1969 chevy 350

[Uncle Jesse]

I decided to do some work on an older vehicle this weekend. I replaced the heater core, cleaned and sealed the heater box and vents, replaced the radiator cap and thermostat, all new hoses and so on. while I was at it I also fixed the badly leaking PCV stuff.

I fired up the engine and now I have a new oil leak! drivers side back of the engine. I can't really see exactly where it's leaking because things are too dark/tight with the firewall. I removed and resealed the valve covers so now I believe it must be either the rear intake manifold seal or perhaps a head gasket.

The oil starts dripping out immediately, and doesn't wait for oil pressure to build.

Any thoughts from you folks? Think I'm right about the intake gasket leak?

[golden pond]

Is the leak high or low on the engine or you probley can't tell? Low could be the rear main seal, end oil pan gasket, or bad seal on the oil filter. Mid ways on that engine has two oil galley plugs but I'm certain they're not the leak, but I have seen the camshaft plug at the back rust and get a pin hole in it but that's kind of rare. If not the end intake gasket (some are cork, others are rubber and they do sometimes jump out) Also check the round gasket under the distributer. Anther possable leak may be the oil pressure sending unit on that engine, some are screw in for an electric gage, a manual unit either has a copper line or plastic, the plastic ones sometimes crack with age and will leak. Good luck, I hate oil leaks!!

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

What do old Chevy's, Old Harleys and Sea Animals with tusks have in common?


They're all needin' a tight seal!

I've personally dealt with the 1st 2.

I'd be willin to bet its the rear main. Mostly because it leaks before pressure builds. But all of GP's points are viable locations. You might pull the inspection cover from the bell housing to get a better look.

Yes, OIL LEAKS SUCK!

[Grayson_Stewart]

My vote is the main bearing seal cause it sounds like it leaks during idle. Had a silver aniversary corvette that blew a cloud of smoke when the oil leaked past the fuel pump seal and fell on the exhaust...took forever to find that one cause it only happened when you really got down on the pedal. I miss the engines you could get in there and work on...maybe four vaccuum hoses and a PCV valve.

Drop a few continuous sheets of butcher paper or paper bags between the block and firewall and fire it up and gun the motor a few times then look at the paper.

You say its immediate so that does sound like the main since that is the area of initial movement, but oil pools up on the top of and back of the valves and pressure could blow that out of a bad valve cover gaskets.

[Tater]

dump it buy a ford

[golden pond]

FORD???? F=Found ,O=On , R=Road, D=Dead,,,, F=Fix, O=Or, R=Repair, D=Daily,,,,, F=F..king, O=Old, R=Rebuilt, D=Dodge, They leak oil too Tater!

[golden pond]

Mean while back at the ranch, Rule the head gasket out UJ, the only way a small block Chevy could leak oil there is by leaving the two deck plugs out. Anyone on here remember or even know that GM made a 302 engine, was my favorite.

[Bujapat]

Why don't you try an european car?

They leaks too, but you'd be deculpabilized .

[pothead]

FORD???? F=Found ,O=On , R=Road, D=Dead,,,, F=Fix, O=Or, R=Repair, D=Daily,,,,, F=F..king, O=Old, R=Rebuilt, D=Dodge, They leak oil too Tater!

F=first O=on R=race D=day

I am a huge ford guy. I love em.

BUT....The chevy 350 is an unstoppable engine(once you fix the leaks,lol)

It sounds like rear main to me,too.

[pothead]

Mean while back at the ranch, Rule the head gasket out UJ, the only way a small block Chevy could leak oil there is by leaving the two deck plugs out. Anyone on here remember or even know that GM made a 302 engine, was my favorite.

I had a 302 in a '87 custom deluxe. Man, I loved that truck.

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

Pot if that was a Chevy and hadn't been messed with it was a 305. 87 was too late for the 302 or the 307.

Yes I do remember the 302 Chevy. I was quite young when they were out new, but ran into several of them in my travels. Them things would turn a boat load of RPM and made great power up to around 7000. Un fooled around with that is .

[golden pond]

Mean while back at the ranch, Rule the head gasket out UJ, the only way a small block Chevy could leak oil there is by leaving the two deck plugs out. Anyone on here remember or even know that GM made a 302 engine, was my favorite.

I had a 302 in a '87 custom deluxe. Man, I loved that truck.

Pothead, I'm talking 302 Chevy, not Ford, they were only made 2 1/2 years, first year was 1967 and only about 600 that year, 1969 was the last year and about 20,000 then. When the Trans Am races got started the engines were limited to 305 cubic inches, Ford had their new 302 and all Chevy had was their 283 & 327 so they wanted to get closer to the 305 limit. Old man Duntov took the 4 inch bore 327 block and put a 3 inch stroke 283 crankshaft in it and presto GM was in the race and also won it!! GM later put the 302 in the Camaro, the engine code for the 302 was Z-28, everyone like the code Z-28 and it stuck as a name for the Z-28 Camaro. In reality a real Z-28 Camaro has not been made since 1969, in 1970 the so called Z-28 Camaro went to a 350 cubic inch with the engine code LT-1, both the 302 Z-28 & LT-1 Z-28 engines had 11-1 pistons and solid lift camshafts, high rise alum. intakes with 780 cfm. Holly carbs. The 302 Z-28 engine was published at 190 horsepower for insurance purposes, they produced closer to 300++++horsepower. The real Z-28 Camaros had no frills such as power steering, air cond. and such , all were 4 speed transmissions. One 1969 Z-28 I had owned since 1973 was a special order that had the RS package on it with hide away headlights, 4 wheel disc brakes and custom interior. I sold it to someone in California in 1999, the 302 engine with all GM parts I'd built for it dynamoed out at 406 horsepower. 302 Chevy Pothead not FORD.

