B

 

Are you sure the smoke on start is not just condensation that clears once the engine warms up? You can do valve guide seals with the heads on.

 

yeah pretty sure seals. If I sit and idle
for a bit say caught at a light I get a little puff out. What do u think it would cost to have done with the heads on? I talked to one guy and he said fixing the valves may creat a bottom end problem. He’s the one that suggested pulling motor and doing it all instead of guessing/chasing

 

Replacing the valve seals won't effect the lower end. Has the timing chain been replaced? For what your using the car for, the tiny puff of smoke would be a non issue to me.

 

How many miles on the engine ? You should be able to pull the valve covers and peak between the valve spring coils to see if they are broken or missing.
As far as the guy with that advice, put him on your list of "never call him again".
......Just my two cents worth.

 

That’s funny you say that. I had another buddy that said just keep running it and keep a eye on the oil. Them if something happens down the road
later on go ahead and rebuild different cam etc.. As far as timing chain im not sure to be honest I don’t know a lot of the back story on it.

 

x 2

 

just under 60,000 miles on odometer. Not sure if it’s rolled. That being said not sure if they just painted the motor when they did the restoration in 04’ or about 10,000 miles ago or if they actually got into it.

 

I had the similar situation with my 72 with 70K. I also had a guy trying to sell me a complete overhaul. When I pulled the valve covers off I noticed that the drain holes at the back were clogged with sludge. We did not find any broken valve seals at all. Just from what I experienced I'd recommend pulling a valve cover and take a look first. If there is sludge try to clean it out the best you can with a shop vac and then do frequent oil changes with a high zinc quality oil. Check the oil frequently and when it starts looking dark do another change with filter. Try to stay away from the short drives and get some good hot runs to get that oil flowing. I noticed an almost immediate difference from "idle smoke".

 

So unfortunately I had a buddy try a compression test he said I had 120 in all cylinders but #6 was at 80. he also suggested I take it some where to get it double checked to find out if it’s ring or valves as he said he didn’t want to make a judgement call. So looks like I may be getting into this sooner then expected. I will try to pull the valve cover this weekend but I have a wedding out of town so may get out off till next week.

 

The way you determine if the problem is rings or valves is to run a "wet" compression test. You first run the test with everything dry, then you run it again, squirting a small amount of oil into the cylinder before testing. If the rings are worn, the oil will temporarily seal them and compression will come up. If the problem is the valves, the numbers will remain low. You don't need to take it somewhere to do this.

 

Thanks, If it is valves what do you think it would cost to have fixed? Would they need rebuilt? Buy new?

 

Curious what a average rebuild would cost?
been told everywhere from $2500 - 7500

 

I just did a quick estimate and I doubt that I could do one for much less than $4500 A lot depends on the condition of the cylinder heads. If someone is telling you $2500 they are cutting corners somewhere.