Hi Bill and any others who may have some input.

I drove my Chevelle to Chevelle-abration last week and got back today. We put about a thousand miles on it and about every 2 hours or 120-130 miles it would need about 1 quart to 1/2 a quart. It smokes out of both sides and it does smoke when I get on it and it really can smoke at an idle. Checked timing and the metering rods and jets in it and it is a little rich but not far off. It has good power but I'm going to drive it down to Ian this week if I can. That much oil use and smoke is unacceptable and something has got to be wrong. It has great vacuum and it has a PVC on one side and a breather on the other. It is also not leaking much except for a bit off the valve covers. My friend Chevelle with a 454 on a recent rebuild use 1/2 quart the whole trip, and it did not look like a mosquito fogger when he drove it or let it idle.

The engine is a 454 .30 over Keith Black hypereutectics .133 dome I think, 781 oval ports fully ported and pollished, 2.19, 1.88 Stainless valves. Comp Extreme Energy 274 cam, Edelbrock dual quad intake with 2 500 Edlbrock carbs, 2400 rpm stall 700 R4 tranny, 3.55:1 gears BF Goodrich 255 60 R 15 in the rear. All in a 66 Malibu. Block was bored, honed with tourque plates, checked for line straightness, decked, indexed, balanced, and supposedly warranteed. Heads have new seals aand the guides were checked.

So far not much help from Engine Works in Matoon, IL.

I have appreciated your advice and help but this motor should be thoroughly broken in at 2000+ miles and not sucking down oil. I have done all of what you and Ian have suggested but it has not seemed to find a solution to it. Maybe Ian knows what it will be if he sees and here's it.

Is there any thing else you can think of to give me all of this trouble? My last compression test was fine but how do I tell if it valve guides or seals?

A crate motor is approaching what I have in this now.

Thanks

Rob Whittaker

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

Is it possible that the valve stem seals were left out of the engine assembly? Thats the most likely thing I can think of aside from something wrong with the rings.

stranger things have happened than seals being forgotten.

The problem is that there are VERY few ways that an engine can consume oil if it is not actually leaking it visibly. At least that narrows the search down but still makes it difficult.

One other possibility would be a faulty PCV that is sucking oil but that would also be a major vacuum leak that would manifest itself in other ways.

In any event good luck.

[This message has been edited by charbilly2001 (edited 06-10-2002).]

You mentioned that you did a compression test, but that does not tell you the condition of the oil control rings. For all the oil you are consuming, it is conceivable that they have been compromised in some way.

Mike

Rob,
I would like you to try a couple of very simple things and let me know the result.
1. Pull the pcv valve, remove it from it's hose and plug the hose. Also remove the
breather from the other valve cover. Then start the motor. Have someone hold their
hand over one of the valve cover holes. You go to the other valve cover and take a
small piece of paper, maybe 2" square, and place it over the hole in the valve cover.
If it is held in place by a vacuum, you have an internal intake leak, probably the
intake not sealing, but could also be a cracked intake ?
If the paper is blown away from the hole with very much force, then there is blowby,
probably a ring problem. There will always be some blowby, but it should not be a
lot. This is kind of subjective.
You can also spray about a 5 second spray of carburetor cleaner into the valve
cover hole, if the motor speeds up a few seconds later.....intake leak.
I still do not think it is valve stem seals.....early small blocks had none at all and did not use oil like that. If you are being truthful about the oil consumption, it is more than could ever run down a valve stem.
By the way, are there baffles under the breather and pcv holes in the valve covers ??
When you first started the motor, (both times) did the carb get overly rich ??? It only takes a few minutes of running with a bunch of fuel dumping into the cylinders to
ruin a set of rings and glaze up the cylinders.
Try the test and post or e-mail me the result. It only takes a minute.



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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

1971 Heavy Chevy - original owner
Team Chevelle #100

Bill,
No issues with blow by or with to much vacuum. It didn't blow it off with much force. I get smoke at start up so that would mean oil gets onto the top of the cylinder. From my understanding that is a valve guide seal issue.

No leaks to really speak of. It could be a combo of both rings and valve guides/seals. I drove it to Matton and let Ian see what it was doin and spoke with him at length about it. He/We feel the first step he is going to put new guides in and machine them for positive type seals, not the teflon ones. Then if it still smokes and consumes oil after that he will rebuild the short block and go to .40 over to start over. He will stand behind all of this, he will do it at his expense.

