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I'm Thinking I Should be Getting More Oil

I was glad to help and thankful for 1967coronet440 for posting up my videos.
 
Just an update...

I pulled my valve covers this morning to do a valve train inspection. I've broken in the the cam and have fired it up a dozen times and just wanted to see what things looked like. Looking for any metal, making sure all of the lifters were rotating.

I just cranked it over with a remote button hooked up to the starter switch. Everything looked good, every lifter rotated while cranking.

Before I even checked each lifter I had oil pumping out every rocker. Looked like Threewoods video without the engine even running. I decided not to fire it up and make a big mess.

Thanks again for everyone's time and efforts in showing what to expect when working on these Big Blocks :thumbsup:
 
So it fixed itself? I was about to not even use my Elgin shafts and go a different route. Glad everything is good now.
 
I have been doing the full-time oiling mods (BBDart Forum) for several years. With stock iron rockers, or any that are bushed or full contact (like Crane or Dove, etc.) you can run unrestricted oiling, as the shaft/rocker clearance will be the restriction. With needle bearing rockers (PRW, 440Source, Harland Sharp,etc.) you will have to run a restrictor in the heads or block deck (.060" aprox). Works great and keeps more oil available for the #4 main and the rods that it feeds.
 
Just bringing this back due to an update. After having a few other people look at my oiling on the rockers, the consensus was that there was not enough. So I bought some shafts from Hughes, they are banana grooved, swapped the rockers and wouldn’t ya know it, more oil coming out of the rockers. There is pools of oil around the bottom of the springs and more coming out the holes in the rockers along with more oil coming out in between the spacers/rockers. As a side note, hot idle oil pressure is now 25-28psi.
 
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Just changed out the break in oil (30wt) and put in 7qts. of VR1 20w-50. At temp and idle, 60psi, too much. So I’ll order VR1 10w-30. That should be just right with a WIX or Napa Gold filter.
 
Just changed out the break in oil (30wt) and put in 7qts. of VR1 20w-50. At temp and idle, 60psi, too much. So I’ll order VR1 10w-30. That should be just right with a WIX or Napa Gold filter.

Seems like a lot of this going on lately. :rolleyes:
 
True. One thing I did notice, the valve train was quieter. But I’ll substitute some noise for more flow.
 
True. One thing I did notice, the valve train was quieter. But I’ll substitute some noise for more flow.
Acually my drive train is quieter than the 30w break in oil, using the 10w30w. Penn Grade partial synthetic. I'm sure the synthetic helps with that.

I remember when Slick 50 came out. We added it to different engines in the family and we would notice a quieter running engine. Also a improvement in gas milage.
 
Just bringing this back due to an update. After having a few other people look at my oiling on the rockers, the consensus was that there was not enough. So I bought some shafts from Hughes, they are banana grooved, swapped the rockers and wouldn’t ya know it, more oil coming out of the rockers. There is pools of oil around the bottom of the springs and more coming out the holes in the rockers along with more oil coming out in between the spacers/rockers. As a side note, hot idle oil pressure is now 25-28psi.
Standard, HV, or HP oil pump?
 
Put in VR1 10w-30 and it’s flowing a lot better than the 20w-50. Cold pressure is 80 and warmed up is 35. I’m happy with that.
 
Put in VR1 10w-30 and it’s flowing a lot better than the 20w-50. Cold pressure is 80 and warmed up is 35. I’m happy with that.

I guess I should post my findings here also. 10w 30w worked better for me.

20w 50w @ operating temp


10w 30w @ operating temp
 
I like 10w-30 regular conventional motor oil for most applications. I live in central Ga., where it's really hot and humid in the summers and the winters are pretty mild. I prefer Valvoline brand, and I use Rislone engine oil suppliment with zinc in flat-tappet applications, it's basically the same thing as Lucas TB-Plus break in (ZDDP) additive that I use on new cam break-in, just a smaller/cheaper bottle. I have an old 440 that I built in the '90s with HV oil pump, full-grooved mains and wide clearances, that recently started running a little low on oil pressure at hot idle. Just to make a race, I went with 20w-50 full synthetic, which boosted the idle pressure up to maybe 25, still hitting 80# above 3000rpm. I'm gonna pull the motor before racing it again and check the bearings. I suspect the #4 main is going to be loose, as the last few race 440's I have torn down have been. Full-time rocker oiling seems to help this, we will see.
 
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