Blue smoke new rebuild 383

[velrob]

Last weekend I broke the motor in letting it idle at 2000 to 2500 Rpm for 25 to 30 mins. Our first bresk in attempt we ran into cooling issues and think I've solved that along with a couple coolant leaks. Issue now is on the passenger side and drivers side I notice blue smoke. More so on the passenger. I took the plugs out and did notice oil in a few. Running the car rich for now until I'm sure the cooling issues are gone.

Do these rings take awhile to seat?

 

[Kern Dog]

Running too rich will not help. An overly rich mixture could wash the oil from the cylinders making them wear faster.
Some engines do smoke a bit during break in, it isn't always a symptom of trouble unless it continues.
Do you know the piston the wall clearance? What about the ring gaps?
I've read....but never tried, the "Bon Ami" trick.
It sounds like bullshit but I have seen it mentioned in a few places.
The procedure is to start the engine and run the RPMs up well above a fast idle and slowly pour some Bon Ami down the throat of the carburetor.
Supposedly, the abrasives make their way to the combustion chamber and scuff up the carbon or contaminants, improving ring seal.

https://www.cartalk.com/content/have-you-ever-heard-bon-ami-ring-job

Hey Oldtimers, I'm thinking about the Bon Ami trick

 

[RemCharger]

The worst thing you can do to new rings is  not put a load on them.
Go out and give it some full throttle.
Could also be an intake issue, or something with a valve stem etc

 

[velrob]

The car isn't ready yet to drive still putting it back together. I wanted to be sure the motor was ok before putting the front end back together. I'll do a leak down test then and see what I get.

 

[RemCharger]

What's the story on heads, intake, and intake gasket.

 

[pnora]

Is this the old exhaust off a tired engine? Caked oil residue in an old exhaust can take some time to burn out. What type of build is this? Re-Bore? New pistons? Need to tell us more.

 

[Cranky]

What type are the rings? Moly? The break in fast even without a load. Stock type cast rings? A little bit longer but never had an engine smoke to where it filled up the shop.

 

[pnora]

Looks like you had multiple problems with this engine starting back in June.. First no spark then no oil pressure. Now cooling and running rich issues. Myself you signed the engine disaster book. You very well could have caused internal damage.

 

[blue69runner]

New motor brake in. It will take about 500 miles and drive it. Should take it easy but not raise hell with the motor till broke in. While driving bring up RPMs then back down to lower. I did mine around on back roads 55 mph for a while then up too 60 or 70 ish. Then back down. Good luck and would not be worried about a little blue smoke. Like was stated do not run it too lean. Even the fuel we use now days it helps to keep the cylinder cool. Too much would wash the rings down and not have the lubricant from the oil that is needed.

 

[R413]

You broke in the cam not the rings. You need to drive it and put a load on it. So don’t start it anymore until you can drive it.

a leakdown right now is meaningless. the rings need to be driven and loaded To be broke in.

And don’t run a new engine rich, no good for it. Your engine won’t be hot with the vehicle moving down the road.

 

[RemCharger]

People do the old driving miss daisy break ins.. but what about those that dynoed their motors. Straight to full pulls once the cam is good.
Proper way to do it.

 

[velrob]

Yes the headers are off the old engine. But all gaskets are new. The engine is .60 over.

We put a different ignition control module on it sand we got spark. Also the EZ wiring diagram was incorrect I had to change the wiring to make it work at the ignition. Not sure how else I can get spark without cranking it. what do you mean disaster?

All gaskets are new. All pistons are new. All rings are new. Steel rings not moly. New distributor.

Im going to take a look inside that one piston with the most oil to see if the walls are messed. She runs great besides that.

I just start the motor to ensure all the gauges are working as I put temporary gauges for now. I wont start it again until the dash is in and I can drive it. I was reading its better rich than lean but the plugs were pretty black. I will check vacuum when im about to start it again and lean it out.

If this isn't common to get blue smoke on a fresh rebuild then i have less to worry about. If I need to take the motor out then I'll take it out. Hopefully theres no damage.

 

[Geoff 2]

Oil smoke can be be from worn valves/guides or valve stem seals leaking.

 

[velrob]

I did a leak down test just to be sure it wasn't messed. I also took a pic with my inspection camera. This is the one piston that was oil soaked the most. The walls looked good. But I'm not sure if that valve is shredded or that's carbon buildup. Not even sure how the valve could get messed like that when all the rest is good.

 

[pnora]

I did a leak down test just to be sure it wasn't messed. I also took a pic with my inspection camera. This is the one piston that was oil soaked the most. The walls looked good. But I'm not sure if that valve is shredded or that's carbon buildup. Not even sure how the valve could get messed like that when all the rest is good.

View attachment 1532226

What did the leak down test say? Should be no carbon with a 1/2 hour of run time. Were these heads new or rebuilt.

 

[velrob]

The heads were rebuilt. I got 93 on the leak down. I can't wrap my head around what that is. They were new valves. If it was metal I'm guessing pieces would of fell on top of the piston by now. That's why I assumed it was carbon or oil. I was running rich.

 

[Geoff 2]

New valves are pretty useless in worn valve guides. What is the condition of the guides?

 

[velrob]

The heads were done at a machine shop along with the block

 

[Geoff 2]

It depends on what was 'done' at the shop.....

 

[velrob]

Ya I can't even recall if he did the valve guides. I will try running it and see what happens. I checked all cyclnders for leak down and did a compression test. 150 to 165 range in compression and 5 to 8 in leak down. Everything seems seems good. If I need to take it out I'll check the head first and see if the guides were done.