Technical 63 Impala motor the beginning of the end?

I had to find an old lady that had a hoard of Mexican blankets she bought on vacation in Tijuana 30 years ago to get mine lol

 

Compression looks ok to me. Low oil pressure is not a death sentence.

I agree about gauge/light senders. I had a replacement one in my Comet and the gauge did not read correctly until I found a N.O.S. Ford unit.

Chevy valve guide seals can easily be replaced without pulling the heads as they typically get hard and create start up and deceleration smoke. The improved aftermarket seals do require removing and machining the heads.

In addition, I have found that engine smoking can be due to the brand of oil. Switched oil brand at oil change and started smoking, switched back and no smoke.

I wouldn’t recommend diesel oil as it has higher detergents and sometimes the premise of cleaning out an old engine has a negative result. I know this is controversial.

No theory here, as I experienced all of these.

 

I definitely agree on the no diesel oil thing. Especially as most diesel oils have drastically dropped the zinc content recently. Including the go to rotella

 

I would put a piece of black electrical tape over the idiot light and run it.

Many moons ago there was a product, Alemite CD2. Great to reduce oil smoke out the exhaust. With the breather on a SBC, wrap a shop rag around it, good to go!

Fouling spark plugs? Those anti-foulers work well.

Oil? I had a few beaters i used either Wolf's Head 50 wt racing oil or Valvoline 60 wt blower oil.

 

Would love to see the results you paid for but the old compression test is better than nothing. Seems fine, as all the experienced wags here have said - run it. Fresh umbrella valve stem seals are cheap and not that big a deal to install. Heavier oil is a good move with low compression, but neither are totally necessary. As Vice Grip Garage has proven over and over, getting it up to temp and racking up the miles is what she needs most. Drive it.

 

I always recommend oil

 

Any brand or weight of oil is much better then no oil.

Back when I worked at the gas station, we had a local guy that drove his old van about 6 or 8 blocks a day (each way) to where he worked. He brought it in for his semiannual oil change, but when I pulled the drain plug out, nothing ran out of the hole. I called my boss over, he thought maybe the drain hole was plugged up, it was not. The motor had no oil in it! We replaced a leaking oil pressure switch, and the oil filter, and filled it with 5 quarts of oil. The motor fired up without any noise, and still had oil pressure. We ended up checking the oil every time he came in for gas, never used a drop! The guy ran that old van another 4 or 5 years, until he retired. Never had another problem with it.

 

I had a '65 Belair I beat like a rented mule. It leaked more than it burned. The 327 was north of 220k miles.

The oil light would come on as I took a turn, likely 2 + quarts low. One night... rinse-repeat and it stays ON. Plus I'm in a bad place to walk home.

By now the engine is getting noisy and has a severe miss to it. I stop at a 7-11... somewhere I would never stop otherwise... and get 3 quarts of cheap oil and pour it in.

It starts, not as noisy and I decide to run for home. In a few blocks... the oil light goes out, no noise and it runs smooth.

I later sold the engine to a guy I knew who did marine conversions. I stopped by his shop and the engine was apart... damned if the crank looked perfect. The bearings were worn, but not at all chewed up or showing heat damage.