440 crankcase ventilation
 

I have a 440 with a twist on breather on one valve cover. The other cover is a twist on oil cap. I'm tired of oil dripping from breather and running down valve cover onto manifold and in general just making a mess. I have a low rise edelbrock intake with a screwed in plug just below where the car sits. Can I simply screw in a nipple and run a hose to a PVC valve to replace the breather or is there more involved. Will motor run too lean. I have chrome headers so an exhaust system is out of the question.
Thanks!!

440 -

Ah, actually you should be running a PVC valve.
You will have to pop the other cutout on the side with the oil filler ans insert a grommet for the PVC. You might be able to get a PVC grommet to fit the oil filler hole and use that for oil as well.

Stock is with the PVC on the passenger side, but you can use either valve cover, just have the PVC in one and the breather in the other.

You might have a slight carb retuning to do, but shouldn't be anything too drastic. (You can check vac pressure before and after.)

Archer

..............and the right way to do this is put the PCV valve on one cover, and connect the breather on the other cover to the air cleaner bonnet.

Most (many) aftermarket covers don't have decent baffles in the valve covers. You can get replacement twist in breathers for the older Ferds (70's V8) that had a big breather with a grommet in the top. A plastic L went in there which hooked to the air filter. This really helps stem the tide of oil "getting out."

I had a similar issue, and found rubber grommets that had baffles that the breather went into, no more leakage.

Thanks for the replies. I was able to find a nice chrome twist on breather with a PCV valve on top. At least I won't have to knock out or drill the valve cover. Should I run the hose to the vacuum on the back of the carb or unscrew the plug and install a nipple on the rise part of the intake. Should I install a baffle below the twist on port or will the PCV valve be up high enough on the breather to not get splashed with oil. Judging from the picture, the new twist on PCV breather Is about 2 inches high..

Thanks again!

440 -

A little confused (nothing new). If the PVC is on top of the breather, then the vacuum may suck air from the engine bay, instead of the engine??? They are usually two separate items; do you have a picture or link?

Both the carb base and intake plenum should have the same vacuum, so just pick one.

Archer

Here is a link to the breather PCV valve

http://www.ebay.com/itm/380337733482

440 -

By the looks of it, it's not really a breather. It's more of an external baffle for the PVC, so it should work. You will still need a real breather in the opposite valve cover.

Looks like it twists into the oil filler hole.

If you get it, let us know how it works.

Archer

That is exactly the type of thing that you typically need with non baffled/ poorly baffled aftermarket covers. You also need an identical one on the other side, except with a plastic elbow, to connect a hose to the air filter