Re: '55 engine back to life! Mostly worked...
Posted by Bob E. On 2018/8/18 13:13:05
I was gone all week and getting back into it. Pulled the passenger side head this morning. Took the rocker arm assembly apart and it all looks brand new. Oil passages are clear. Only thing I noticed that the mounting bolt at cylinder 8 just had a little oil on the shaft whereas the other 3 seemed to have a lot more.
Just like the spark plug picture in a previous post, lots of carbon on the domes of the head for cylinders 2 and 4. 6 & 8 a lot cleaner (as were the plugs) although #8 exhaust valve face show some rainbow effects of too much heat (I would guess). Wonder if that correlates with my perception of less oil on the corresponding rocker arm shaft attach bolt.
Piston faces are similar with 2 and 4 having oily residue on them. Comes off with finger and is very black. Very slight evidence of piston skirt slap too.
After I first ran the engine for a while with break in oil, I did pull plug 4 and it looked fine. Toward the end of my time running the engine, I was playing with carb mixture ratio trying to get it to run well so I'm not surprised I don't have optimal yet. I can see that contributing to carbon on plugs and dome, but why would this only occur on 2 & 4 while 6 & 8 are clean? (unless there is oil getting past rings on 2 & 4 but didn't see any bluish smoke in the exhaust, not oil consumption.
Another question: why do the head gasket holes not mirror the holes in the head and block? The head gaskets I used are the metallic ones from Max and matched the old one in it. I just bought new ones from Max with the same hole pattern. (except there are raised areas around the coolant passages for better sealing.) The current head gasket I used is shown in these photos along with the new (looks like NOS) one. The copper color on the head is Copper Coat residue.
Question Summary:
1. Why would cylinders 2 & 4 be black whereas 6 & 8 look clean with no evidence of burning oil or smoky exhaust?
2. Does #8 exhaust valve rainbow provide evidence of getting too hot?
2. Are these the right head gaskets and if so, what is the logic of the holes not matching exactly to passages in head/block?
Next steps:
1. I'm going to remove valves from this head and see what's going on there
2. Pull piston #2 and see if any evidence of problems and get a better feel for any piston slap.
3. Pull oil pump and start making sure oil path is clean throughout. (new pump inlet screen purchased)
thanks for reading and as always, I appreciate any advice you may have.
-Bob
(note: this thread started with my trying to find the source of hollow metal noise that corresponds to camshaft rotation speed. It's not the"diesel-like' noise I would attribute to piston slap, plus that would be at crank speed. Since the finding of a paper towel in my oil pan, I'm more focused now on getting the engine cleaned out and seeing if any damage was done with the reduced oil flow that must have resulted. I still had good oil pressure and noticeable oiling of rocker arm areas during all of this. )
Attach file:
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(229.65 KB)
(337.05 KB)
Just like the spark plug picture in a previous post, lots of carbon on the domes of the head for cylinders 2 and 4. 6 & 8 a lot cleaner (as were the plugs) although #8 exhaust valve face show some rainbow effects of too much heat (I would guess). Wonder if that correlates with my perception of less oil on the corresponding rocker arm shaft attach bolt.
Piston faces are similar with 2 and 4 having oily residue on them. Comes off with finger and is very black. Very slight evidence of piston skirt slap too.
After I first ran the engine for a while with break in oil, I did pull plug 4 and it looked fine. Toward the end of my time running the engine, I was playing with carb mixture ratio trying to get it to run well so I'm not surprised I don't have optimal yet. I can see that contributing to carbon on plugs and dome, but why would this only occur on 2 & 4 while 6 & 8 are clean? (unless there is oil getting past rings on 2 & 4 but didn't see any bluish smoke in the exhaust, not oil consumption.
Another question: why do the head gasket holes not mirror the holes in the head and block? The head gaskets I used are the metallic ones from Max and matched the old one in it. I just bought new ones from Max with the same hole pattern. (except there are raised areas around the coolant passages for better sealing.) The current head gasket I used is shown in these photos along with the new (looks like NOS) one. The copper color on the head is Copper Coat residue.
Question Summary:
1. Why would cylinders 2 & 4 be black whereas 6 & 8 look clean with no evidence of burning oil or smoky exhaust?
2. Does #8 exhaust valve rainbow provide evidence of getting too hot?
2. Are these the right head gaskets and if so, what is the logic of the holes not matching exactly to passages in head/block?
Next steps:
1. I'm going to remove valves from this head and see what's going on there
2. Pull piston #2 and see if any evidence of problems and get a better feel for any piston slap.
3. Pull oil pump and start making sure oil path is clean throughout. (new pump inlet screen purchased)
thanks for reading and as always, I appreciate any advice you may have.
-Bob
(note: this thread started with my trying to find the source of hollow metal noise that corresponds to camshaft rotation speed. It's not the"diesel-like' noise I would attribute to piston slap, plus that would be at crank speed. Since the finding of a paper towel in my oil pan, I'm more focused now on getting the engine cleaned out and seeing if any damage was done with the reduced oil flow that must have resulted. I still had good oil pressure and noticeable oiling of rocker arm areas during all of this. )
Attach file:
(326.35 KB)
(246.89 KB)
(304.86 KB)
(229.65 KB)
(337.05 KB)
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