My carbs are a little on the rich side but after the trip to Nashville they were just brown. I will go to the next rod and or rod jet size down to lean it out more to see if that helps after I put the heads back on.

It is my understanding that todays rings are pretty much idiot proof. They seat very quickly. There is a powder or something I have read about that makes them seat immediately. But I have left all of that up to Ian.

The heads go down to him today.

I'll keep you posted I should have them back in a week.

What should I look for in the cylinders while I have the heads off?

Rob

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/16471129/40533705smRxzk



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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/16471129/40533705smRxzk

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

The only time in my life that I had to deal with 16 bad valve stem seals all at once was the time I had sub contracted a valve job to a machine shop that was in the same complex where I had my shop. The assembly man that assembled the heads put the valve stem (O-ring) seals on the valve stems before placing the retainers on the stems and displaced all 16 stem seals from their grooves. Needless to say this car burned oil constantly as long as there was vacuum in the engine. It smoked at idle, cruising or pretty much anything except full throttle.

No one was happy with that deal when I sat down to discuss it with the owner of the shop whose assembly man did the work.

That said I am having a hard time seeing any other cause for your problem. Hopefully that will be the nature of your dilema as opposed to deep engine stuff. Good luck

Charbilly2001, THat is what the engine builder ian and I decided was the most likely culprit. THe cylinders all look like new. You can still the cross hatching of the hone job from the last time. It had regular umbrella seals on it that ride way up on the valve stem, so the guide is exposed unless the valve is compressed. ian said that this was the way they ride on the valve stem but it would certainly seem like a likely way for it to take down oil.

I do have one question regarding guides and I asked Ian the builder about using brass guides and he siad they usually stay with steel like OEM. He will maching them for a positive seal and if that doesn't cure the smoking he will re-do the short block for the 3rd time but all of this he is doing out of his pocket. Except for my time and labor taking it apart and putting it back together.

I'll keep all of you posted. The heads will be done next Friday so my weekend job next weekend is to put the heads on, and hope for no smoking.



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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

Rob,
I still dont buy the valve seals / guides unless something has caused the valve guides to wear a whole lot more than normal. Chevrolet still uses the umbrella type seals on the Rat motors as far as I know...without any smoking or oil consumption problems. I know for a fact that all of the late model Mercruiser Big Blocks still use the umbrella seals. I personally still think that something is causing the oil to be drawn into the combustion chamber. If Ian does not find any unusual wear in the guides, I dont think the positive seals are going to fix the problem. I hope I am wrong, but its my opinion for now. I talked to him on Thursday and he did not mention your motor. I will give him a shout on Monday. Do you still have the intake gaskets ? How about a close up picture if you do ?
Just because you can still see the crosshatch, the rings are not neccessarily sealed properly. Was there a lot of oil on top of the pistons when you took it apart ? There should have been if it is burning as much as you say.
By the way, I agree with Ian on the cast iron guides. They are what we use 99% of the time and do not have problems.
Also, did you try the carb cleaner spray test before you took the heads off ?
I am just trying to think of things to look at while the heads are off.


------------------
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

1971 Heavy Chevy - original owner
Team Chevelle #100

[This message has been edited by BillK (edited 06-15-2002).]

No I didn't try the carb cleaner test. But I had done it with WD 40 a while back. I hope it is the guides too. I dodn't want to pull the engine again. There was oil on the pistons. There was oil in the intake ports like 2 or 3 of them were wet. No oil in the intake manifold. It ran out of the heads when we took them off. I don't know what else to do BillK. I have tried almost everything you have asked. Ian and I have talked at length and he has seen it run and smoke. He saw the car on Monday and had the heads Thursday around noon. I can't believe it could be rings. Are they not designed to seat almost immediately. I am very frustrated about this whole mess. I'm going to give my self an ulcer wondering about all the what ifs. I love my car and love the Big Block power but I will definitely go with a crate engine next time and let some one else deal with these issues if it is not right. Ian is doing great standing behind his work and his efforts to try and solve the issue has been great. My only complaint is that I tore down the engine and took off the heads but I paid him the last time to put together the long block. So this time I will put it back together even though I paid him to do it last time. I have now more in this engine than a crate motor. The money involved is getting very close to the price of a crate engine. I looked at the intake gaskets and had another machinist/ drag racer take a look at them and the heads and intake. He was there the whole time and even went to Ian's shop with me.

