[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by glhs#116

Formula,

So, my method of measuring the bore was by measuring the gap in a top ring at various depths. So I am sure about the amount of taper. Is that cylinder less round? Probably. Was the bore for the previous rebuild done with a torque plate? I really don’t know. But I guess the big question is, would out of round cylinders make it ping on pump gas when it shouldn’t? I can’t think how it would. If I had a lot of blowby would that make it ping?

Seems to me that between the compression ratio, the cam and the cam timing are all the factors that should be dictating what is happening. Or am I missing something?

Those are real questions. If I missed something that I can fix that would be great news.

And, yes, sure would like to have the short block properly sorted out.

Sam

I think it's a combination of things Sam. Yes blow by will make things more difficult when trying to manage pump fuel. Oil in the combustion process is not a good thing and extensive amounts could cause a pinging issue. That is a lot of oil seeping out of everywhere for such a short amount of mileage. Tells me there is a whole bunch of crank case pressure going on.

I also think it's partly due to the cam install position. No one really knows what that is unless it's checked with a degree wheel. It could be anywhere from 4-6 degrees too far forward or even retarded. Either scenario would make managing pump fuel more of a challenge.

Then there is the heat you deal with. That never makes things easy with pump gas.

Top that with the fuel you have over there. I think it's been stated already that your octane ratings over there are actually less than what we deal with here in the states.

So you have a lot of things working against you that I think is compounding the problem. It's not just one issue.

Some things we absolutely know for sure. The Crower 60919 camshaft has worked fine in countless 455 combos with 10:1 compression with pump gas, with iron heads even. It's also shown on several dyno comparisons it makes 450-500HP depending on the heads used. It's basically the same recipe Jim Hand cut his teeth on 30 years ago and many people still use it today because of that.

Hats off to ya though for taking a car like that over there and using it for transportation. I've always said what good are they if you aren't driving them

[geeteeohguy]

I would perform a cylinder leak down test on each cylinder to see if the rings are sealing. If you have over 20% leakdown, time for a rebuild.

[NeighborsComplaint]

While a leak-down test is good, there are even simpler tests:

1) Pull the breather tube off and run the engine. If it smokes like a chimney, you have excessive blow-by/excessive crankcase pressure and bad ring seal for whatever reason (rings not sealed due to out of round, excessive end gaps, rings installed upside down, cracked rings).

2) Clean the area around the plugs well, run the engine warm and pull the plugs. If they are sooty and oily looking with oil collecting on the threads, same as above. Since the heads are new, oil getting down the exhaust guides is out as a cause. Clean the plugs thoroughly and check again.

[lust4speed]

A lot of you are going way too far in analyzing the problem. If you have oil film around the grommet, then the grommet is bad. If it was doing it's job, even if you had 200,000 miles on the engine blowing blue smoke out the exhaust, it wouldn't be leaking at the gromment because a good grommet would just pass all the oil vapor on up to the air cleaner. I had a beautiful replacement grommet on my valve cover and it seemed to fit okay. Closer examination revealed it was hard as a rock and was a little loose against the valve cover. I ordered out a cheap grommet from Summit (came as a set of two) and absolutely no oil on the valve cover now. Summit number is: Summit Grommets. They look a little different in design than the original, but they are totally snug to the valve cover hole and to the tube so I don't care.

On the cap I cut little flat circle from gasket material and put it on along with the cap gasket and it almost cured that problem - probably only 10% as bad as it was without the extra gasket. A new cap should have been used, but it's the original chrome one and I didn't want to use a reproduction cap.

[glhs#116]

No promises but this weekend I will see if I can get the engine hosed down and I will do the "chimney" test. Personally, I think it's so oily because it hasn't been washed once since I installed it and I've had several "engine running" valve lashing sessions. Also, I never wiped the valve cover gaskets before putting them on. I admit, however, that the seepage from the cap surprises me. Anyway, I'll check.

As far as the short block, I can see the point about the sleeved cylinder maybe taking longer to seal. However, my other seven holes are dead straight since there has been hardly any wear on this engine. I do wish I had a little more time to look into things.

Sam

[glhs#116]

OK. So this weekend I did a little rejetting, an oil change, and I also dug out the last can of degreaser I could find after moving from the old house. It was a half-used can. This video is from before I even used the can and just after the rejetting. I took a short video revving the engine with the breather pipe open.

https://youtu.be/7BfefCMv73s

I don't see any smoke.

Sam

[glhs#116]

So.. I did a crap cleanup job. I basically wiped the top of the valve covers with my oily rag. I then sprayed the engine with the half can of degreaser, let it sit fifteen and then garden hosed it off.

So, here's the crummy starting point after that clean




I will take a pic at lunchtime today. That will be post the 110mph blast that I did to test out the carb and post my 25mile drive to work (some 75mph cruise, some idling and heating up at red lights, some low speed traffic, one short full throttle blast near work).

