Ok, I am getting a new motor on Halloween. It is a 383 with aluminum trickflow heads. I wanted to show off what kind of heads they are, so I bought the trick flow valve covers, Also aluminum.

They have no oil filler holes or PVC holes. I will not mind taking them off to do oil changes, bacause I am using reusable moroso rubber gaskets, and tuds instead of bolts. So i will be able to take them off easily.

My question is: Does not having anything on there to help ventilation hurt the motor? If so, is there a way to mount a vent on the back side, hidden? or will oil saturate the element or PVC valve?

Just to double check aren't most holes that come pre-tapped 1-1/4"? And finally can I just drill through the cast aluminum with a normal high qualitly drill bit from a hardware store?

Thanks for any help at all.
-Dennis

 

No holes in them at all? You MUST have holes to allow for crankcase ventilation. If you don't have a way for pressure to leave the engine it'll eventually push out a gasket somewhere and blow oil all over the place.

If they are like MOST aftermarket valve covers they have a single 1.25" diameter hole on each cover. You can buy grommets for that diameter hole (Moroso, Mr. Gasket) that then allow you to shove a standard PCV valve into it. On the other cover you just want a regular breather that will shove into a 1.25" hole- also commonly available in many places.

Breather on one side, PCV on the other. No more, no less.

 

Some covers you have to drill your own holes in them.

 

Thanks Karps TA for believing me, hehe. These are cast aluminum trickflow covers. They have NO holes but have bosses. I want to install the PVC and breathers in a very hidden way. Can I mount the PVC on the back of the covers, or will there be a problem with oil getting to them?

I know all about the push, screw in and size diameters. I am pretty well informed about what the engine needs in terms of ventilation and why. My main Q is the one I just stated.

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yup, I have some old M/T style valve covers that are like that as well. They have spots marked out to be cut, but they aren't cut out for you.

They do this for the guys who run a motor with non-vented valve covers, but instead use a breather tube on the intake manifold, like GM did in the 1960s.

Like this:

 

Those style valve covers are for people who want to run crankcase vaccum pumps. Actually, if you sell them on ebay you will get more for them than ones with holes.

 

I'd try to mount the breather and pvc to the back of the VC near the firewall. You may have to build some sort of baffle inside the VC to control oil.

If you reall wanted to you could drill a hole in the intake and put a breather in. This would eliminate excess pressure, but would not "suck" out crud like the pvc. Just make sure you drill a place where theres no air or water passages.

 

a buddy of mine built a ford 351w and put it in a f-250 and his valve cover one the driver side with the pcv valve has no baffle under it so whenever he downshifts and masses the gas or lets of when shifting ect. shoots white smoke from exhaust. in away its kinda cool but i duno if it is harmful or not. another friend of mine just finished building a 79 chevy short bed w/ 350 and he put new valve covers on w/o breather on it and it shot dipstick tube out side of block it built up so much pressure.

 

Allright.....I have herd enough. I am going to tap both sides and intall a PVC and a breather.

Do I drill 2: 1 1/4" holes? I see that all the breathers and stuff push into a 1 1/4" hole, so do I need to drill a bigger hole? Just kinda lost on the details, thanks for the fill in anyone.

 

My advice would be to buy the grommets, breathers, and pcv valve you are going to use, then measure the particular grommets you got, and drill to the proper size. If you look at some of the PCV grommets for about '87-up, you'll find ones that are smaller than 1 1/4", and might be worth considering if you're trying to conceal them as much as possible.

 

Yes, you basically just drill a 1-1/4" hole but you're not going to have any baffles inside to keep oil from splashing up and out when the motor is running. That is, unless the covers have baffles inside but just aren't drilled out.

 

PCV PCV PCV PCV PCV PCV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

HAHA my bad. Too early in the morning. LOL. PCV is what I ment. As for the baffles... I dunno what to do, The covers are tall, maybe that helps. I can't weld onto aluminum, nor do I really want to. I think that there are some billet specialties PCV that account for having no baffles. Plus they look pretty sharp. I know I have seen guys that tap the valve covers and run a catch can that has a breather. Might do that on the breather side. Oh well I will figure it out. I guess if worst comes to worste I can return the covers and get others. That allready have baffles.