need to glue the rear rubber piece down to help prevent this. Permatex High Tack gasket cement is great for that. Sets fast and holds strong. If it has the joints between the rubber and the manifold gaskets, those need to be sealed, too. Last time I worked on one of these I was able to get a one piece ***embly. Don't know which is available now. It's been too many years. If that's the problem, be sure to be careful setting the manifold straight down. Hope this helps you.








is very easy to bump out of place and is a common problem

 

I gave up on the front and rear gaskets ages ago. My buddy told me clean it off, run a 3/16th bead of black RTV.
Never a leak…well, not there anyways

 

To the best of my knowledge , no one makes or has ever made a 1 piece intake manifold gasket for a sbc .
Agree with budget36 , silicone or right stuff on clean china walls , quality gaskets on port runners. A BIT of silicone on water ports .
To the OP , your leak is most likely coming from above , use brake clean to clean the whole area , blow it dry with compressed air , then check when running wit the edge of a dry paper towel.