I am truly embarassed to have a car that runs this way and smokes and sucks the oil down. THere are just a lot possibilities. When I put the heads back on I will know if is them or not and then we will tear back into the short block.

I hope others out there don't have engines like mine. I'm busting my butt to do everything right and by the book. I have talked to so many people that my head is swimming with the possibilities of what is could be.

I'm sorry to write so much and be so negative. I'm having a really rough week and this is one of those days. Like I said Ian will fix it no matter what it takes he has assured me of that. So I'm putting my faith and my trust in you and Ian to do the right thing.

Gratefully,
Rob Whittaker

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

FWIW I am not a proponent of umbrella seals on SB engines. I am aware that they are used on BB's but the standard for SB engines has always been the O-ring seal. Properly installed there is no smoke problem because the oil is directed away from the valve stem. Chevrolet used them in literally millions of engines successfully and basically that has always been good enough for me except for racing engines.

One of the giveaways that you mentioned was the umbrella seal riding up off of the guide boss on the valve stem. That implies to me that they may have been brittle and not staying on the guide boss. Once they come up off the boss their sealing quality is lost. They are not supposed to ride way up on the valve stem as you said. They should grip the guide boss and direct oil away from the valve stem. If you look at the flow path of the oil when you leave the O-ring seal out of the equation you can see how if the umbrella seal rides high on the stem then the oil will definitely get to the guide boss. The O-rings prevent the oil from ever getting to the stem in the first place.

Anyway I hope this all helps you to a solution. I don't know if I am right here but I suspect that we are on the right track.

Keep us posted as to the ultimate fix.

Ya know what?? Cancel everything I have been saying. I just noticed that you have a BB. I am very sorry but that fact escaped me. I failed to read your signature and misses the 454 bit. My aoplogies. All along I thought we were talking about a SB engine.

That said I would still investigate the umbrella seals not staying attached to the guide bosses. That is the only way they can be effective seals. Riding up on the stem is like not having them there at all.

Charbilly2001,

The seal ridin up the way they were did seem very odd to me. Each one was way up high next to the retainer. I don't know what they feel like, if they are brittle or too soft. But the position of them looked like oil could go right down the stem in the guides. But I don't have any experience with seals so I'm leaving that up to the engine builder.

Thanks for your help BB or SB its all good information to me.

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

Rob,
Had a similar problem myself, in the past, on a fresh rebuilt LS5. I suspected everything and even considered pulling the motor for disassembly. I decided I would start with the heads and took them to another shop for a thorough checking. Found the valves had been tumbled in shot to clean them. The dimpled valve stems caused by the shot damaged the valve guides and seals. This was within 300 miles of the rebuild. This thing left a blue haze at idle that had everyone talking at the local shows. The 2nd rebuild set me back $450.00 and that was 10 years ago.
The new guides, valves, and seals fixed my problem. Hope yours doesn't go beyoun this. Good luck!

------------------
Ed C.
------------------------
70SS 396/350 4speed
70 LS6 4speed under resto.
00 C5 6speed

A couple of questions I have are:
1) how much were the block and heads decked and were they decked by a previous owner? If there is too much machined the intake port may not line up completely with the manifold sucking in oil.
2) is the intake gasket designed for aluminium manifold? Some are for cast iron and are too stiff and will bend an aluminium one causing a leak.

My experience with a newly rebuilt 350 without valve seals had me using 1 quart of oil per day! After I put 16 new o-rings in it was fine. Your bigger engine could probably inhale oil at that rate as well.
Good Luck.
Bill

Ed Carpenter,

That is exactly what mine does a solid blue haze. They wend back though the heads and put new guides and seals in this time with Positive seals but it still smokes not as much. But it still is an embarassing thing especially at Chevelle-abration. It didn't smoke before it was rebuilt.

