It's been over a year, 200 passes, and 15K street miles. The 351w smokes when it's decellerating, still running strong as ever, still has 175# compression in every hole. But it's using oil, and I suspect valve seals & or guides. The heads are Edelbrock RPM complete heads installed "out of the box". Anyone know what valve seals Edelbrock used on these heads? Shouldn't the bronze guides last longer than this? Should I upgrade the springs while I'm at it? The car is getting a 5 speed tranny, scatter sheild, and cable clutch while it's down. Do you think I should step up to a bigger cam? Currently a 282S Comp cam. What about porting the RPM heads, any advice there? The car should be consistently in the mid 12's with the 5 speed, and 12.0 is as quick as we want for now. But as long as I've got the engine out, we might as well step it up a notch. TIA for your tips!

The oil is mostly on #6 & #7 cylinders, and the smoke is from the that (driver side) exhaust pipe. Could be the intake gasket, I'll check that out. Thanks for the thought,

SteveW

I don't think a small amount of porting would hurt. I would probably look at flow around the cams sweetspot rather than peak flow. If you can get a little more torque and Hp in the middle of the curve your times should come down without sacrificing drivability.

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Tim

No, it's a "fair weather" driver now, and she can live with a bigger cam. But I want to keep the power curve in the 4500-6500 range with the 5 speed. No sense camming it for 7000 when the bottom end isn't up to it. The stock shot-peened & mag'd rods are the weak link in this engine. I'm planning on deepening the stock oil pan & pickup tube while I'm there. Any tips on baffeling? Should they run all the way across the pan, or 7/8s way and then another behind it that starts from the other side of the pan? Like a rat's maze? Thanks again,

Do you still have it? And do you wanta donate it to the cause? Or at least sell it cheap?

I was planning to sell it but it was a lot of money(at least for me) so I don't know about cheap. I think I paid about $250 for it and would still be using it if it wasn't for that darn girdle. I ended up buying another similar one for $200 that was designed to clear the girdle. I was going to list it on Ebay this coming week. How much are you willing to "donate" to my keep the 65 on the road fund?

E-mail me and we'll negotiate.

Thanks,

May I suggest a cam for you?

I've used Ultradyne cams for years and love them. http://www.ultradyne.com/

They have a grind that's 238/248 @ .050 .517/.536 lift on a 112 center that would be very streetable. It's very similar to your 282s with more exhaust duration and a wider center.

If streetability isn't much of a concern anymore then they have a grind that's 243/251 @ .050 .562/.565 lift on a 106 center. This grind will have a much rougher idle and less torque down low (might help) but will make a ton of power in the middle.

I've had them move the lobe centers around for me in the past. If it were my car (lol...Larry) I'd call them and have them move the center on the 243/251 to 110 and run that one. The 110 center will flatten the torque curve where the 106 will have a more "peaky" torque curve.

If you didn't want to limit the rpm under 7000 I love their 255/264 grind on a 108.

Bottom line....I'd put a set of Eagle rods in it and run the 255/264 grind if it were me. If you want to run the stock rods and limit the rpm to 7000 tops, then the 243/251 ground on a 110 would be a good compromise from where you are now. If you want to keep it very streetable then I'd go with the 238/248 on a 112.

That's my 2-cents.

What do you all think about baffle designs in the deepened front sump pan?

Thanks for the tips on oil pan construction via e-mail! I'd have never thought to do it that way. Do you mind if I share your words of wisdom? That's a bunch of $$$ we can spend on a cam, or something else to give more power to the project. Tom's "da man" when it comes to do it yourself'ers.

Got the engine out this morning, and pulled the intake. Sure enough the intake gaskets on the offending cylinders are cracked open on the bottom, and there's oil in the intake passages of the Edel heads. So... I'm gonna stop right there, fix the intake gasket leak. Then modify the oil pan to 7 qts with some baffeling, and install the t-5, scattershield, cable clutch/pedals, etc. That should be enough "fun" for this old man. Thanks for the tips everyone!