Rusty rockers
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 40
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From: Ormond Beach Fl
Rusty rockers
I pulled the valve covers off of my new to me 81' w/383 & found rust on the rockers & push rods.The reason I pulled them was because intake was leaking oil from previous owner install.I can't got a clear answer on reason intake was off in first place,prev owner went from a recreational drug user to a pro.
I left intake on & press tested the cooling system to 18lbs,it held for 20 hrs only lost less than 1lb.I even did compression test while testing cooling sys.Comp test was 210-225,couldn't get to #1 with my guage,but blew my thumb off hole with a bang.Oil press is 65-80 by fact guage.
The oil has slight light brown streakes in it,but mostly looks old.
There is no PCV system on the engine only cheap breathers.
I have two guesses as to problem.#1 No pcv causing condensation in crankcase,unable to evap(I don't think there's a t'stat either).#2 When the intake was r&r'ed they didn't drain block & coolant went into crankcase & never changed oil.
Anyone have any other ideas? I think this made my mind up about pulling & going through motor.My great deal just got worse.
I left intake on & press tested the cooling system to 18lbs,it held for 20 hrs only lost less than 1lb.I even did compression test while testing cooling sys.Comp test was 210-225,couldn't get to #1 with my guage,but blew my thumb off hole with a bang.Oil press is 65-80 by fact guage.
The oil has slight light brown streakes in it,but mostly looks old.
There is no PCV system on the engine only cheap breathers.
I have two guesses as to problem.#1 No pcv causing condensation in crankcase,unable to evap(I don't think there's a t'stat either).#2 When the intake was r&r'ed they didn't drain block & coolant went into crankcase & never changed oil.
Anyone have any other ideas? I think this made my mind up about pulling & going through motor.My great deal just got worse.
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 12,706
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From: Scottsdale Arizona
Originally Posted by FeedVaal
Your mountain may be a molehill. I'd change the oil and filter, get the pvc hooked up and then monitor for awhile.
I would definately put in a PCV on the one side. The cheap vent is fine on the other, though the environmentalists may disagree. You've got to get the crankcase flowing.
Although sad, I must say that your line "prev owner went from a recreational drug user to a pro" cracked me up.
PS. Again, it may not be anything more than nerves, but I'd change the oil cold to get the suspect material out of the system, run it for a while and then change it again after the oil heats up completely. A little wastefull perhaps, but cheap insurance. Also, if there is a lot of condensate in the oil, it's likely to have pooled if you haven't run it too much and you might see it on draining.
Last edited by CA-Legal-Vette; Mar 1, 2005 at 01:05 PM.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 40
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From: Ormond Beach Fl
I took the dist out today put my hand oil primer in(old dist no gear),overfilled the crankcase with 7 qts of oil & marvel mystery oil about 50/50.Then I primed the hell out of it & cranked it over without starting.I want to get as much coolant & foam/sludge out as possible.I put it on stands & went under it,every gasket in this thing is leaking,it has 3/8" of gook on underside of car.I don't know if no pcv will cause that or not.
The prev owner is an ex-partner of a good friend of mine,so I got to watch his downward spiral 1st hand,taking the vette with him.This car was cherry 2yrs ago when he bought it,pretty rough now.The eng has 25000mi on it since being built,he gave me papers the other day.
I guess I need to back up & see how it runs as is.I tend to get carried away
with being **** at times.Thanks....Bob
The prev owner is an ex-partner of a good friend of mine,so I got to watch his downward spiral 1st hand,taking the vette with him.This car was cherry 2yrs ago when he bought it,pretty rough now.The eng has 25000mi on it since being built,he gave me papers the other day.
I guess I need to back up & see how it runs as is.I tend to get carried away
with being **** at times.Thanks....Bob
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 12,706
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From: Scottsdale Arizona
Originally Posted by Bullseye54
I put it on stands & went under it,every gasket in this thing is leaking,it has 3/8" of gook on underside of car.I don't know if no pcv will cause that or not.
Thanks....Bob
Thanks....Bob
Although a real pain, this might be a good time to start replacing the gaskets. i'd start with the valve covers and then the oil pan (real PITA). Be a great place to see what's really in there.
Otherwise, i think that what you're doing makes sense (to me anyways).
One thing that I just did to mine that really helped with the gunk on the bottom was to take the car to a hand wand car wash. The one near me had a setting for "undercar." presumably just lots of soap and high pressure water. It made a heck of a mess on the floor of the car wash but removed years of guck from under the car.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,496
Likes: 1
From: Lafayette Louisiana
I have a theory about engines letting you know they are going south. On every engine I knew was in need of an overhaul the top of the dipstick started to rust. If my theory has any merit it makes sense that the rockers could have rusted before the rebuild and no pcv probably didn't help after the rebuild. It is a long story how I arrived at this idea, probably better over a few beers. Good luck with it.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,269
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From: St. Charles IL
Cruise-In 5-6-7-8-9-11-12 Veteran
A CI-6 Car Show Winner
There's no way for the engine to breath with 2 breathers. You need a PCV on one side, a filtered breather on the other. Blowby gasses can be corrosive, probably the reason for the rust. I don't think the PCV delete had anything to do with the gasket problems though. Poor assembly work? Wrong or no gasket sealants? Failure to re-torque after assembly and run-in?
