Joined: Sun Jul 13 2014, 10:04PM
Location: Mechanicsburg , PA
Posts: 151
So, since I have a couple of months until I can comfortably drive my vert, I figured I would pull the heads off to do some repairs. My engine is 48 yrs old and to my knowledge , has never had and inside work in the last 92,000 + miles that are on the odometer. After taking off the intake and the tappet cover, I found a crazy amount of sludge and build up. ( it was so bad, that I wondered how it ran). Carefully using a shop vac, I was able to get a lot of it cleaned up befor removing the heads which were equally gunked up. I'm on a very tight/minimal budget and am looking for some feedback. I planned on having the heads checked/ adjusted. Can I get away with not doing anything to the bottom end? It's not a race car and I rarely do anything more than Sunday rides with the occasional burnout. Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. I'll try to post some pictures.
My thoughts about your engine: the bottom end is as bad as the top end. I would suggest dropping the pan, clean things up, install a new pickup pipe assembly, put it back together. When you go for your Sunday cruises, take it on the highway for some 60-70 MPH cruising before returning home. Also, change the oil more often. A lot more often. Use oil additive having zinc and phosphorous compounds for wear resistance. Particularly important for the cam and lifters. That's my 2 cents worth.
Joined: Sun Jul 13 2014, 10:04PM
Location: Mechanicsburg , PA
Posts: 151
Thanks. As an fyi, I change the oil regularly. I bought this car this past summer. Unfortunately, the previous owners were not so particular about oil changes 😡.
Joined: Fri Mar 13 2009, 11:21AM
Location: San Marcos, CA
Posts: 713
It appears that the engine had been run at a high temperature with the '60s quality oil and created a BUNCH of coke. That coke is the main reason for engine wear. the more you get out, the less the pistons, rings and bearings will wear, although with that much in the engine, I'd bet that there is already a significant amount of ring wear. On the shot of the head, only one cylinder looks like it is not oil fouled (the one with the tan exhaust valve). If possible, I would pull it apart and have the engine cleaned and put at least new rings and bearings in it as well as having the heads done with new guides. My $.01
Joined: Sat Aug 25 2007, 11:47AM
Location: new jersey
Posts: 367
Oil quality was so poor back in the day when our cars were new even with regular oil changes sludge was a common phenominon as seen in this engine. Especially when Pennsylvania based oil bases were used.
Joined: Sat Aug 25 2007, 11:47AM
Location: new jersey
Posts: 367
Oil quality was so poor back in the day when our cars were new even with regular oil changes sludge was a common phenominon as seen in this engine. Especially when Pennsylvania based oil bases were used.
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
What to do now depends upon how good or badly the engine ran before you started taking it apart. If it was an oil burner with great clouds of blue smoke, you are looking at rings, valves and bearings.
If it ran reasonably smoke free, scrape out what you can, put it back together and drive it. Don't use oil additives or high detergent oils. You don't want to clean it too much or it will start blowing clouds of smoke. As a week-end cruiser it will run for a long time if you go easy on the burnouts!
Joined: Sat Aug 19 2006, 05:03PM
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2919
Fury440 wrote ...
What to do now depends upon how good or badly the engine ran before you started taking it apart. If it was an oil burner with great clouds of blue smoke, you are looking at rings, valves and bearings.
If it ran reasonably smoke free, scrape out what you can, put it back together and drive it. Don't use oil additives or high detergent oils. You don't want to clean it too much or it will start blowing clouds of smoke. As a week-end cruiser it will run for a long time if you go easy on the burnouts!
Do change the oil and filter regularly though, and try to do some highway runs to get it up to temp as often as possible. You want to break down the sludge gradually. If you don't already have one, install an oil pressure gauge to monitor the health of the oil pump, bearings, etc.