Found intake was sucking oil...my 440 is off life support

[KillerBee]

I've had this 1966 440 for close to 20 years now in a few different cars with different cams, intakes etc.

I bought the engine way back when out of a 1966 New Yorker with 40k original miles.

The short block is bone stock, never touched, the original 516 heads are just lightly modded with bigger exhaust valves.

The engine used to be a beast running high 11's in my street/strip 4 speed Challenger showing a little air under the front tire a few times.

For about the last 3-4 years I  was running the engine in my 1971 R/T Challenger and I honestly though the engine was on it's last leg.
It had a Six Pack setup on it with a MP .528 solid cam.

The engine was waay down on power, blowing smoke (and oil) out the tail pipes and badly fouling plugs.
I'm in the middle of a 440 Six Pack engine build for the wife's car so I was planning on limping it through this summer and pulling it for a rebuild next spring.

I removed the Six Pack setup to install on the wife's engine and discovered a major intake leak which was causing the engine to suck oil....a lot of oil!
I still expected the engine to be weak but I wanted to keep the car running and moving on it's own power so I installed my old faithful Torker II intake and an old Holley 4150 carb that I rebuilt.

On the advice of my engine builder I installed the paper gaskets, both sets, with valley tray.
That was no easy task and I can see why many get frustrated and give up on the paper gasket install as I was ready to but I was told a few tricks and got them installed without too much grief.

So today after chasing down some fuel leaks and building a custom fuel line and swapping in new plugs I finally got it running.
After tuning the carb a bit the test ride was a big surprise
It's certainly running on all 8 cylinders again, I had to tighten the rear view mirror as power shifting into 2nd made it flip up repeatedly.
I took it for a long drive and it ran better by the minute, no more smoke or oil blowing out the tail pipes.
It really runs strong, very snappy right off idle and pulls hard through the mid range.
With the 3.73 gear I was able to make the tire bark in 2nd and 3rd gear!

I'm not sure how long the engine will last but I'm sure glad it's back for now.

Six Pack ready to be removed.
The complete Six Pack setup was bought new and never gave me any problems but the engine ran like a slug compared to the way it used to run.


Once the intake was removed I discovered oil everywhere, it was puddled in the center of the valley tray, inside the head ports and dripping off the intake runners.
This install was the valley tray only with sealant applied around the ports and on the front and rear bars.
Took me quite some time to clean everything up for the Torker II intake.


What a mess


After a couple frustrating attempts to install both sets of paper gaskets,  finally success, now I had to remove everything again to install sealer.


The beast is back, paper gaskets and all.


15 plus years ago the very same engine was banging gears at the track

[Chryco Psycho]

 

[cudabob496]

yep, common to use paper gaskets with the metal gasket.
A regular inspection of plugs can help catch that, as well
as excessive oil consumption.

your PCV line can also suck a lot of oil into your intake.
I narrowed the 3/8 line down to about 1/8, and installed a homemade oil
vapor separator in the PCV line, to collect the oil.

[hooD]

That was a very enjoyable story.  It's a great feeling when you can discover the problem and make it right. 

[dodj]

That was a very enjoyable story.  It's a great feeling when you can discover the problem and make it right.

   And not have to spend buckets of money!

[bandt]

Very cool. Didn't have to pull the plug on the old 440.

[KillerBee]

Yes it does feel good to get the old engine running strong again

I have a good buddy with a beautiful lime green 2015 R/T Challenger.
We've done some speed testing previously and he was about 2 cars in front of my Challenger, he is going to be in for a big surprise the next time I see him.
 
I bought a couple of these SunPro tachometers with shift light off Ebay cheap, one for my wife's car and one for mine.
I spent the morning installing one in my Challenger.
The factory tach works in my Challenger but is terribly inaccurate, I never worried about it before because as lazy as the engine ran I had plenty of time to shift but now the engine revs so quick and hard (spinning the tires) it's hard to keep it pointed straight.

I'm not into aftermarket gauges but this tach is nice as the shift light detaches from the tach and extending the wires on the shift light will allow it to be mounted anywhere in the car.
Eventually the tach will get moved under the dash completely out of sight and the shift light will be moved to a very inconspicuous spot.

By the way, in case anyone didn't know, (like myself), you can splice an aftermarket tach signal wire into the factory tach wire and they will with both work.


 

[slsc98]

On the advice of my engine builder I installed the paper gaskets, both sets, with valley tray.
That was no easy task and I can see why many get frustrated and give up on the paper gasket install as I was ready to but I was told a few tricks . . .

Great story but . . .

And . . . (care to share tricks)? 

[KillerBee]

Lots of different techniques and suggestions on installing big block intake gaskets and I'm certainly NO expert.

First I read this link which had some good tips on test fitting the intake.
http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/440-intake-seal.html


Test fitting is important as every intake is different, especially aluminum ones.
Decked blocks and milled heads also affect the fitment of intakes.

I watched my engine builder install the Six Pack intake that was leaking so badly on my car on to my wife's freshly built 440 engine and he had no problems putting it on with all four paper gaskets.

My install wasn't as easy, my engine's heads were never milled and the block was never decked so I think the difference was the intakes.
I tested my intake by installing all four paper gaskets, metal valley pan and end rails dry. I set the intake in place and loosely installed 4 bolts all on one side of the intake (turning the bolts in only three or four threads)
In looking at the bolt holes on the other side I could tell it was way off as less than half of the bolt holes in the head were visible.

I used a round rat tail file to oblong all the bolt holes on the intake concentrating on the bottom of the holes but also opening up the top slightly. I only removed a very small amount of material from the holes and actually had to test fit everything twice.
(When the intake is installed you cannot tell the holes were opened up)

For the intake bolts I spent the extra money and bought ARP ones.
They have a small 3/16 head which makes it easier to fit a wrench and in my case a socket on all the bolts, even the center ones.
The tips on the ARP bolts also have a special centering part which makes it easier to get the bolt started in the right direction.
Regular bolts wanted to thread in in a more vertical orientation which would quickly mess up the threads on your heads, which is not good.

Everybody has their favorite sealant and technique to use, my builder suggested using Permatex Indian head sealer in a very small amount on the head surface, only around the intake ports. Then installing the first set of paper gaskets, with a couple intake bolts loosely installed to hold the paper gaskets in place,
Indian head sealant again on top of the paper gasket around the intake ports only, then install metal Valley tray with whatever sealant you like on the end bars and in the corners of the metal valley tray. I think I used "The Right Stuff"
More Indian head sealant around the ports only on the metal Valley tray, then install the second set of paper gaskets on top the metal Valley tray removing and reinstalling a few intake bolts to keep everything lined up.
Then install the intake on the top set of paper gaskets dry with no sealant.

To get the bolts lined up I again put all four bolts in on one side of the intake loosely, three or four threads.
At this point I could see a little over half of the bolt holes on the other side. I used a large diameter, long Phillips head screw driver and inserted it in the very front intake bolt hole and gently but forcefully pushed it forward which pulled the intake down, I held pressure on the screwdriver and was able to install the intake bolt in the hole directly to the right of the hole I was pushing the screwdriver in.
I then put the Long Phillips screwdriver in the very back intake hole again pushing forward and was able to start the intake bolt directly to the left of that one while holding forward pressure on the screwdriver.
I tightened these two installed center intake bolts about halfway down which pulled the intake down.
I was then able to install the two outside bolts on that side.

I then rotated tightening all the intake bolts.

Tip of the ARP intake bolts

[larry4406]

Good info!  Thx