Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

SShink · 3K+ Club

New heartbeat for the Malibu-383 Project

SShink · 3K+ Club

Annoying oil leak update.

After replacing the dipstick tube, still had the oil mess on the starter and header when driving the car. I finally looked at the other side of the engine, and saw a drip of oil near the top of the oil filter. So...I figured out it was coming from the top of the oil filter, dripping down the trans bellhousing, then onto the converter and getting flung across to the other side on the starter and passenger header.

Tonight I drained the oil and pulled the old filter and found the guys at Magnum painted the inside of the filter boss! The oil filter seal doesn't seal well against shiny slick engine paint. The filter was also gorilla'd on, so it was overtightened too which didn't help either.

I removed the paint around where the filter seals and installed the new filter and changed the oil.

Went for a test drive, and seems like 95% of the leakage has stopped. Of course, as I parked in the driveway after the test drive and checked underneath, a couple of drops of oil fell from under the center of the engine. I need to jack it up again and make sure I got the filter on tight enough, but at least it's not on the header and making a mess.

The fun of old cars.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Good job on trouble shooting, not so good for the guy who painted the boss.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Aggravating oil update II

Drove the car to/from work yesterday, and oil everywhere again. After even more investigation, looks like it's coming out of the back rear corner of the driver's side valve cover.

Looks like I'll be pulling all the AC stuff off that side of the motor and replacing the gasket. It will be fun getting off because I used a skim coat of that wicked RTV crap. How annoying.

I'm saying screw it and driving it to the Route 65 Dust Off show this morning anyway. I've gotten good at cleaning up oil after all these attempts to figure it out.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Sorry to have derailed the All GM show post...

Anyway, thanks everyone for the offers for disty parts. The gear is on the way thanks to Amazon, but not delivering until Friday. I should have put out a call for help before ordering it.

Mitch, you're right. Usually Amazon stuff shows up way faster than this gear is going to. And yeah, the little stuff on this engine is getting frustrating. I expected a few minor issues, but these are stopping me from driving the car, which isn't what a guy wants after paying for a new engine.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Pulled the valve covers and replaced gaskets. Check. Found the lower back corners on both sides didn't look like they were sealing, and oil was going down the back of the block on both. I replaced them with the metal center rubber gaskets, so hopefully that will be better.

I pulled the disty gear off waiting for the new one on Fri.

Hopefully the timing will be improved running off vacuum advance.

Oh, I ordered a vacuum reservoir from Summit that will be here Thursday to help with brake boost due to the lumpy cam, so will get that in too.

Bobs_Place · Vice President

The gear seems like it has a lot of ware for the low miles you have on it, but not enough to change timing. Was it a new gear? Also looks like gear is riding high and not centered, is there room to shim the gear? Have you looked at the gear on the cam? Hope you can figure it all out.

As for the brakes I have the same problem, 7.5 in vac at idle, hope the reservoir works I might try it.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Bob, this is a brand new distributor that came with the engine, although it is an 'import' HEI so nothing special.

The new gear showed up today, so I swapped them out. There was a shim with the original one, so I kept it in with the new GM gear.

On to the tuning...after talking to Chris P. and figuring out I did the timing wrong (had the vacuum advance hooked up for initial timing...it's been awhile since I've set timing ), and readjusted the idle mixture screws, it idles 100% better in gear now, and is almost smooth and no longer shakes the car, even with the lumpy cam.

The weather looks decent tomorrow, so I'll have to drive it to work and see how it runs.

Take a look at the pic of my creative oil pump shaft adjusting tool as it turned slightly when I was dropping the distributor back in. Another use for duct tape that kept the screwdriver from dropping into the engine. Not pretty, but it worked.

Larry Lucast · Active Member

When you put the new gear on, there should be about 0.005 inches end play. You add or subtract shims to get to that. I think you can still get them from Chevrolet.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Larry Lucast wrote:
When you put the new gear on, there should be about 0.005 inches end play. You add or subtract shims to get to that. I think you can still get them from Chevrolet.

Thanks Larry. The gear is already on and the distributor is in and running seems o.k. so far. If I remember right it seemed to have about that amount of play or so. I'm going to drive it and forget about it.

SShink · 3K+ Club

When driving home Friday from the SMN's, my buddy that followed me said that there was a light level of blue smoke coming from the passenger side exhaust, and since I have true dual exhaust without a crossover pipe, I knew it was the passenger side bank that had a problem.

We got home and after he told me, I started it up again and at idle no smoke, but just as soon as he revved up it up just a little bit it started to smoke..

I pulled the plugs today, and sure enough the plug in the #2 cylinder is wet and shows burned oil compared to the other ones.

Looks like something going on with a valve seal or a plugged oil gallery on that end of the head. I'm calling Gary at Magnum engines that built it, and will see how he stands behind an issue with only about 600 miles on the engine.

Dave Seitz · Mega Poster

Stan had a place in St.Paul build a short block back in the 80's pressed in oil galley plugs. Primed and started the engine and blew oil out of the back of the engine. Pulled the trans out and found the pressed in plugs were supposed to be threaded in plugs. After that they forgot the valve seals on the heads so the new engine was blowing smoke like a 2 stroke. Told me rings needed to seat had more issues with that engine no Pontiac excitement for me there!

SShink · 3K+ Club

Thanks Dave. It's only blowing light smoke, so nothing as serious as what you ran into I hope!

