Ok, The spark plugs on the driver side bank were grayish. They were all pretty old, too. But they didnt really show any signs of engine trouble. But I replaced the ones on the passenger side today and they were all black with carbon. Not a lot of it, but some. They had oil on the threads, and the rearmost one was a little wet, though I havent gotten around to replacing the seals on that side yet.

My dad said the driver side bank must be running hotter, and that's why the plugs on it are gray when the passenger ones are all black.

What gives?

 

drain your oil- does it look like chocolate milk?

 

Nope, looked fine.....why?

 

Just making sure you don't have a blown head gasket... how has your car been running lately?

 

Look at the casting numbers of the 2 heads. You might have 2 completely different heads.

Happens more often than you might think.

Non-technical customer to parts store: "You got heads for a 305?"
Parts store guy: "yeah"
Customer: "How much"
Parts guy: "[fill in the blank]"
Customer: "Guy down the street has them for [fill in the blank minus $50] what will you sell them to me for?"
Parts store guy: "Well I got a couple you can have for [fill in the blank minus $60]"
Customer: "Sold!!!"

And that's how you end up with 2 different heads.... both of them crappy castings, at least one probably with something irrepairably wrong with it, but not so bad that it won't run. Or, 2 mismatched heads where the mate to each one was cracked or something, and he wants to get rid of them.

You might find you have one 76cc smogger 165 HP 350 head like a 624 on one side, and a 60cc 305 2-barrel head like a 450 on the other. Both pieces of crap, but entirely different.

 

Ok, about the oil, the engine has been running perfectly fine lately.


As for mismatched heads, I know for certain the driver side one is a 416, because I looked. I will check the other head when I install my new rockers and springs on that side.


If not, I will be in the market for a set of worked 416's...

 

I had a badly leaking intake manifold gasket on one side that did that. I replaced the gaskets and it was fine after that.

 

Uh, ok, so which is the bad side?