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I came upon your website and thought you might be able to help us with some of your expertise.
My husband, Brad, operates a classic car mechanical restoration business in Cottam, Ontario, Canada. He has been in the business for 25 years and is well known and respected in our community for the work he does with antiques, classics, street rods, etc.
In the 26 years I've known him I've rarely seen him stumped, but he is right now...big time.
So, I'm trying to contact people like yourself who may have ideas about what he can try.
He is currently working on a 58 Chev Impala - 282 engine
Brad totally rebuilt the engine; bored 30 over to OEM specs
After completion he had a problem with excessive smoking and oil consumption.
He thought the rings were not seeding, so he tried the normal ways of getting the rings to seed.
Excessive smoking and oil consumption continued.
He took the engine apart again, replaced the rings with different rings, installing cast iron rings. He deglazed the cylinders and reassembled the motor.
The smoking and oil consumption problem continues. The spark plugs indicate oil is getting past the rings.
He checked the crank case vent and draft tubes to ensure they are clear, and they are.
He checked the intake for leaks…the intake runner is becoming oil saturated.
Magniflux and pressure testing show no leaks.
He is just at a loss for what to try next or what could be causing the oil consumption and smoking.
If you have any ideas he could try, we would greatly appreciate your advice.
Thank you so much.
Diane Simon
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HI;
Diane,
well what you have told me,your husband Brad is doing all the right things , as far as the rings , He did hone the cylds. right. and they do take apx. 1000 miles on the engine to seat , so he must go easy for a bit, now did he replace the VALVE SEALS as that is the only thing that I can think of. and how are the heads ? if the valve seals were not replaced I bet that is what is doing it. or if they are new were they the right type.(mushroom) and seated properly ?. Let me know OK
and GOOD LUCK Roger
PS also He can try a pressure test on the cylds to see if they are all in working psi.s.
Hi: Thanks for your response. Brad has tried all of the suggestions you gave with no luck...so we will continue to try to figure it out. It has a 283 engine, by the way, not 282
Thanks for your help; it was very thorough and at least confirmed for him that he has covered all bases so far.
Still very frustrating though.
Diane
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I knew it was a 283 as chevy never made a 282 but any way if he did replace the valve seals , good, now I remember some old v-8 engines having a sump pump in the upper part of the engine where the lifters are etc. did that engine have one and never put back on, also it must have vented valve covers as on the origanial engine. Is there any vacume lines that should be hooked up ? hotter plugs might help a bit , also a straight 30 wt. oil also. is the oil pump to strong ? if chrome molly rings were used it will smoke till they seat.I still wonder if the heads are the problum ? valve seals? Again on some older v-8 283- 265-327-350- had oil breathers and if not on or pluged up it will smoke..
Hi Again Roger:
I'm going to know how to fix this car by the time I'm done.
Again, thanks for your great suggestions. I spoke to Brad about them and he wondered if by sump pump you are referring to what he calls a breather baffle. If you are referring to the same thing he said it is in place and clear. He is steering away from valve seals because fouled plugs from leaking valves seals look much different than fouled plugs from ring leaks. These plugs indicate ring leaks. However, the rings should be seated as he has run the car for hour upon hour upon our. It is using about 1 litre of oil per hour, running at about 1300-1400 rpm. He also said this original motor did not have vented valve covers?
Vacuum lines are all hooked up; hotter plugs would help with the fouled plugs but not the oil consumption and smoking. Brad does not believe the oil pump is too strong as it is a standard volume spec specific pump for a 283.
The original engine had chrome molly rings, but Brad replaced them with cast iron rings after deglazing the cylinders. Oil breather is clear, properly in place and not plugged.
Sooner or later as we're going through this list, something is going to click....until then we keep plugging.
Again, thank you for your help, it is very much appreciated.
Diane
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HI;
I was wondering if the pistons and the rings are the right size to fit the pistons ? could there possible be a wrong size some place ? did you try a comp. test on the cylds. as if the psi is up or down it would tell something.
and yes the breather baffle is it. I know how He must feel it is a bummer when that type of a thing happens.
Hi:
Feels like we're writing a book.
Okay, I should probably explain that Brad had rebuilt this engine months ago and the car came back to him because of the smoking and oil consumptions. So among some of the other things he did was replaced the rings (thinking the others may not have seated).
At any rate, he says the rings and pistons are the right size. The engine was just bored and honed to 30...with new pistons and rings. He checked the end gaps before installing the engine. He said he has not done a compression test becasue there is no excessive blow by (I am assuming you know what all this means).
He is wondering if the problem may involve the cylinder wall thickness (too thin) becasue of all the sediment that was in the water jackets before the engine was redone and the possibility of severe cylinder deterioration from the coolant side. Do you think that this would cause this type of situation? He did not think of it at the time he was installing the engine, but since these issues have come up, he's wondering if this is what he is dealing with.
What do you think?
Diane
Answer HI Again
Well if there is NO water in with the oil in the oil pan or on the dip stick I would think that the walls are fine as He only went 30 over so that is not that bad , I would say let it wear in and see what happens but you say over a 1 qt of oil in a hour ? if that is true there is something very wrong. Did He go from course-med-than fine-ultra fine - in the honeing stones when He did the cyld. walls. or just to med. some people only go to med. if so that could do it also. I would take a comp. test and see if each cyld. is up to its specs. than at least with that done you can rule out a few things, but if bad than you found something , right ?
