Hi all I'm doing up my 1955 super , when i got the car i installed new battery new fuel pump and she started right up i change the oil new filter with some new 30w oil. i drove her like this for few hundred or so miles lucky i didnt do any damge We pulled the motor(my shop did) to clean up the engine bay and clean up the engine and this is what we found the engine was full of oil wax type oil res just caked on everywhere, I'm told this is from old oil back in the 50s and 60's the new oil filter was blocked with old oil the top end was not getting oil timing chain was not getting oil and was super lose intake was losse carb was lose here is link to some pics http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=228890&page=4
EVery 322/264 nailhead ive owned had this same sludge type stuff in it, waxy and claylike old oil in the pan and entire engine. never seen one that bad though, lucky nothing broke? luckily i never drove mine until after i took apart engine and cleaned the inside. Over the summer i got my first 401 and took it apart and it was so cleaned it shocked me compared to the earlier engines... maybe the 322/264 got clogged up easier? or the old canister oil filters were not as good?
When we did our rebuild we found sludge like that. Not so much in the heads. But there was plenty in the oil pan
good ventilation + 180 deg. thermostat+ on schedule oil and filter changes = no sludge....:Smarty: sludge forms when oil,gas/combustion fumes and moisture from the air mixes.... that is why anytime you start your engine up, it should be allow to completely warm up before shutting it down and leaving it... but people almost never do that.... the heat drives the moisture out, and the pcv slurps the gas/combustion fumes out..... :Brow: back in the early 60's we all cussed the pcv system for ''ruining our idle adjustments'' ,,, but,,, that system is far better than the old road draft systems for keeping the inside of a engine clean.....
Doc, do you think a modern pcv system would help prevent that? I'm seriously considering it for my 322
Yep,,, Bulldog, I do.... this is a mod that is definitly worth doing....it keeps a engine clean and reduces a possibility of oil leaks by lowering the pressures inside the engine....
X2! When they started installing PCV in 1963 the sludge problems dropped by about 90%. It is a mod that I would recommend. Doc also mentioned engine temperature. Low engine temperatures = sludge formation. My Nailhead has a 180 degree thermostat year-round.
The old canister style systems were not as efficient as the newer spin-on types (that are straight off the pump) are. On those earlier V-8s the oil filter was an option. Since more and more people were ordering cars with them they soon became the standard. My '46 Buick doesn't have an oil filter on it, and I haven't been able to locate one (brackets and such) for it yet. From what I've read about those early systems they only worked to about a 20% efficiency anyway, so I'm in no hurry. However, when it comes time to rebuild that motor, one of the mods I might make to it is to get rid of that draft tube and install a PCV system, and run a filtration system directly off the oil pump. If you want to see sludge, have a look at my poor straight 8. I'll be photographing it when it comes apart. I figure it has about 1/8 inch just on the pushrods and the rocker arms alone. I'm dreading what I'll find when I pull that thing apart. As for now, it still runs, doesn't heat up overly bad yet, and still makes power. But...I'm sure not taking it on any long trips...
all cleaned up i got a new vally pan with pcv got mine from russ at centerville auto he is good guy with lots of info i'm sure many of you know him also got a set of feton repo valve cover and have to say they are very nice they sure didnt skimp on aluminum very sold well built stuff centervilleautorepair.com Here is link to the valley pan same as mine but without the pcv http://centervilleautorepair.com/kring%20valley%20cover.jpg
