Blow By

Sup guys, i have a 67 impala convertible. It was blowing a bit of smoke when we got it running after sitting 14 years. Only on the driver side though. I changed all the valve stem seals on that side. Shes still smoking. When i tried to change #7 it completely drained my compressors tank. So i guess i have little or no compression in that chamber. The spark plug that was in there was all gunked up too. I'm holding off b4 i do the other side until i get the smoking to stop. Should i try to replace the rings to see if that helps? And is it pretty straight forward of a procedure? The seals were not too tough. This is my first muscle car so i am still green. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I would send the engine to a machine shop and have it clean and bore if needed and replace all bearings for a start.

Well John.... Ouch!!! Too late to ask if the cylinders were filled with oil for storage. But before you yank the motor... Did you do a compression test? Record the numbers,then squirt the cylinder with motor oil, and take test again,I have seen an engine that had bad valve seals and carbon built up to the point it actually kept the valve open and gave a poor compression reading. You might just be looking at a valve job instead of a total rebuild at this time. Do you know how many miles on motor? Is it a small block? If it is just isolated to one or two cylinders It is possible to raise the mtr.in the car and pop the pistons out of a couple of cylinders if it is not high mileage. But then again, you might want to just yank the mtr. and rebuild it. Or buy one...." The possiblities are endless."

If it has been sitting 14 years, My guess is that the reason it was parked is because the engine was worn out. The only sure cure is to pull it out and rebuild it. then you know what you have. figure on a $1000.00 for that.

Thx for the feed back, its a 327 and the guy who sold it to me had it in storage because he bought it from a guy that was letting his son drive it to school and work in the winter. He couldn't stand by and let the kid beat it up. He also has an exact match in his garage minus the 327, his is a 283 or something. Anyway we changed the points, plugs and she fired right up.

The rings may have seized to the pistons. If so you will need to rebuild the motor. Running it with a dead slug will just ruin the cylinder wall. I think a chemically welded ring pack is more probable than carbon build up. If that motor was parked with the intake open over time (14 years) enough condensation in that cylinder would have corroded the ring pack solid.

Big Dave

You can pull that head and check the valves and piston wear. I know money is tight but I have lerned to do it right the first time ie REBUILD good for 10 to 15 years cost $1000 or patch good for a week or month and then again and again.