Re: Smoking Straight 8

Posted by Dave Kenney On 2008/7/30 8:01:40

If the car has just been started after 12 years don't be too much in a hurry to rebuild the engine yet. A little blowby is to be expected with any engine and with an engine that has sat for years quite a lot can be expected. In the era before positive crancase ventilation the road draft tube was how the engine eliminated crankcase emissions and visible blowby was a fact of life. My advise is to first
decide what you are going to do with the car before expending money to rebuild an engine that may still perform adequately for your needs. I would remove the oil pan and clean up the sludge that may be there as well as the oil pickup screen and then with fresh oil and a good tune up if needed, drive the car a few hundred miles and reassess whether or not a total engine rebuild is required. You may find that the engine blowby has been reduced simple by giving the engine some exercise. If you are like me and only plan on taking the car to local shows, cruise nights and the occasional Sunday drive a little blowby or oil burning is of no real concern and the car will perform well enough like this for many years saving you thousands of dollars on an unnecessary rebuild. On the other hand if you plan on touring on long highway trips then perhaps a rebuild would be justified.