I recently got on one of those project vehicles you find thats 90 percent complete and the person who had it just ran out of steam and decided to get rid of it. Basic Dodge with a stroked/bored 360. Some pretty neat stuff throughout the vehicle, but the custom valve covers are a piece of work. On the passenger side there's a standard PCV port, but on the driver's side there's no breather, just a billet thread-in oil filler cap.

I thought that a proper crankcase vent system had to have a fresh air inlet in addition to a PCV outlet?

So should I leave this setup as-is?

 

any help out there?

 

Are you going to race it regular? If not leave it alone.

If you're going to race it & want some extra ponies
Get a crankcase evacuation pump from a 93-96 F body V8 GM or Corvette
Vent it into a AIR pump breather from the fenderwell of a 96 down Ford truck or van & trigger it using a MSD RPM activated switch

 

I'm going to use it as the occasional fun commuter, some weekend stuff like track days, but nothing like consistent heavy duty racing. I guess it depends on what kind of response I get out of this motor. It hasn't been tuned yet, and I have no idea what cam is in there, but I'm looking forward to finding out what it can do.

Thanks for the info.

 

I would use a breather....

 

If only I could find a breather that would fit. The only port on the driver's side valve cover is a billet aluminum threaded filler cap thats over 1 inch in diameter. No one makes a replacement cap with a breather element, as far as I know.

If I want a breather, then I need to either punch a hole in these really cool covers (which are logo'd with the vehicle name and would be a shame to ruin), or take the cap to a machine shop and have a breather barb added to the cap. Then I'd have to baffle the cap area too. It just gets more complicated the more I think about it.

I'd almost do away with the covers and just find some stockers but these were obviously pretty expensive, and I just want a little extra room if the cam turns out to have some decent lift.

 

Drill a hole in the back of the VC out of site. Then with a grommet and a 90 degree fitting run a hose to clean air on the AF housing.

 

Check The Universal filler caps sizes.... This is just one of them...
http://www.jegs.com/i/Moroso/710/85282/10002/-1

Or just do the filler cap mod.... But I would order another cap just in case it dont work out....

 

I'll keep that as a last resort, but I really don't want to do anything to mod these covers. They're nice pieces and I'd hate to drill even a small hole in them.

 

Y'know, I can't believe you found that. I'll have to take a look out there tomorrow (when I pull the *$%!@ battery out for replacement) but I'm pretty sure you found the exact cap from my covers. I searched both Summit and Jegs, along with a few custom VC fab houses, and found nothing. You dig it up in a couple of hours. Thanks!

Think I should just get an extra one of those and port it, or try to find a breather that fits that neck?

 

..and, a little searching brings this up:

http://www.knfilters.com/search/prod...x?prod=62-1495




Around $20, shipped from Summit. But I've been searching around Jegs, Summit, and K&N and nowhere do I find the thread numbers to match that -12 UNF cap. Even though its "just" $20, I'd hate to waste the money to find the thing doesn't fit. I could probably have my local plastic shop just rethread the thing, or maybe even make a new base, but an out-of-the-box solution would be great.

Still debating the merits of adding a breather to the existing cap.

 

I'll Give you the Con's.... With out running a vacuum pump on a sealed motor you run the risk of pushing out gaskets from to much crankcase pressure..
Just food for thought...

We used lots of those types of filler caps and bungs for all sorts of tanks rearends and ect...You can get a cap... You just have to know what size you need...
I agree dont cut the cover unless you have too... But you are going to have to do something or theres going to be an oil leak some wear for sure....

Just my 2 cents...

 

Silly question here, but,
You're saying you DO have a PCV valve set up, correct?
Meaning, you have a PCV valve in the valve cover and a hose from it to your air cleaner housing???
A LOT of vehicles did come stock without a breather, just the PCV valve set up.
Of course, as the other guys have mentioned, in a performance motor, I'd run a breather as well.
Couple options that I've used in the past is;

Pull the PCV valve and install an open breather in its place (doing away with the PCV valve).

Another thing I've done is;

Pull the fill cap off and install a rubber grommet in the valve cover and put a breather there (in the cap hole).
Or,

Worst case, use a small hole saw and drill a hole in the fill cap, install a rubber grommet and put a breather in it.

 

I should have phrased that differently lol ... I know I need an air inlet, I was just considering the merits of a thread-in breather vs. drilling my cap for a breather. I'm going to take a look at the local Advance and see if they have that K&N part in stock.

 

In this ride there's a PCV in the passenger side cover, with a line running from it to the vacuum inlet in the throttle body base plate.

That Coronet project in your sig.... Do it! IMO the Coronet is the best body style they ever had. Its like a slimmed-down Charger.

 

Photos of the victim in question would be very helpful. Seems to me likely that "whoever" built the vc's probably makes open breathers for em.

 

Yeah but that would involve me tracking down whomever that is, and its basically going to be impossible. I have no idea where they came from, they were on the vehicle when I trailered it home.

If you check that link RacerHog posted above, you'll see what I have. Here's a pic:



So far, the only thing I've found that comes close is that K&N thread-in filter I showed a few posts back. Other than that, I haven't found anything to fit this fill port. I was going to go to Advance Auto to check out the K&N but just discovered the battery is dead on this thing. I don't have much left to get it running so instead of making a special trip to Advance to check the part out I'll take the next couple of days to get all my possibilities lined up while I wait for the replacement battery.