They are suggesting a carb problem. If I was washing down the cylinders I would think I would be getting fuel; in the oil and a bunch of other problems. I can't get a good read on the plugs because of how much oil it has been using. My calls to Edelbrock's tech people say I was using smaller carb recomendations than they usually reccommend on BB 454's. I had 2, 500 cfm Edelbrocks and now have a single 750 cfm. Still smokes. They are going to look at it them selves but are saying they have done all they can do so it must be something I'm doing or have done. But to get to smoke they way it does when they assembled the long block the last time. That last re-do with th glass media cost me $600 or so. I'm not planning on laying any more out. It has been down more than it has ran, in the last year.



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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

This happened to me, on a 383 "freshening" up. Bought a new ring set, but the 2nd compression ring had NO markings whatsoever. I looked and looked and gave up and installed the buggers. This thing huffed oil like I owned stock in AMOCO. I finally got sick of it, pulled the motor, did a tear down and looked again. There was a miniscule bevel cut in the inside edge of the ring, that I missed on assembly. (If I remember correctly, this should go "UP".) I was about 50/50 on wrong and correct.
I installed a new ring set (with no other work done) and the engine doesn't use a drop now, with 12000 on it.
Maybe??

Bill70, The block is at 0 the heads have never been cut or surfaced. I am using a flat intake gasket not raised, they are Mr. Gaskets and are designed for aluminum intakes.

I can't speak to the rings, as I didn't put that part together.

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

I'm guessing you'll find, like me, it's something not right in the cylinder wall prep-ring combo. After 1500 miles,neither I or the machine shop could find anything wrong; rings right side up, proper gap, not butting, wear pattern good, leak down good, comp test good, no taper or out of round in the bores, crosshatch looked good, etc. But you could turn the shortblock over by hand and watch some pistons leave oil at the top of the stroke. To eliminate any possible leaks in the intake manifold to head seal, put Permatex No.2 on both sides of the gaskets around the ports.

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von '69 300 Dlx SS TC #15 ACES #1575
My '69 SS (http://mywebpage.netscape.com/jerryacheson/vons69.html)

Are you running synthetic oil in a brand new unbroken in motor? If so get it out of there and run some "normal" oil for the first couple of oil changes. I've seen it help oil burners before.

I have standard 10 W 40 in there now.



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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

The "don't use synthetic oil from the start" is hogwash, I used it on the fresh engine I installed in my 86 Monte Carlo SS and all is fine.

------------------
Leo Paugh
Maryland Chevelle Club #017
A.C.E.S.#3731
progress has little to do with speed, but lots to do with direction.
Maryland Chevelle Club (http://www.chevelles.net/mcc/mcc.htm)

Give'r the ole' Borax treatment.... http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif
No, I'm not suggesting that.
On a lighter note, I'll share this story. A friend of mine built a 6.5 GM diesel for this guy. Well he complained that the eng smoked alot, and brought it back for my buddy to take a look at. I was at his shop at the time and was able to see this whole operation. Some diagnoisis by process of elimination indicated the rings didn't seat, plus the fact the owner admited that he let the fresh engine idle for allmost an hour on initial startup http://www.chevelles.com/forum/frown.gif. My friend admitted that teardown was very likely, so what the heck. We added a quart of atf to the fuel to keep the inj. pump well lubed, fired off the engine and flogged the dog pee out of it by holding it against the governor for about fifteen minuites while adding approximately a tablespoon of borax to each intake port (a diesel will run without the intake manifold) and following up with atf untill it smoothed out again. WOW http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif You know what a diesel sounds like at WOT with no intake~!?
Well all-in-all, an oil change immediately following, and that eng is still on the road oil consumption cured......for now.

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'68 SS-396 (still workin' on it)
"Need a good hobby?? I recommend drinking"
-2 Below Custom Automotive
Fbks, AK.

Out of desparation last year, and knowing I had nothing to lose since the engine was coming out again anyway, I tried the "Borax treatment". I didn't do one smidgen of good for me. But then I still think think it was a poor boring job that was the problem and not ring seating.

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von '69 300 Dlx SS TC #15 ACES #1575
My '69 SS (http://mywebpage.netscape.com/jerryacheson/vons69.html)

When oil is present in the intake runners of the intake manifold, then you have an intake sealing problem. Oil is being sucked out of the valley.

You should be able to tell what is going on in the engine by reading the spark plugs. If you have a faulty oil ring in a particular cylinder, then the plug will be oil fouled.

