Projects Mid Life Crisis 62 Vette

I have noticed smoke when starting it a couple times.

I was thinking about the pot scrubber trick...might give it a try

 

I wouldn't rule out a faulty PCV valve either, but I'm sure you've made all the necessary checks.

 

I had a PCV in the back of the intake so I could run Corvette valve covers. I baffled it kinda but it still sucked oil like crazy.

Next SBC had Corvette valve covers with a hole drilled for a PCV but no baffle in the VC. Sucked oil so I found a PCV breather with a reservoir that I filled with a pot scrubber. That did help but it still sucked some oil. I’d empty out that reservoir if I did a hard run on the highway.

 

@squirrel They are hard to see but you may have popped a stem seal off one (or more) of the guides. I have heard they may not be the best. I have a set of those heads too but have not run them yet.

 

I also have the same heads on an untested engine....

 

Plugs from one side of the engine.

 

hmmm... what does the other side look like?

 

Not evenly oiled.

 

I’m definitely rolling along here and now I want to know what you find as I have a early 327 with the same breather system in the past I’ve never had any issues with such system but I’ve also never run one with a hydraulic roller cam either mine has a inline pcv valve By the way squirrel I seen your old afx barracuda today the guy who owns it seems like a good guy we had a good time racing today and now back to the show

 

I added a 2nd breather to my 355, I have to get some miles on it to see if my oil leakage is any better.

 

first one looks the same as these, but I got a little cut on my hand and decided to call it a night before I could finish all of them.

They all look about the same close up, I didn't go to a lot of trouble to get a good picture.

neat, I haven't seen any pictures or heard anything about the car for a couple years

 

I see the puddle of oil in the PCV cap,
is the carburetor end of it's hose as wet?
seems like it would take a lot of oil to get all the plugs that wet.
which of course asks why is there so much oil flying around inside?
catching and letting that oil return to where it belongs doesn't address the why..
how often do you have to add oil? or is it not that much?
oil pressure all good still?
not something as simple as over filled pan?
could better oil control in the pan help?
windage tray or scraper maybe?

all questions I'm sure you have already considered

 

I had an experience the same but not the same,
with a 394 Olds decades ago
oil consumption, fouling plugs, an oily mess.
I had the engine completely rebuilt only to have the same issue
turned out it was the dual action fuel pump's vacuum diaphragm had a crack in it and was feeding the intake with oil from the timing cover.
an expensive lesson.

 

Jim, you are not the average bear, so this is just stating the obvious to clarify and perhaps help others.

Oil in combustion chambers, verified by smoke out tailpipes and residue on plugs.

Plugs show problem is not localized, indicating it's probably not intake port gasket leaks, guides or seals unless they are all out of spec/missing or damaged equally. Possible, but not leading concern. Check, but continue to check other stuff that is shared (intake tract).

A leakdown test could be done, but will not check guides or other issues upstream of intake valves and seats. Since issue was not present prior to replacing heads, rings are not suspect.

PCV system is still leading suspect. Shared with all cylinders, cam change has possibly lead to separator being subject to more oil.

I'd open the throttle plates and/or pull carb to inspect inside intake. Pretty easy. A single or couple Leaking guides could allow oil to be pulled in and turbulence in intake could pull oil all through, but it should still affect the cylinder with the issue much more.

 

Thanks for all the ideas!

There is oil in the PCV hose...so that's the first thing I'm going to play with.

It was using very little oil before the head/cam change. I also replaced the fuel pump with a new one (and rerouted the fuel lines) while I had the engine apart. It appears to be using about 1 qt per 250 miles now.

Once I get it back together with fresh plugs and the brillo pad in the vent, I'll drive it for a while and then see how the oil consumption is, and how the plugs look.

It could also be running rich, as the carb is a "new" one, that I'm not real sure about the jetting on. It does use a lot more fuel than before. I'm considering putting a bung in the exhaust to run the O2 sensor to see how the mixture is.

 

All the cool kids nowadays use catch cans. It would be a bit of a pain to rig something up for testing, but is a possible route if that is the culprit.

 

a quart per 250 miles?
dang..
could excess cam bearing clearance cause something like this?
heads not draining back could flood the top end but maybe not PCV..

 

I had a very similar experience to Jim's when I installed the retro-roller hydraulic cam in my sbc and tried using early Corvette valve covers without PCV holes. I built a GM style "soup can" under the intake...but at highway rpm's would consume oil at about a quart every 150 miles. I believe the taller retro-fit roller lifters with the tie bars flopping back and forth results in throwing more oil around the valley. The GM soup can does not seem to be able to separate that much oil from the PCV. I've not yet tried adding the stainless steel pot scrubber material to the system to see if that will cure the issue...I ran out of time before heading on a long road trip, so I simply went back to my previous drilled and baffles valve covers which solved the problem for the trip.

 

the voice of first hand experience
I'd try that first

 

That's the plan...

 

The only other potential leak location that hasn't already been mentioned are the lower threads on the rocker studs. They need to be sealed where they are tapped into the intake runners, but I'll bet they have been.

 

Cam bearing would show more in pressure. Also, if the bearings were spraying a ton of oil inside the engine, it would simply drain back to the pan, not leave the area. It might be part of the excess oil fog inside, but it still has to get to the combustion chambers.

The only time oil won't drain back is due to gunk build up, or some other obstruction. That is a situation where it would affect all cylinders equally.
He did have valvetrain noise after first start. It was mentioned here as typical for the cam and lifters.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/mid-life-crisis-62-vette.1292401/page-52#post-15256828

 

I don't know from hydraulic roller lifters, but is there any possibility that your new push rods and rockers are designed to restrict oil flow up under the valve covers? Could that maybe leave excess splash oil in the lifter valley?

You'll get this figured out yet, as long as you don't drive over your crankshaft . . .

 

I don't know....

Anyways, I got the rest of the plugs in, and will do some more driving. These are 1 3 5 7. I looked at them all with a magnifying glass, they all have a similar amount of oil.

 

The PCV is inducing oil. You know that. We can postulate all sorts of things, like the carb is too rich, washing down the bores, increasing blowby and allowing more oil past the rings. But really, a quart in 250 isn't going to happen like that. I've worked on dead rich pigs and they didn't do that.
Had a gal bring in her boyfriend's car. BB El Camino. Fairly stock engine, but a dominator on top. Took cunning and effort just to get it into the shop. Explained that we would try, but this wasn't going to purr. Got it cleaned up enough that it would idle at 950 in gear and pull away smoothly. The crankcase was overfull, but she had not put any oil in it for the past month, it was just gas.

 

You could temporarily disconnect the PCV and throw a road draft tube or open breather on there which would eliminate a potential PCV/Valley baffle/roller lifter issue. Unfortunately it might be time for a leak down test. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

 

I had a similar situation with one of my yblocks, a better oil pump and more rpm overwhelmed the baffle I had in the valley pan. Theres some inexpensive ones (not the good Moroso ones) the foreign car guys use to separate oil out between the PCV valve and the intake. A temporary install will let you track how much oil it’s accumulating out of the PCV system.

 

Rings. ??

 

Could the intake gaskets be sucking oil from the lifter valley?

 

There are lots of things it could be, I'll start with the easy ones and work my way up....

Went for a drive, but when I turned on the headlights the ammeter wasn't happy, so I headed back home after only 10 miles. Something else to deal with now.