Sam

[glhs#116]

I think we're good on the whole blowby thing. It also looks like I answered my own question here. I just need to clean up!

Lunch time view




Sam

[jamaca85]

look at this diagram... try venting the driver side cover and see if you still have the issue. check the pcv valve to see if it opens...i always thought that the tube going to air cleaner was on the drivers side not passenger? but i could be wrong..ive always run two breathers. hope this helps.. also try running your pcv valve on the valley cover off a manifold vacuum source not that small port off the carb. i think your not venting the crankcase enough. i run a straight tube to an oil catch can from the valley cover to vent the crankcase with two breathers on this 455. never get any oil seeping out the breathers...

[glhs#116]

Originally Posted by jamaca85

look at this diagram... try venting the driver side cover and see if you still have the issue. check the pcv valve to see if it opens...i always thought that the tube going to air cleaner was on the drivers side not passenger? but i could be wrong..ive always run two breathers. hope this helps..

Odd. On at least my Pontiac the PCV goes from the valley pan to a port on the carb. The vent goes from the one valve cover to the outer wall of the air cleaner. In other words, it is attached to un-filtered air. And this (since there should normally be some crankcase pressure) is what you would expect because the flow is always going to be towards the carb throat (where low pressure is). To get there the gasses flow up the pipe (out of the valve cover), through the little pre-filter, then through the main air filter into the engine to be burned.

I think that picture is either wrong or for some very different setup.

Sam

[jamaca85]

i think i got the cheby diagram by mistake..my fault..i would run a breather off the driver side. they sell twist on types so no need to change the cover. i dont know if your running your pcv off the carb or intake. so try it like this and see. glad you fixed your issue .

[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by glhs#116

Yeah, I am still kicking myself because I was thinking the same thing. I replaced the PCV valve for no good reason and then I couldn't find my old one. Sure hope I didn't toss it accidentally. I did suspect it probably wouldn't be so good on the basis of "new" parts usually aren't as good. Can't think what I was thinking quite when I did replace it. I wasn't aware of a problem with the old one..

Sam

Many people do not realize that there is nothing to wear out in a factory OEM installation PCV Valve.

1) The PCV Valve just "floats" inside a cavity. Engine vacuum on one side and spring force on the opposing side.

2) The only time the valve ever contacts the sealing surface of the Valve is in the case of an engine backfire. The rest of the time it leaks calibrated air past the valve. Calibration range is from 2.5 cfm to 4.5 cfm normally. Say you have a bit of wear on the internal shuttle valve, now it flows 2.52 cfm to 4.52 cfm. It does not make any difference in performance of the valve at all.

3) Sometimes the valve gets a bunch of dirt thru the "open breather style valve cover" breather and the dirt/sticky oil does not allow it to move freely.
Take the valve out, rinse it with some gasoline or spray cleaner and reinstall it in the system. It will work great until the next time it gets dirty unless you go to the better "Breather Hose from the valve cover to the air cleaner breather" set-up.

In simple terms the factory ones never wear out, just need cleaning occasionally.

Tom V.

I wish I had removed ever Pontiac PCV valve I saw on a engine in the junk year. Then I could sell original PCV valves for ten times their factory price.
Hindsite is always 20/20.

[NeighborsComplaint]

Originally Posted by glhs#116

Odd. On at least my Pontiac the PCV goes from the valley pan to a port on the carb. The vent goes from the one valve cover to the outer wall of the air cleaner. In other words, it is attached to un-filtered air. And this (since there should normally be some crankcase pressure) is what you would expect because the flow is always going to be towards the carb throat (where low pressure is). To get there the gasses flow up the pipe (out of the valve cover), through the little pre-filter, then through the main air filter into the engine to be burned.

I think that picture is either wrong or for some very different setup.

Sam

You have the correct setup.

Aren't you glad you didn't start doing all the diagnosis crap when a simple look at the breather tube answered the question?

Now go get a hacksaw and cut off the mangled end of that air cleaner snorkel already! lol

[geeteeohguy]

All due respect, for 2000 miles on it, every one of those miles must have been on dirt roads. I would be very diligent about air filters and oil filters and changes to keep all that grit out of your engine. Qatar must be a trifle dusty....

[glhs#116]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

All due respect, for 2000 miles on it, every one of those miles must have been on dirt roads. I would be very diligent about air filters and oil filters and changes to keep all that grit out of your engine. Qatar must be a trifle dusty....

You would seriously not believe. Qatar is essentially a very large sand bar with a large number of extremely large scale construction projects ongoing on it. It is DUSTY! If you see a car that stood out for a week without being washed you would swear it had been abandoned for a year. It's horrific. But after sixteen years I measered almost no taper in the bores so I must be doing something right to keep the dust out of the important parts.

England will be a whole different kettle of fish. Dust will disappear as a problem. Instead, the car will be trying to turn itself into iron oxide as fast as possible..

Sam