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Valve horror :eek:

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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 12:24 AM
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Default Valve horror :eek:

I have not seen anything as dirty as this.
Going to start cleaning up this mess tomorrow.

A friend suggested that I scrape off the dirt and use carb cleaner.

Any other suggestions/advice will be appreciated.









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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 12:43 AM
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Pretty nasty.

Short of rebuilding the heads, I'd leave it. If you loosen stuff up it's going to end up blocking passages and in the pan. I'd also worry about the pick-up being blocked by this gunch.

How des it run? Does she use oil?
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 12:50 AM
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Originally Posted by 73, Dark Blue 454
Pretty nasty.

Short of rebuilding the heads, I'd leave it. If you loosen stuff up it's going to end up blocking passages and in the pan. I'd also worry about the pick-up being blocked by this gunch.

How des it run? Does she use oil?
The motor runs great.
The valve covers were leaky and that's why I took them off in the first place.

I agree with you. I am a little scared to clean it.
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 12:51 AM
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Man that's nasty . I have cleaned up a few messes like that before, but i also dropped the oil pan to make sure that none of that sludge remained in the oil pan, could play havoc with your oil pump, also i bet if you remove your intake,that you will find the same mess under there.another tip, before using carb cleaner, take a putty knife or a screwdriver and try to srape as much out as possible, if you have a shop vac, you can use it to suck up the mess as you scrape to help keep it out of the lower part of your engine. it can be cleaned out but just be sure you get it all or it could come loose and, well we wont go there. hope this helps.
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 01:09 AM
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Originally Posted by 73, Dark Blue 454
Pretty nasty.

Short of rebuilding the heads, I'd leave it. If you loosen stuff up it's going to end up blocking passages and in the pan. I'd also worry about the pick-up being blocked by this gunch.
If it runs good and it's not using oil I'd leave it alone.....
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 01:09 AM
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Originally Posted by kwplot34
Man that's nasty . I have cleaned up a few messes like that before, but i also dropped the oil pan to make sure that none of that sludge remained in the oil pan, could play havoc with your oil pump, also i bet if you remove your intake,that you will find the same mess under there.another tip, before using carb cleaner, take a putty knife or a screwdriver and try to srape as much out as possible, if you have a shop vac, you can use it to suck up the mess as you scrape to help keep it out of the lower part of your engine. it can be cleaned out but just be sure you get it all or it could come loose and, well we wont go there. hope this helps.
Godddd.. This is dragging me into more work
Would you recommend me taking off the intake manifold?

Yeah, I have a shop vac.
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 01:24 AM
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I know it kinda s%#@*. But for peace of mind and just knowing weather or not if it is clean under the intake i would. but highly reccomend dropping you oil pan to make sure you get it all out, plus take a wire rod and run down through your oil return passeges to make sure they are not clogged. know its a bummer but its never going to get any better, just worse, and it could cause bigger headaches later on when some of it comes loose and clogs your oil pump, passages, and cost you more money.
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 01:51 AM
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Originally Posted by 73, Dark Blue 454
Pretty nasty.

Short of rebuilding the heads, I'd leave it. If you loosen stuff up it's going to end up blocking passages and in the pan. I'd also worry about the pick-up being blocked by this gunch.
I have seen and worked on worse. As long as it runs good leave it alone
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 02:14 AM
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Great example of what happens when you don't change your oil. The oil thats in the rocker of the second pic looks like Hershey's chocolate syrup........
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 07:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Ironcross
I have seen and worked on worse. As long as it runs good leave it alone
Less is more here. If it ain't broken................
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 09:01 AM
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Originally Posted by Big2Bird
Less is more here. If it ain't broken................
too.

If anything, I'd run some motor flush in the oil and try to clean
the engine out that way. Some say a quart of tranny fluid for
100 miles ... but I always worry about seals swelling.

If in doubt ... leave it and change the oil.

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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 09:10 AM
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Also make sure you get as much crap off the head surfaces as possible that mate to the valve covers so you get a good seal or you may still have oil leaks.
Glenn
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 09:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Big2Bird
Less is more here. If it ain't broken................
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 09:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Ironcross
I have seen and worked on worse. As long as it runs good leave it alone
yep, leave it be and change the oil more frequently then the last owner did . If it aint broke (cept for the leaky V.C.) dont fix it!!! Peace,,,Moosie
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 10:01 AM
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I seen em a lot worse, if you do decide to clean it use a shop vac with small crevice tool and be sure to suck all the junk out instead of letting it go thru.
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 10:22 AM
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Originally Posted by SIXFOOTER
I seen em a lot worse, if you do decide to clean it use a shop vac with small crevice tool and be sure to suck all the junk out instead of letting it go thru.
Shop vac what you can. leave the rest. Install new valvecover gaskets. Drain the oil. refill with 1 bottle of amsoil motor flush, high detergent multigrade and new filter. Run it 100 miles. Drain the oil and refill with high detergent multi grade motor oil and a new filter. Leave it alone other than that if it runs good. Frequent oil changes from here on out.
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 11:18 AM
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Originally Posted by SEVNT6
Great example of what happens when you don't change your oil. The oil thats in the rocker of the second pic looks like Hershey's chocolate syrup........
I think I have to explain a bit
I bought this car early this year and to my amazement, I found out that this is the biggest BUBBA museum. It looks like it has never been taken care of.

He has been everywhere. Most screws and bolts has been replaced with over sized ones. I changed oil once. I would not be surprised if the old oil in there was what it came out of the factory with.
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 11:30 AM
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might wanna check this out as well... is that a cable?
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 12:18 PM
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That's bad? I hope you never buy a vintage truck...
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Old Apr 11, 2007 | 12:36 PM
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Originally Posted by lil75vette


might wanna check this out as well... is that a cable?
That's the speedo cable. The plastic appers to be burnt.
That's the least thing that worries me.

Buying an old car is one thing, but buying an old car that has been abused for 30 years is another.
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