[Roger3454]

I recently bought a 67 SS. I've had nothing but problems with it. I bought it out of a place in the Orlando area but live 3 hours away in SW Florida. I took it to a classic car shop near my house and told him to go through it. He's saying that there's metal flakes in the oil and the engine needs to be replaced. The place I bought it from has since looked at it again and say there's nothing wrong with it. I'm looking for a mechanic in the Orlando area that could give me an 3rd party opinion. Anybody happen to know of someone I could use? I would of course pay the person for their time.

 

[DUTCH MAX HEADWORK]

Unless it's running bad or sounds bad there's nothing a mechanics going to be able to do for you that you can't do for yourself at this point. drain the oil, replace the filter cut the filter open take the pletes apart and check to see if you find a whole bunch of metal in there.

I mechanic can do a compression test and leak down test, and tell you the general condition of your engine. Thing is if there's metal in the oil it's probably from the bearings or Cam not going to show in those tests unless maybe it's the cam in which case of engines probably going to be running like crap

 

[smitty454]

Unless it's running bad or sounds bad there's nothing a mechanics going to be able to do for you that you can't do for yourself at this point. drain the oil, replace the filter cut the filter open take the pletes apart and check to see if you find a whole bunch of metal in there.

I mechanic can do a compression test and leak down test, and tell you the general condition of your engine. Thing is if there's metal in the oil it's probably from the bearings or Cam not going to show in those tests unless maybe it's the cam in which case of engines probably going to be running like crap

Do what Dutch says. Hes right.

 

[MikeN]

If your engine doesn't overheat and oil pressure seems OK, I would continue driving it and just monitor the oil. I'm not at all on board with the diagnosis that a little metal in the oil means a new engine is required. It could be something as simple as a fuel pump pushrod or distributor gear wearing in, etc.

Example - I put a TH400 in my Impala four years ago. It started making a faint whining noise, and there was metal in the fluid. I kept driving it, dropped the pan and changed the filter a couple of times, and after a couple hundred miles, whatever it was worked itself out. The noise went away and the filter now looks great every time I check it. Something inside needed a little more clearance. No harm no foul. I drive this car about 1,500 miles a year, and also drag race it. No issues at all with the transmission.

 

[Roger3454]

If your engine doesn't overheat and oil pressure seems OK, I would continue driving it and just monitor the oil. I'm not at all on board with the diagnosis that a little metal in the oil means a new engine is required. It could be something as simple as a fuel pump pushrod or distributor gear wearing in, etc.

Example - I put a TH400 in my Impala four years ago. It started making a faint whining noise, and there was metal in the fluid. I kept driving it, dropped the pan and changed the filter a couple of times, and after a couple hundred miles, whatever it was worked itself out. The noise went away and the filter now looks great every time I check it. Something inside needed a little more clearance. No harm no foul. I drive this car about 1,500 miles a year, and also drag race it. No issues at all with the transmission.

One of the times that I "broke down" the engine did overheat. It's hard to know who is right. That's why I wanted a 3rd opinion. I'm not mechanically inclined so to have another set of eyes/ears on it would make me feel more comfortable. I just want to be able to drive it without worrying that I'm going to break down all the time.

 

[Roger3454]

Unless it's running bad or sounds bad there's nothing a mechanics going to be able to do for you that you can't do for yourself at this point. drain the oil, replace the filter cut the filter open take the pletes apart and check to see if you find a whole bunch of metal in there.

I mechanic can do a compression test and leak down test, and tell you the general condition of your engine. Thing is if there's metal in the oil it's probably from the bearings or Cam not going to show in those tests unless maybe it's the cam in which case of engines probably going to be running like crap

Thanks for the response. I hope it is something that's not too big of a deal.

 

[DUTCH MAX HEADWORK]

One of the times that I "broke down" the engine did overheat. It's hard to know who is right. That's why I wanted a 3rd opinion. I'm not mechanically inclined so to have another set of eyes/ears on it would make me feel more comfortable. I just want to be able to drive it without worrying that I'm going to break down all the time.

Is this a numbers matching engine? If so, I would probably add a degree of concern into the equation.

