[Mwieczorek]

Hello all,

I worked with a local machine shop to build a 455 for my 73 Grand Prix. Here are the specs:

73 455 block, bored and honed to fit .030" over Butler/Ross forged pistons, zero decked, checked/magnafluxed etc.
Pistons are the aforementioned Butler/Ross forged flat tops with their recommended rings, mounted on Eagle H beam rods.
Stock 455 crank turned down 0.020" on the mains and rods
Melling HV pump, Milodon 7 quart pan and Milodon pickup for said pan
6X-4 heads, ported with new Ferrea valves/springs/retainers, etc.
Butler hydraulic roller camshaft that mimics the RAIV 041 cam, with Morel hydraulic roller lifters and Harland Sharp 1.5:1 rockers.
I have a Butler flat valley pan with PCV fitting.
Rotating assembly was balanced and I mated it to a Super T10.

I have 2 major issues. Oil consumption and oil pressure. Since day one the engine has been pulling oil into the chambers. I can see oil on the piston tops with my borescope and the plugs foul out pretty quickly. I have maybe 300 miles on it at this point and it has never run right. the last time I tried to start it I gave up, the plugs were oil fouled and it wouldn't light off unless I pulled them out and cleaned them again. I think I maybe drove 50 miles since the last time I pulled and cleaned them.

The second issue is oil pressure. When the engine first starts oil pressure is GREAT, 50psi or more. Drive it 20 minutes and everything gets warm, and if the engine is allowed to idle oil pressure slowly drifts down to almost zero. If I goose the throttle it will come back up to 20 for maybe 10 seconds then slowly drift back down. I am watching it on a digital gauge and reading it from the port on the oil filter housing. The only things I did that are "not standard" were to drill a 0.030" hole in the galley plug in front of the distributor to improve oiling to the distributor gear, and I replaced the front push in plugs with threaded plugs.

I tore it down and as far as getting the heads off. I pulled the passenger side head, the valves and springs and seals all look fine. The guy who did the porting and set up the heads used to work at the GM tech center (long before my time there) and he knows his stuff, so I don't think the oil is coming in through the seals. Could it be that the PCV isn't getting enough flow through the slits in the valley pan? Or is the engine just pulling oil past the rings? The machine shop said that they used the correct grit for the rings. With the head off I see some cross-hatching, but the cylinders feel really smooth. I'll try to get some pictures of what I'm seeing in the next couple days.

I really took my time with this build and thought I followed every step in Jim Hand's book. I can't figure out where I went wrong and its driving me nuts.

If the engine has to come back out so be it. But even then, I'm not sure what to "fix" as so far nothing looks to be amiss. If I put it back together as is I'm sure I'll get the same results, so something has to change.

Any ideas where I should be looking? I'm all ears!