Yeah I know its done all the time but just wanted to show how I'm going about it. I had an old earlier 59A Fenton intake that someone in its past had cut a hole behind the generator mount and simply put a filtered breather in the hole and mounted on a 8BA eliminating the road tube. The engine was grunged up terribly, the intake valves were caked with carbon resulting from nothing really being evacuated. First thing, was changing the configuration of the crankcase to road draft tube beneath the intake utilizing the existing hole in the manifold. A PCV valve fits to the top opening which is routed to an oil/vapor separator (catch can not pictured as it could be considered off topic) and in turn is then routed to the exhaust pipe using a weld-on adjustable valve to create the desired vacuum. Use of a copper crush washer allows for clocking the exhaust fitting to adjust vacuum. To bring air into the crankcase I put together a combination fuel pump stand/oil fill/air intake. I don't know yet how effective this will be or if it is even legal but it will serve the purpose of separating the oil from the vapours and routing it out the exhaust. I never cared for the concept of rerouting crankcase blow-by back into the vacuum port of the intake manifold in the attempt to burn it off in the combustion process. Hoping to keep a cleaner air fuel mixture as well as cleaner valves. Thoughts?
Well as long as you are getting all serious with beautiful fabrication of modern technology, I am reminded of this article that I have seen on the web. Hidden Fuel Injection Flathead Link - Part #1 Hidden Fuel Injection Flathead - The Flat-Spot
A2B, nice work. Im not understanding your vacuum source though as exhaust would be positive pressure not negative.
Kind of like cracking a wing window (vent) while driving and ****ing cigarette smoke out. The vacuum is created from the positive pressure of the exhaust drawing on the fitting pictured that is inserted and welded on an angle in the exhaust pipe. Clocking the angle of the inner portion of this fitting enables adjusting the amount of vacuum created to optimise the system.
NoRust - Not exactly modern technology: just adapted to a 8BA using a 59A intake manifold. Don Garlits was using this system in the early 60s (minus the catch can/oil separator). Hidden fuel injection in a flattie is a whole different subject. Yep, there is a lot of room in the valley under the manifold. Some hide a PCV valve there and route into the air/fuel mixture, but servicing it requires intake removal. I'm trying to avoid contaminating the air/fuel mixture. Just an old retired dude experimenting with what I got.
More of a crankcase evacuation as used on drag cars than a PCV, but looks like you've got the basics. I'll mention that the drag setup uses reed valves to prevent reverse flow and for fire suppression.
Good point RodStRace. A PCV valve is a check valve but I have considered a check valve downstream of the oil separator would be a better alternative. Another thought I've been kicking around in my head, is converting a flattie oil filter canister in the stock location to an oil separator. It would then be possible to hide the whole system without any detrimental effect. Just to elaborate a bit on the positive flow aspect of the crankcase evacuation, probably better described with a diagram with arrows. The valley and valve ***emblies will stay much cleaner due to the filtered air intake traveling in one direction into the valley under the intake and then via the oil holes located under the sheet metal clips to the crankcase. The draw created from the exhaust insures a one way flow throughout the entire system. Yeah, still a work in progress. Every time I tear one of these engines down, I can't help but think of ways to improve them.
A PCV valve is a one way check valve that also varies flow in one direction based on vacuum signal. That isn't a concern with what you are doing, since it doesn't affect A/F ratio. If you use Crankcase Evacuation as a search term instead, it will have lots of discussion. Most is not HAMB vintage and all are more open exhaust related, since any back pressure will render it non-functional. Many have a catch can in there too. Example https://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iv-external-engine/1553467-crankcase-evacuation-system.html Hope this helps refine your design so it's safe and works well. A lot of racing has used various systems to create vacuum inside the engine to help with vapor, sealing of gaskets/seals and ring seal too, which helps performance. Since you are just working on the vapors and trying to keep it looking old, this isn't viable, but a bit of research there might help too.
The Jalopy Journal
