http://www31.addr.com/~stealthe/irocz/rebuild/valley/

Some of the pictures aren't too good, but the first one probably show it the best. My intake is perfectly clean, when I popped it off I noticed that the intake ports on the heads were black, is that oil residue? Was oil leaking from the valley into my heads?

 

probabily from all the silicon around the intake gasket.

Back off on the silicone. you only need a little around the water ports and a dab in each corner where the China walls meet the port face. And a bead along each china wall if you don;t use rubber end gaskets.

Silicon tends to float. (especially on an oily surface) and gets sucked in by the manifold vacuum.
A felpro 1255 vortec gasket is plenty thick and will seal up the intake ports without silicon or RTV around the ports.

 

Okay....but the black residue in the ports on those pictures....it's definately oil correct? I was getting blue smoke out the tailpipes randomly.

Now the oil was coming from the lifter valley correct? Does this mean, if the intake ports on the heads were sucking oil, that I had a vacuum leak as well?

 

"if the intake ports on the heads were sucking oil, that I had a vacuum leak as well?"

yep.

like F-BIRD'88 said, back off on the silicon.
i don't use the rubber end gaskets myself as they tend to come out, so i only use silicon on the valleys where the intake sits at.
i don't use silicon around the water ports unless they are pitted.
where you do use silicon at, make sure the metal is clean & dry,
i use brake clean for that.
i don't fire it up right after i get it put together either, i like letting it sit for a minimum of 5 or 6 hours after i get done to give the silicon a chance to cure, over night is even better.
i only use permatex ultra copper on my motor.

looking at the other pics, it looks like you have an exhaust valve seal leaking some,

http://www31.addr.com/~stealthe/iroc...n/DSCN0112.jpg

 

If you get oil in the intake ports but the intake manifold runners themselves are clean (no oil) then it's often the intake valve guides/seals leaking oil. You would think it would just get the area near the valve oily, but I've found from experience that it works it way up the intake port, but not generally into the manifold.

 

That makes sense, since the intake charge comes back up the port before it goes into the cylinder. Any oil would be brought up the port with the charge.

I know my valve seals are leaking....I'm going to replace them.

All the oil between the intake/head gasket lead me to believe oil from the rocker valley was seeping into the cylinder head intake ports as well as oil from leaking valve seals. Is this a correct? Meaning, if I'm sucking oil from the intake gasket, that its acting as a vacuum leak as well? Which could explain why the engine would never tune right.

 

All that green is causing it

 

LOL. I thought at first I was looking at a Kawasaki or an Arctic Cat.

 

thanks dude.
now i know what im getting for lunch... a lime-aid from sonic......


anyhoo, yea, i bet that is your problem. its sucking oil from the valley.

 

The first thought that comes to my mind when I see some of his pictures is, "Get out of my swamp!"

 

It's chevy orange now :P

 

I had same problem. The screw in stud holes were drilled into the intake ports and when i screwed down the studs, oil was seeping back then into the intake ports.