Bad News

or a loose rocker stud or stud without sealer on it. A lot of heads have rocker studs thredds into the intake port. A potantial oiul leak that will show up under load, hot oil and rocker boes nice and wet
 
Yup.... Agree.....

Again: how comfy do you feel ripping it apart???

You know, we'll be here helping you get it back together

:D
 
It's not that I am uncomfortable ripping it apart. It's just that I know I am a terrible procrastinator and it would take me forever to put it back together again, plus I feel that I do not have the necessary tools for more than removing the manifold ( I would not pull the heads). I learned a long time ago that it is actually cheaper and faster to let the local repair shop work their magic than to try and do it myself.
That being said I am on the shops' schedule for Wednesday. I have asked them to do whatever tests they do to determine what part(s) are at fault and to advise the best course of action based on that information. Once I get some feedback you will be the next ones to know.
 
DeeVeeEight said:
I was at the shop yesterday...

Houston, we have an intake manifold leak...
Click to expand...

Good news, that's a cheap fix....

Intake gaskets are available in several thicknesses, the front and rear section of the gasket (4 pieces all together) are rubber.... I use high temp RTV instead of the rubber pieces - seems to be a very common practice.... never had a problem....

Are you going to pull the intake or the shop??

What intake do you have? Might as well spend your money on a upgraded intake instead of labor.....

:D
 
It's at the shop, I am going to let them do it. They have not charged me anything for the last several jobs they have done and I feel that at least this is something they can give me a bill for. It is usually ridiculously cheap so I am not worried, even if it is a couple of hundred dollars I wouldn't be upset, I owe them some.
As far as the intake manifold is concerned I already have an Edelbrock Air Gap single plane, so as long as it isn't damaged I'm good.
 
Latest update:

The intake manifold was removed, offending gasket identified and replaced.
The owner of the shop tells me that he wants to keep it for another day or two so they can retorque and recheck everything. He also tells me that they test drove it and it runs great. It is not smoking as bad as it was and he thinks that the motor is too powerful for such a light car.
I laughed my ass off.
Once I calmed down I asked him if he thinks it will pass a sniff test. He's not sure but will see what he can do...
 
I got the car back today, no more whistle (vacuum leak) from the intake and she is running smooth. Still a bit of smoke but not as bad as before. I started a new thread titled "emissions" - I'd like to try and get the car to pass a NJ smog test if I can.

Thanks to all for your help, I still have a bit of a way to go.
 
I'd bet there's still some residual oil hanging around in the heads and intake. Get it out of the NJ Turnpike and run it hard for a bit. It'll probably clean itself up.
 
Get antique plates if you can. They usually mean the car is exempt from emissions.
 
TimAT said:
I'd bet there's still some residual oil hanging around in the heads and intake. Get it out of the NJ Turnpike and run it hard for a bit. It'll probably clean itself up.
Click to expand...

So I took your advice, except not on the NJ Tpk. and ran the car hard for about half an hour. As soon as I got off the highway and on the local streets I saw a NJ State Trooper in the rear view mirror. I could feel my heart rate increasing as I thought about the dreaded ticket coming my way, then he turned right and I turned left and that was the end of it (whew!).
It seems you were right, no noticeable smoke from the tailpipes but there does seem to be an oil leak somewhere, coming off the back side of the motor. Probably valve covers, since they were R&R'd for the intake gasket repair. After that is fixed I am leaning towards the QQ tags (historic) and then getting my focus back on paint.
 
Good Show! Check the rocker covers and the back of the intake- if they didn't get the intake or the block really clean RTV won't stick/seal. Also it gets kind of tight back there- the oil pressure line or sender could have taken a small hit.
 
TimAT said:
Good Show! Check the rocker covers and the back of the intake- if they didn't get the intake or the block really clean RTV won't stick/seal. Also it gets kind of tight back there- the oil pressure line or sender could have taken a small hit.
Click to expand...

Some years ago, I got skunked on that back china wall RTV leak, and so I got creative/lazy.....I put the crank case under vacuum, and sprayed the leak point with brake cleaner, when it was clean on the outside, another squirt into the gap, killed engine when warm, blasted with air hose, then started up engine and QUICKLY filled the hole/gap with back RTV, snatched the pink wire off the hei to kill engine IMMEDIATELY, then filled in more RTV, smoothed it off, and went to bed....never a leak since....

GOD I"m a lazy/cheep bastard.....


:hunter::gurney:
 
Gene, You're not lazy or cheap, just spot on with what it took to make the repair. I had an old 70 something Chevy van that I swapped a strong running 350 from another Chevy van into and had the same problem. I only had an oil leak when I ran it hard, it was the China wall. I cleaned it good and siliconed it up and never had another issue with it. The advantage I had is that the back of the motor was easily accessible once the interior cover was removed.
 
long overdue update

Sometimes I think my life sucks, other times it can be great. This is another one of those ups and downs stories. It's been a couple of years since I have had the time or inclination to do anything with the car, life had shifted my priorities. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have a Karl, friend of the family come over and spend the better part of 5 hours working on diagnosing the motor. It was dumping freezing rain all day but we had the unheated garage to work in, it could have been worse.
We ran a compression and leak down test on all cylinders. Number one, six and eight cylinders failed the leak down test. Karl's opinion is that the rings never did seat properly when the engine was originally built and that the time it was driven without oil didn't help it but didn't kill it either. We won't know for sure until it is all torn down but we are hoping to only have to hone the cylinders and re-ring the pistons, the rod and crank bearings will be gone over too. The top end looks fine, oil pressure is good and there are no noises to worry about. Karl has a friend who works close by at a highly recommended shop and the car is going there next week, weather permitting, for an overhaul. Wish me luck!
 
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