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I have a 1951 300 which I haven't had the pleasure of taking on the road since I still have to finish re-sealing the gas tank and bleeding the brakes one last time. I am currently running the engine using a mercury marine outboard gas tank. Anyhow, when I start the car, she runs rich,(my carb rebuilding kit is in transit from Jackson's), when the engine warms up, (the temp. gauge works) I notice the same blue cloud I had when I drove my 1962 Chevy. Is it the rings? or is it the valve guides? or maybe I should finish the gas tank and go for a ride. All your suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Also I want the thank Big Kev for the info on repairing the heater valve with the NAPA part number. I did the same repair, only took a couple of hours with Kev's excellent photos, the valve does not leak, and works. Thanks, a repair for about $11.00, made my week.
Casey Rog
P.S. I did repair the broken wing on my hood ornament, but bought a spare off e-bay just in case.

Running a dry compression test, followed by a wet compression test, might help identify the problem.

If the car hasn't been run regularly in some time, it could be the rings are gummed up a bit. You might try substituting a pint of STP in place of a quart of oil at your next oil change to help free up any rings that are stuck in their grooves.

Probably rings, but I'd suggest you let it run for a few more hours, and then do a compression test, first as is and secondly with a tsp of oil added to each cylinder and then cranked over briefly. A significant increase with the oil added would tend to confirm rings.

When you take the test, don't forget to remove all the plugs, prop both the throttle and choke butterflies wide open, and run at least 3 compression strokes or until the gauge stabilizes. You're looking for compression numbers of about 100 psi.

Change the oil, let it run for a couple of hours or better yet if possible take it for a long drive.

My guess is that you have a stuck oil control ring on one of your pistons, I doubt the compression test will find the source of the oil consumption.

I was recently faced with the exact problem, I had visions of a ring job but I was able to avoid this by changing the oil and since my car is not able to be on the road just yet, I let is sit and idle for a couple of hours, it cleared up!

Quote:

Casey, glad the How To article was able to help you out on that valve. It's amazing how cheap things can be to rebuild once you know how and know which parts to use.

Casey,
Pardon me if this sounds silly, but was there any marine fuel left in the tank that you are using? IIRC, most outboard engines require oil to be mixed in with the fuel, which would give you the blue haze that you are referring to.
John

Is it possible the crankcase ventilator is plugged up? In that case when the engine gets warm pressure would build up in the crankcase forcing oil pas the rings and valve guides.

On older cars the vent pipe or road draft tube was supposed to be cleaned regularly but they seldom were cleaned.

Next question, does the engine smoke when you first start it, when you step on the gas, or when you lift off the gas?

#1 is bad valve guides, #2 is rings, #3 is valve guides.

heres a question....... does it smell like oil smoke?

the first time i got my patrician hot, it began smoking worse than anything id run to date.

long story short, it was mouse nests in the mufflers burning off.

Good thought about the leftover boat gas. Premix would smoke like crazy...

I want to thank everyone for the suggestions, I'll try the
compression tests, and running the engine for a couple of hours since I still have to repair the gas tank. The engine burns oil only after it is warm. I can see the blue haze in the garage, it does not burn oil when cold. The Mercury gas tank was emptied and cleaned when my Mercury Mark 10 outboard died, so I know there is no two cycle oil in the tank. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I'll let you know how everything turns out.

Don't get too worried until you tune it up, and get a few hundred miles on it. The smoking may clear up on its own.