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

I was unaware they brought it back. But GP apparantly has a few years on me and knows more of the history.

[Uncle Jesse]

Ford = driver returning on foot

i pulled the engine apart yesterday. the rear seal on the intake looked like a chimp had installed it and when i fixed the PCV it blew the seal. this engine has some wear and it's our 4x4 camping vehicle so i will just have the engine redone. i dont have an engine stand, my pal is borrowing it, or i'd have the engine out. right now it's the low end and only the engine mounts are attached.

i'm going to put an aluminum intake on it, timing gear, a few other upgrades when i reassemble it.

i just don't see doing the entire top end of it and leaving the bottom for later. i'll just end up pulling the engine again. took me 6 hours to get it ready to yank. i disassembled it in the car since i dont have an engine stand, gotta buy one today.

[hornedrhodent]

This reminds me of the Ford/Holden rivalry in Australia - Junk it and get a Toyota. Less cylinders to worry about.

[theholymackerel]

I really doubt that he wants less than 8 cylinders for a "4x4 camping vehicle".

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

This reminds me of the Ford/Holden rivalry in Australia - Junk it and get a Toyota. Less cylinders to worry about.

Never heard of a Toyota haulin' shine , or outrunnin' the law for that matter .

[Uncle Jesse]

toyotas do OK around here, but they have to be modified pretty well. the mountain trails are pretty rough on vehicles. the suburban is too big to go everywhere but it will go most places. and it's so much easier than any toyota, much less hassle, much more room in the engine compartment.

[pothead]

Pot if that was a Chevy and hadn't been messed with it was a 305. 87 was too late for the 302 or the 307.

Yes I do remember the 302 Chevy. I was quite young when they were out new, but ran into several of them in my travels. Them things would turn a boat load of RPM and made great power up to around 7000. Un fooled around with that is .

It wasn't the original motor. The original was a 305.
I had a 302 ford motor in my Falcon Futura. I don't have ford and chevy mistaken for each other.(cause fords are SO much better,lol)
When I bought it the guy told me it was a 302, I said "ya mean a 305?"
He said, naw, a 302...I said" like the ford motor "
He said, "nope... like the chevy motor".
He said it had less miles on it that the rest of the truck.
and the rest of the truck had 73k, so I bought it, drove it for 2 years, and sold it for a tiny profit.
I loved it.

But, if what you are saying is true about the history of that engine...then DAMN, I was an idiot for sellin it, cause it ran like a top.

[golden pond]

Hey Pot since you're a Ford fan, do you remember or know about the 406 cubic inch engine Ford had? It was bad to the bone for a Ford. Also back to the Chevys, the 409 was bad also if you could keep one together. Older engines were interesting in develping HP and ways to keep them together!!! A weak point in early small bock Fords was the 5/16" rod bolts, Chevy thought so too in their small blocks, was not enough room for a 3/8" rod bolt so they come up with a 11/32" rod bolt.

[golden pond]

Back in my early days of racing and engine building, we were building 302 engines before Chevy did. We'd take the 283 block that had a 3.875 bore & 3.000 stroke and bore it .125 over size. A speed shop in California called Speed-O-Motive sold the pistons that were 13:1 compression ratio. They sure would run but the blocks being bored that far didn't hold up long. Years later we found out that some certain truck blocks would. Some called these engines 301's because they figured out to be 301.6176 in cubic inches.

[Uncle Jesse]

the best story i know is my pal who saved $5500 one summer before his senior year, 1983/1984. he had a '68 Cuda and wanted a 440 for it. he took it down to our local machine shop and told the old man that he wanted a hot 440. the old man told him that for $5500 he could build a tame 440 (including purchasing the block and heads) which let some of the wind out of my pals sails.

never fear, the old man said. i used to race these slant-6 engines at 7k all day and had no problem. give me the ok and i'll make a slant-6 which will kick some butt for ya. so my pal paid him $5500 and the old man did everything except polish the valley. he showed my pal how to do that and my pal finished it off.

he had a slant-6 with v8 valves, a 4-bbl, aluminum intake, headers and so on. he broke the motor in and on the first pull (around a corner, duh) he wrecked the cuda so he bought a '71 duster and put the motor into that. it lasted about 50k miles before spinning a bearing in the low end. he used to pull low 13's in his Duster!. he'd blow away a big block and the guys would come ask him what was under the hood...you want to see a surprised expression? show some guy with a pumped 454 or 440 that you just waxed his ears for him with a slant-6!

[pothead]

Hey Pot since you're a Ford fan, do you remember or know about the 406 cubic inch engine Ford had? It was bad to the bone for a Ford. Also back to the Chevys, the 409 was bad also if you could keep one together. Older engines were interesting in develping HP and ways to keep them together!!! A weak point in early small bock Fords was the 5/16" rod bolts, Chevy thought so too in their small blocks, was not enough room for a 3/8" rod bolt so they come up with a 11/32" rod bolt.

I don't remember it, but I have heard ALOT of stories.
I know someone that had a 1962 Galaxie with a 406 it had a four on the floor manual. I know that it was available with 3 dual-barrel carbs or a single four-barrel. I also heard it called the Thunderbird 406, even though it was never available in the Ford Thunderbird. I also know that it came with 14" wheels.
I heard SO many stories about that car. My old man had one that he bought off the showroom floor. His had the 3 dual barrel holly's rated at 405 bhp.