Finn5033

Hello everyone, I wanted to see if anyone on here has ever seen a sight like this Rocket I pulled out of my Cutlass. I believe this one to be a 72, I pulled it out of the car because a friend of mine helped me try and tune the motor and ran across signs that this motor was shot. After pulling the motor I pulled the intake to re-use on the motor I am putting in and was shocked at what I saw underneath. After asking a few friends that are motor heads they said they had never seen anything like this. Have any of you ever see something like this. If so, what is it? And what would cause this? What does this tell you about the motor? Any thoughts would be great thanks

oldcutlass

Carbon and sludge! You have some cleaning to do. Clean it up the best you can without it getting down into the block. Make sure all the oil returns are clear also.

I would pull each lifter one at a time and see if they are worn and concave. Return them back to the hole they came out of. If they are worn, a new set is probably in your future. I would also check all the pushrods to ensure the inside oil feed hole is clear and the pushrods are straight. I would also assume that you had a considerable amount of sludge on top of your heads. Clean and make sure your oil returns are clear up there.

OK, once you have that done and you reassemble and restart the engine, do not be surprised if the the rockers tap. If they do, you will need to replace some rocker assy's on the offending noisey ones.

I've seen worse! Good luck!

joe_padavano

Yeah, I've seen that and worse. The previous owner didn't take very good care of the car and definitely didn't change oil very often. Consider it a core.

Finn5033

I am actually putting a different motor in. I just pulled the intake to use on the other motor. I currently have 3 motors for this car. The original which I plan on rebuilding over the winter, this 72 that I pulled out and a 77 with low miles that I am putting in. I had a thread on the site asking if I should use the intake off of the 72 instead of the one for the 77 and was told it was a good idea. I would like to get rid of this one but do you recommend I keep anything off of it? As I said I plan on rebuilding the original motor so I don't really need this one.

J-(Chicago)

I believe that carbon buildup is due to the intake heat cross-over passages leaking past the metal tray gasket and discharging exhaust into the lifter valley.

This is the only reason I do not like the metal valley trays. They usually work great......if they're put on correctly, and torqued properly......but that is not always what happens in real life.

I've seen carbon like that semi- regularly upon teardowns. My buddy had one where you couldn't even see the push rods anymore. We ran 2 pieces of tubing from the drainback hole in the head down to the cam, and he ran it that way for 4 more years.

Didn't want to disturb all the crap in there because it would granulate and get in the oil and bearings.

Finn5033

this one actually didn't have one of the valley trays. Do you think it is worth keeping anything from this motor or should I just try to sell it as a core? If so what would be a good price to ask for it? No intake, carb, alternator, or distributor.

MDchanic

Cruddy smallblock known to not be running well -

You're pretty much working a little above scrap value.

For one that is claimed to be "good running" you might get $300 on a good day, after a long wait.

For that one, I'm guessing $100 if you're patient, $50 if you actually want to sell it (maybe $25 if it sits a while at $50 with no takers).

- Eric

Finn5033

ok thanks. I think I will just put it on craigslist as make an offer

jag1886

That's a poster child for why you need to change your oil. (regularly)

Fakser

x2 you should send that picture to all of the younger engines and show them what smoking, drugs, and alcohol does to a young engine.

Lady72nRob71

I wonder if the heads from yours looked as bad as mine did?
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...tml#post294407

bigD

to me that mess is more about using the wrong intake gaskets than lack of oil change... probably just kept adding and spun a new filter on every so often, having the exhaust crossover exposed like that will cause major oil comsumption! that thing had to have smoke rollin out the breathers big time!

Finn5033

All I know is that the blow by was so bad it made you nauseous while driving. And it looked just as bad under the valve covers. There was only oil coming out of 1 port on the driver side. @Lady72 I am trying to get rid of the core of that motor, the scrap yard I go to will give .15 cents a pound for it. I would rather sell it to someone but I currently have 3 motors and don't have room for it. But I have never taken heads off before and was thinking about trying it on that motor before I get rid of it. Good learning experience

MDchanic

That's about $75, which is more than you could probably sell it for.

Correction: Excellent learning experience.
I'd recommend completely disassembling it - no better way to learn!

- Eric

Nasty455

I'd be interested in seeing the bottom end.
No oil changes for that sludge monster...but I've seen worse..once took off an intake and it was filled right up to the carb base.

Allan R

X2 I know from experience...still need more experience...send it my way and I'll learn some more!

jerseymike

at first glance it looked like someone used it for as a bar-b-que.

Seff

My engine was a lot worse. Still haven't fixed it yet.

Finn5033

I actually got $150 for that thing after posting it on Craigslist. To think I was going to scrap it.