BBC all use the umbrella seals on all 16 valves. They are supposed to ride up on the valve stem. They are not supposed to hug the valve guide.
BTW....stock SB Chevy's all use the o-ring seals on all 16 valves in conjunction with a positive seal on the intake and an umbrella on the exhaust. Of course all apllications are different. But this is the general application for SB's.
**note** some high perf 1.600 exh and 2.02-up int valves do not have the 2nd groove for the o-ring. This is because they are usually used in conjunction with an aftermarket retainer and a positve PC type seal is usually used to control oil anyway.
1.6 and 2.02 aftermarket valves are made both ways. w/ and w/o the 2nd groove.
You should never run the SB's without the o-ring seal on the 2nd groove of the valve stem as it keeps oil from running down the stem. It seals the area around the retainer that is left open. Oil tends to "pool up" on top of the retainer and the o-ring seal deters the oil from running down the valve stem.

If the engine was just rebuilt, then why did the machine shop install new guides the 2nd time around ? Why didn't they put them in the first time ? This would lead me to be suspect of their rebuild the first time.
With a cast iron guide and a chrome stem valve, the clearance should run between .0012"-.0015" on the intakes and .0017"-.002" on the exhaust for a street car. 10 years ago or so when the fuel had lead in it, you could run these clearances a little tighter, but with today's gas you have to run them a little looser.
The only thing I can think of here would be that they let the guides go the first time because they weren't too bad, but decided to tighten up the clearance the 2nd time ???

I don't think the guides/seals are the problem here.

Did you ever check the valve covers for the oil baffle at the PCV and breather tube ?

Did they use the correct grit honing stones for the rings used ?

Nate

[This message has been edited by SS3964N8 (edited 07-27-2002).]

[This message has been edited by SS3964N8 (edited 07-27-2002).]

The oil was not in the intake manifold. It came out of the heads intake ports on which the valves were closed. When off I rolled them over and oil ran out same for 2 or so of the exhaust ports.

The guides were within tolerances the first time.

The hone pattern or grit I cannot say what they used except what was specified.

Switched intakes and ran it on a single 4 bbl. Still smoked.

Going back to the dual quads.

What is this thing about Borax and getting rings to seal?

I though I had heard about running the enging while adding tranny fluid through the carbs to seal up stubborn engines.

But it will now be up to the builder when I get it up and running again.

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

If the guides were within tollerances the first time, then why were they replaced again ?

Nate

To eliminate that it was not the guides and seals. He put in positive seals this time for me. It now does not smoke on start up but still smoke with a blue haze while running. Especially warm.

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

For what it's worth, I was battling oil consumption in my big block, too. My valve covers didn't have baffles, and the PCV valve was sucking a quart through every 120 miles. Replaced the valve covers, and the problem was solved.

I hope you find something as simple as that.

I wish it was that simple. I have late modle GM aluminum covers like the ones on 454-502 crate and production engines. Not much blowing out of the PVC or huge sucking problems. Good vacuum. Runs strong. Just smokes and uses oil. Lots of oil.

Lined up the intake to the valley area between the heads and same angle on both sides even across the bottom.

What else can it be besides rings/pistons or something in the cylinders?

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

You said the heads were ported. Did he cut the guides too short when he did the head work. That causes an oil comsumption problem.

I'm not sure about the guides. They initially were the factory ones not they are new ones that are steel.

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

Ok, this engine is getting fuel wash I think from the dual quads not because they are to big but because my vacuume drops to 7-to 9 below 1000. So at idle it dumps to much in and causes the wash. Which makes it smoke and if I don't fix it, it will ruin the rings. So what can i do?
It is a 454, .30 with KB that have a .133 dome. I have 119cc or so 781 Oval ports ported well with 2.19, 1.88 SS valves with an Edelbrock 2X4 manifold with 2, 500cfm Edelbrock carbs Stock Jets and Rods. Comp cams Extreme Energy 274 cam. Tried upping the initial timing but gets run-on when you shut it off.

I tried a 750 Edelbrock and a Performer intake but still smoke.

Leak down shows under 5% and all compression test were with in 2 percent of each other.

So it should not be the rings. But this thing sucked down 4 quarts of oil in 900 miles driving from IL to TN for Chevelle-abration. It runs strong and after highway testing the plugs they looked good. Run around town and they are black but not wet. But if it burns that much oil how can I tell if it is fuel or oil?

