Oil consumption discovery

[ckessel]

A few days ago I noticed that the wagon was eating oil. After pulling the PCV valve out of the cap, I noticed the inside of the cap is oil soaked. I had a look at the other side which has the fresh air going in to the cover and see it too has oil there. So I ordered up some new VC gaskets and figured I would need to do some mods to the baffles on the back of the covers to better control the splash. The gaskets came in today so I pulled the drivers side cover off and discovered the source for that excess oil getting where it doesn't belong. Passenger side was the same. Notice anything odd with the rocker shafts? Will take care of that problem tomorrow before putting the covers back on. Check out where the covers were made! Future collectors items!

 

[steve340]

The oil holes are pointing up and should be down.
Hopefully a nice easy fix.

 

[RemCharger]

The high performance rockershaft flipsky trick! Wonder if the guy had a FSM..

 

[turbine68rt]

Spacer rings look like they are missing as well.

 

[moparedtn]

Dang, that thing had to have been making some noise eh?

 

[dvw]

If it ran for very long it'll probably need more than the shafts flipped.
Doug

 

[gkent]

I'll bet the flipped shafts didn't make a bit of difference ! Ok, the spacers are missing, but the rockers seem to have stayed over the valve tips. There is plenty of pushrod clearance in the heads - so no damage there. And as far as oiling goes, it still would have splashed and dripped plenty in the rocker to lube the rocker pivot. Keep in mind these are stamped rockers with a ton of clearance in the bottom of them so pointing them up wouldn't have any impact on pressure. Likely the main reason the engineers pointed them down was so it didn't squirt out the filler or breather !! Flip 'em over, install the spacers and forget about it. And now you have a story to tell your grandkids.

 

[PlymCrazy]

Easy way to tell if the passages are clear

Nice catch

 

[Kern Dog]

The high performance rockershaft flipsky trick! Wonder if the guy had a FSM..

I never had one until a few years ago. I used Chilton manuals for torque sequences and such.

I'll bet the flipped shafts didn't make a bit of difference !

I agree. The flipped shafts may have oiled just as well given the overhead shower of oil while increasing the risk of leaks.

 

[PRHeads]

Spacer rings look like they are missing as well.

That’s a little known weight saving trick.

 

[turbine68rt]

If you want to get even more technical, not only should the holes face down, but the 15° angle in relation to the centerline of the mounting bolts should swing towards the valves to provide proper lubrication, according to the people who designed it.

 

[PRHeads]

Holes go…….


“Down n out”

 

[ckessel]

The plot thickens. After cleaning off the rh head, I backed the hold down hardware off and rotated the shaft. NO CHANGE! From my research, having the 15* offset is correct. These shafts along, with the double holes, there is no offset. I don't see anything ugly up on the head, like metal confetti, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Oil pressure is fine at hot idle and cruising down the road. Since I'm not flush with scratch right now I'm thinking of using the TIG and capping off one side of holes per shaft.

 

[Kern Dog]

Used shafts are plentiful if you choose to search for them.

 

[ckessel]

Thank you Greg. It pays to have friends like you.

 

[Kern Dog]

Pfft…
YOU would do the same.
I should know something in 15 minutes.

 

[ckessel]

Back at you. Let me know what you find on my telly.

 

[RemCharger]

Maybe some sort of race shafts. For needle bearings. See how thick wall they are. Might be worth $$$ to someone

 

[beanhead]

Many 'aftermarket' shafts have the top oil holes and don't have the offset bottom ones, I guess they're assuming they're for aluminum (or steel) roller rockers which ususally don't care about that offset.

If da' Kern is out of stock I'm positive I have some stockers up in the attic-o-parts..used-good condition but absolutely free if you need 'em.

 

[PRHeads]

Aaaaahhhhhhh….. race parts.

Not always the right choice to mix n match with your non-race parts.

While you guys are digging around thru all your hoarded parts……… see if you can scrounge up some spacer rings to go with those stock shafts.