Ok.. Yesterday was the day of reckoning with the 383 hp. I replaced cam as we know, had the heads off and redone, replaced rockers to roller type, pushrods of course, several other small items just to make things correct in alignment (throttle bracket, springs etc.) heads were fluxed for cracks etc and nothing.

Here's my issue, I changed oil after putting all back together, primed oil in it, fired right up good oil pressure! Seemed to run good at idle and gave it gas, no hesitation as before. Couldn't road test as it has been in the serious sub zero temps. Everything seemed good. It did have an exhaust bolt seep a little, which I will redo. So I decided to check the oil to check and there is the problem, little milky, not bad as I've seen with head gasket issues. No previous signs of contamination before..

Is it possible to have had a little AF left over from head removal and oil change to cloud the oil a little? I was very careful with head gasket replace and check before bolted on. All torqued to specs. Don't see how could have messed them up. But?? I am going to change oil again and see what happens but curious on your thoughts out there..

Thanks again..:banghead:

 

Could be some coolant dribble into the cylinders when heads removed. Even with a good clean up some could get in the crankcase and do what you have described.

Getting into how much or what colour isn't helpful, changing the oil and running up to hot is. Good catch on your part this is the do diligent checks many don't.

No way to tell until after next run or coolant system pressure test.

 

Coronet, thanks! I just picked p a pressure test kit from a friend. I'll get to that today. Fingers crossed just a little leftover. I'll keep you posted..

Thanks again

 

I agree...

 

Condensation in the dipstick tube. It's a temperature differential thing, nothing to worry about.

 

Ok, here's what I think at this point..

I pressurized the coolant and I noticed a little drop in pressure on gauge. But I also noticed that I was forcing drips out exhaust manifold bolts that I apparently didn't seal correctly. 1 drop out of 3 bolts about every 20-30 seconds. But the pressure never really dropped more than that. I checked the level in radiator and remained the same and once pressure released, drips stopped. Oil doesn't appear to be any different.

Would think that under pressure I would have forced more coolant into oil. Didn't.

Also, maybe a good way to tell what exhaust bolts are leaking if that is a problem in future.. Just a thought.

What going to do....

Going to drain coolant and fix those bolts
Going to change oil and see what happens from there. I'm guessing right now maybe just residual and or condensation as Mr4spd mentioned.

Fingers crossed. Only good thing about this is the timing. I'll have the rest of the winter to repair. For me that will be a good 4 months.. Ugggggg!

 

Ok.. Drained coolant, got bolts fixed. Drained oil and changed including filter...duh! Got running with decent oil pressure. Checked oil, and all clear so far. So looks like there was some either residual coolant/water in block when I removed the heads or condensation built up to contaminate the oil.

Thanks for all your thoughts!,

Myraman

 

Got to get the engine and oil good and hot so it will burn off all that moisture...

 

Glad everything worked out. The dipstick tube condensation issue isn't a contamination thing, it's just a fact of life in cold climates. The tube ends up with water droplets because of temperature differences, nothing to worry about. Just run the engine up to temperature long enough to boil off and/or cook out the moisture, however while it's cooling from running you will end up with new condensation. As I said, just a fact of life from the climate we live in, nothing to worry about.

 

Thanks!! After posting last night, I went back out and worked on the timing and seemed to smooth it out even better. I ran a bit. But on my list tonight to let it run to burn it all out. Also the other reason I stopped last night was I ran out of heat in the garage! It's an attached garage and somewhat warm but it's nice to take the edge off!

 

After about 20 minutes of running in the garage. The driveway is too icy to turn car around and point tailpipes out the door. Hopefully this weekend I can make that switch. The white smoke cleared out. Doors were open, fan was going. Cold! But cleared out pretty good. Did throw the timing light at it and tried to get initial to 12, but the closer I got it, the lower vacuum I had. It is at 12 right now but to get a little more vacuum I had to leave the hose to carb unplugged from advance and plugged with a golf tee. Runs the best that way too! Back to that vacuum thing. It's killing me!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to do some distributor work as the rotor is pretty sloppy and I'm guessing the dist. Is not setup right. It has had the conversion with vacuum advance. I'm going mechanical!