I have an MSD 6AL with a Accell coil and MSD wires Hedemen Headers 1 7/8" to 2 1/2" Flowmaster exhaust.

Do I add a vacuume can? I thought they were for accessories. Vacuume pump?

Can I have the carbs modified to work well on this?

Would Swirl Torque Carb Spacers help atomize the fuel better? Page 75 in Jegs. http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=5869&prmenbr=361

Should I go to a Fast bleed lifter? or Rhodes?

Or should I take it to some place in IL or IN to have it Dyno tuned? I'm in Urbana/CHampaign IL 2 hours S. of Chicago 2 hours west of Indianapolis. 1 1/2 hours east Of Peoria.

Gotta get it fixed. Help.


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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

I thought the problem was still there even with a single carb? what gives

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67 BB Prostreet Camaro
71 BB Chevelle (SS clone)
80 Camaro Z28 355 SBC
2002 35th anniv. SS Z28

Take the sooty plugs and heat them with a propane torch if they smoke you should be able to tell if its oil. If the smoke is odorless it is likely gasoline.

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67 BB Prostreet Camaro
71 BB Chevelle (SS clone)
80 Camaro Z28 355 SBC
2002 35th anniv. SS Z28

That was my issue. With the single 750 and different intake it still smoked. I let it run long enough to burn any thing out but still smoked.

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

I thought rings, but all the test point to the fuel issue.

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1966 Chevelle Malibu Sandalwood, Gold color
454, .30 over, dual quads
700 R4 transmission
12" disks up front and hope to have disks in the rear soon.

I was just doing some searcjing and came across this thread.

Ever figure out the problem?

I didn't see anything about a fuel pump up there, it may just be a bad pump. It wouldn't be a first for us over here. I've had customers change cam and lifters from "ticking" fuel pump pushrod. Just a long shot! Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

are you sure the intake gaskets were sealing good-with all the mach. work to the heads and block, you have to really seal them good-i had a blower motor that would smoke like hell, we ended up having to touch up the intake manif. to get a perfect seal-it looked like the gasket had a pretty good imprint, but you could see where the oil was getting thru-also using sealer instead of end gaskets lets the manifold draw down better-then re torq after warm up-good luck

I am having almost the same problem. Actually it has gone on for 3 years. same valve covers, similar cam, same pistons....

Did the source of the problem ever surface????:confused: How die you resolve it???

Intresting post. First I have seen this one. My 396 has the same problems and it certainly is embarrasing. At first it was doing this when I swapped to a set of 781's. Then I was told I gave up probably a full point of compression because of just changing the heads, so I swapped back a few years later to try and fix the problem.

Problem was it only smoked on startup and shifts so I swapped to the stock heads again. Now it smokes more then just shifts and startup. Been looking at everything I can think of. Only thing left to do is pull the motor and have the rings and bearing replaced. Probably due for a basic rebuild anyways.

Intrested in hearing how this worked out for Whitaker also.

Here is what I recieved.


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Hi, No we never really figured that one out. Part of the problem was the fuel delivery. It had 2 500 cfm carbs. Edelbrock reccommends 2 600 cfm carbs for BB engines. It had to do with a low idle signal I guess where the throttle blades were open too much and it sucked the fuel past the idle circuit. Causing it to have fuel wash. Suppossedly this was all the smoking. It did also have several cracked guide liners and they could have cause some of it as well. THe valve springs were tight and might have been at max lift and in coild bind but this wouldn't impact the oil issue.

It spun a rod from the fuel wash and trips to 5500+rpm. It was all ready .030 under so I went stroker and have a 489 now. It still gives a little smoke now and then.

Sorry I don't know more.

Rob

[quote=Whittaker;196661]I wish it was that simple. I have late modle GM aluminum covers like the ones on 454-502 crate and production engines.

quote]

If you never solved the oil problem, these are it right here. I put a pair of these on a 396 I built and it smoked exactly like yours. Ended up taking them off and welding some sheetmetal around the opening, and only left a miniscule hole or two for the air to get thorough. Bye bye smoking.

Dave

Dave, any pictures of how you did what you did?
These valve covers have metal baffles inside:clonk:

Here is a thread I started on the valve cover issue:

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143670

Please post any valve cover comments there :waving: .