What's your oil pressure at idle and at speed? Have you noticed a drop? If you don't have an oil pressure gauge, it's a good thing to have.

Do you have any clicking, tapping clunking thumping noises in the engine? They may be louder when cold.

Do an oil change and collect a few samples in glass jars. Inspect visually for metals. Eventually they will settle to the bottom. You can run a magnet and see if you can pick up the metal. Color may also indicate source.

Cut your filter open, preferably without a grinder. Tin snipswork but can be hazardous. Wear gloves. Check the filter housing and pleats for metal, again try to note color or shinyness and if magnetic.

For the most part, if you see metal flakes something is eating itself up. Disassembly may be the only way to find out exactly what the issue is. Pulling the valve covers, inspecting the valve train, pull the distributor and check the drive gear are a few places to check first.

This is a good prep article for a guy that thinks he has metal shavings in his oil.
What Causes Metal Shavings in Oil? | UTI

You can send out an oil sample for analysis.

Why Oil Analysis is Worth Your Time

Are you on the fence about having an oil analysis performed for your equipment? Check out this post to learn about the benefits of oil analysis.

www.undermyhood.com

You should be running a high zinc classic car or racing oil if you are running a flat tappet cam. My preference is Valvoline VR1 or Joe Gibbs Driven non synthetic.Driven Racing Oil 03806 Driven Racing Oil Hot Rod Motor Oil | Summit Racing

Wix or Napas Gold filters are good oil filters. Fram is junk. Run a good oil filter.

1.5W30 Motul Ester Core 4T Motorcycle Racing Oil, synthetic = 112,612 psi
zinc = 1724 ppm
phos = 1547 ppm

2. 10W30 Lucas Racing Only, synthetic = 106,505 psi
zinc = 2642 ppm
phos = 3489 ppm

3. 5W30 Joe Gibbs Driven LS30 Performance Motor Oil, synthetic = 104,487 psi
zinc = 1610 ppm
phos = 1496 ppm


4. 10W30 Valvoline NSL (Not Street Legal) Conventional Racing Oil = 103,846 psi
zinc = 1669 ppm
phos = 1518 ppm


5. 10W30 Valvoline VR1 Conventional Racing Oil (silver bottle) = 103,505 psi
zinc = 1472 ppm
phos = 1544 ppm


6. 10W30 Valvoline VR1 Synthetic Racing Oil, API SL (black bottle) = 101,139 psi
zinc = 1180 ppm
phos = 1112 ppm


7. 30 wt Red Line Race Oil synthetic = 96,470 psi
zinc = 2207 ppm
phos = 2052 ppm


8. 10W30 Amsoil Z-Rod Oil synthetic = 95,360 psi
zinc = 1431 ppm
phos = 1441 ppm

9. 5W30 Maxima RS530 Synthetic Racing Oil = 91,162 psi
zinc = 2162 ppm
phos = 2294 ppm


10. 10W30 Quaker State Defy, API SL semi-synthetic = 90,226 psi
zinc = 1221 ppm
phos = 955 ppm


11. 10W30 Joe Gibbs HR4 Hotrod Oil synthetic = 86,270 psi
zinc = 1247 ppm
phos = 1137 ppm


12. 15W40 RED LINE Diesel Oil synthetic, API CJ-4/CI-4 PLUS/CI-4/CF/CH-4/CF-4/SM/SL/SH/EO-O = 85,663 psi
zinc = 1615 ppm
phos = 1551 ppm


13. 5W30 LAT Synthetic Racing Oil = 81,800 psi
zinc = 1784 ppm
phos = 1539 ppm

14. 30wt Amsoil Break-In Oil, conventional = 78,192 psi
zinc = 2051 ppm
phos = 1917 ppm

15. 5W30 Lucas API SM synthetic = 76,584 psi
zinc = 1134 ppm
phos = 666 ppm

 

[427L88]

I'll give you a metric, once you start counting 20 or more "specs" per pleat in your cut apart oil flter, you are close to an engine failure. A few here and there, drive the heck out of it.

That is an actual metric from my 427 , not a W-A-G.