Talked to Gary and dropping off the car tonight. He's going down a path of an intake manifold gasket moving and sucking oil due to a vacuum leak, which seems to make sense since the idle is rougher than I think it should be (especially when the car is in gear), and the rpm also doesn't come down as fast as it should which I think are signs of an intake vacuum leak. I'm going to search for a vacuum leak before I take it over myself first, and then he can figure out what needs fixed.

Our resident engine guru Chris P. seems to think that's a possible issue as well. If that's the case, the intake manifold has been leaking since day one, since it only pulled about 7" of vacuum on the dyno, and the intake hasn't been off since it was assembled.

I'll update after he looks into it.

Bobs_Place · Vice President

I don't think 7in vac at idle is that fare out of line. I have a cam that is similar to yours, about 245/245 @ .050, with about 7in at idle also, don't know how lob sep angle compares. I think if you had a minor vacuum leak besides the oil problem you should also be getting a missfire at times when vacuum is high like cruise or light throttle, may not show up at idle. The plug would show a very lean or missfire condition. A big leak at the port would cause a vacuum in the crankcase, with the pvc removed, the vent pluged on the other valve cover put your thumb it pvc hole, if the gasket is bad you will feel a slight vacuum. A defective intake valve seal would pull more oil at higher vacuum with no other telltale signs. Probably start valve seal, also check for excessive valve stem to guide clearance?

Hate to see this. Good luck

SShink · 3K+ Club

Houston...we HAD a problem. #2 Cylinder Intake rocker arm was severely damaged, and to be honest I think it may have broken at the dyno because now that it's been replaced and parts are happy together again, it has never idled or run this smooth since I've had it in the car from the first startup. I drove it to Cambridge tonight for a healthy dose of non-oxy, and it feels like it gained 30 HP and runs so much smoother. Still has a lopey idle, but now the engine doesn't shake the car as it tries to go into a death spiral. Even idles good with the AC on. MUCH happier and it feels like the engine I thought I was getting.

I'm not sure if the valve lash was too tight, or a defective part. Gary told me he re-uses rockers after tumbling them in media to take off any rough edges, which concerns me somewhat that he put used parts in, but he gave me a 'story' about how the factory rockers are better than aftermarket, and he's proven on the dyno that aftermarket lifters don't add any HP, but I'll leave that one alone.

Anyway, the pics show a pretty catastrophic failure IMO, but glad it's running good now and much funner to drive.

Jon H · 1K+ Club

Glad you are back on the road again. Hopefully no issues for many miles!!

Lost in the 60s · President

Fairly common failure for a HIGH MILEAGE, used rocker. It doesn't even have the hp, serrated, ball to provide better oiling of the rocker bowl. The ball seems to be worn a lot and not round or smooth. I think I would be seriously looking at this set of rockers to replace them all. I put a set of theses on a 350 I have and they seem to be very good. They were made in the USA as of 2 years ago.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g6800/overview/make/chevrolet

OscarZ · Treasurer

Glad it was something without much downtime!

-- Edited by OscarZ on Wednesday 25th of July 2018 07:25:01 AM

Bobs_Place · Vice President

I am with Mitch on replacing rockers. I would also check for spring retainer to guide interference and coil bind.

Larry Lucast · Active Member

And for a little more, you can have Proform Parts 66906B - Proform Stamped Roller Tip Rocker Arms. $88.00 at Summit.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Yep, for a change I'm going to take Mitch's suggestion.

With guidance from the club engine guru, I decided to go with these for piece of mind and getting the used parts out of the engine:

Brand:Summit Racing

Manufacturer's Part Number:SUM-141706PL

Part Type:Rocker Arms

Product Line:Summit Racing® Cast Steel Roller Tip Rocker Arms

Summit Racing Part Number:SUM-141706PL

UPC:190861055131

Rocker Arm Mounting Style:Stud

Self-Aligning:No

Rocker Arm Ratio:1.5

Rocker Arm Style:Roller tip

Stud Size:3/8 in.

Shims Included:No

Rocker Arm Material:Steel

Rocker Arm Body Style:Standard

Rocker Arm Fasteners Included:Yes

Rocker Arm Nut Style:Self-locking

Slot Style:Long

Maximum Spring Diameter (in):1.500 in.

Rocker Arm Finish:Natural

Quantity:Sold as a set of 16.

Notes:Includes polylocks. For use with up to 0.520 in. lift.

Summit Racing SUM-141706PL - Summit Racing® Cast Steel Roller Tip Rocker Arms

Larry Lucast · Active Member

Good choice.

SShink · 3K+ Club

All buttoned up and running good thanks to valve setting by Chris P. I can set lash,but it's been awhile, and not something I was ever really comfortable with.

Running good, so ready to get some miles on her. Now to fix the pesky oil leak and exhaust pipe hitting the cross member.

Chris S · Active Member

OOooooh those are pretty!!!

Just another project to cross off the list.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Stan, will those rockers fit under factory valve covers?

SShink · 3K+ Club

dashboard wrote:
Stan, will those rockers fit under factory valve covers?

They fit under the stock height chrome valve covers I have Kevin, so yes should be the same for factory ones.

The height you refer to limited the rocker arm selection somewhat, but with the factory AC compressor bracket I'm using, I need to stick with the lower valve covers.