I need some opinions on what to do here. I have a 355 w/488 lift cam, flat top pistons,882 heads ported/polished 202-160 valves, professional prod intake, headers, edelbrock 600. Motor only has about 5000 miles on it and I've went through 2 sets of plugs. Got an oil leak (chrome pans suck) but think I'm burning alot more than I'm leaking. By the plugs I'm leaking oil into cylinders, but dont know whether its from heads or rings didnt seat. I've got new heads...procomp aluminum heads to put on but not sure whether to go ahead and pull motor to check rings as well or just swap heads for now. How can I determine if its leaking past heads or rings didnt seat. I cant believe that 5 or 6 of the pistons rings didnt seat right but thats what I'm wanting info on. Was gonna swap new heads this week but thought I'd get some feedback from the more experienced.

 

Start there... those are somewhat notorious for quality-control problems. A common QC issue on intakes is the angle that they're planed to where they meet the heads. Failure to seal across the bottom of the intake ports creates a direct leakage path between the crankcase and the intake ports.Next place to look... besides being about the worst choice there is for a high-performance buildup (and before you quote the magazine articles about how great they flow, yes I've seen that, doesn't change the value of the castings, jamming 2.02" intake valves in them doesn't make them any better), a common problem with old heads, is worn guides. That's another direct leakage path between the crankcase, this time the part of the crankcase in the valve covers, and the intake tract.If that's this cam here, or the one with that same intake lobe on both intake and exhaust, or the identical same part in an Edelbrock box for twice as much $$$, there are few worse. Might make OK power (not the best or most, but maybe OK), but creates FAR more of the typical "big cam" problems like low vacuum, VERY poor fuel economy especially with low-number gears, no leave, etc. compared to just about any modern (less than 30 years old or so) design. If your engine has typical "rebuilder" pistons in it such as ANY cast, most forged ones including TRW or SpeedPro, or most hypereutectics, then your compression is about 8.3:1. That's NOWHERE NEAR enough compression for that cam. Putting on better heads is of course one way to deal with that. Getting a better cam is another. I'd STRONGLY recommend both. Since you've got a set of heads, that'd be the first best thing to do, even if the 882s were working perfectly and weren't suspects. It'd be a good idea to get a better cam too while you're at it, it'll never be any easier to swap it than during a head swap.

 

Ok, how can I tell if I'm having intake sealing issues without just replacing it? That is not the camshaft I have. I dont know what the brand is, I cant remember for the life of me, all I have is the specs I tore off the box. They are:
Cam Specs Int Exh
Dur@,050 224 234
Valve lift .465 .488
Lobe Sep 107 117
Lash hot HYD
L=22 = 06

Pistons are speedpro Hyp flat top
Thanks

 

If you're talking about the intake, just take it off, and look at the gasket. See if it's torn, or if it's in place and properly compressed, or what.OK; that's this one then. Same exhaust lobe as the "RPM" cam's intake, one step smaller intake lobe.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...art=SUM%2D1105

Next one down in the same series as the one I posted before. Still, not a very good cam... very old design, very slow lazy lobes; makes OK power for its duration and lift, but far from what a more modern cam would do. Those were designed back in the late 60s when all the valve springs you could get were either stock, or Vasco-Jet all-out racing ones. Nothing in between. That series of cams was intended to be "compatible with" stock springs. So they're pretty ... non-aggressive, to say the least. You get either a HUGE dose of the "big cam" problems, for any given level of power; or, conversely, for any given level of "big cam" misbeahvior you're willing to tolerate, FAR LESS power.So there ya go... 8.3:1 compression. Those guys have a 1.54" compression height (distance from wrist pin center to top of piston), meaning the top of them is .020" lower than the stock 1.56", meaning they're .020" farther "down in the hole" at TDC than stock.

If your other heads are 64cc, then just that ONE change, will raise your CR from 8.3:1 to about 9.3:1. MUCH MUCH better.

If the pistons came up to the stock deck height (.025" give or take), your CR would be 9.7:1, and if the block was zero-decked, it would be 10.3:1.

I'd suggest a Comp XE268 cam, or the Lunati Voodoo 60102 or 60103.

Go ahead and change your heads. Regardless of whether it's the oil burning source or not, it's the source of ALOT of lost potential horsepower. I STRONGLY recommend putting a better cam in it at the same time. Take a good look at everything while you have it apart, and see if you can spot where the oil consumption is coming from. I'd almost bet money that one way or another, the heads are the source of it, if it's not the intake gasket surface.

 

Is there any way I can tell if it is the intake or not? What should I look for when I take the intake off? Thanks for the advice I appreciate it all.

 

Across the bottom of the intake ports, specifically.

You might even find that the gasket doesn't line up with either the intake ports, or the head ports, or both. Depending on what gasket you used.

 

Ok great, well that gives me something to look for then. I think instead of pulling the motor and tearing it all back down I will just do a head swap and see how that goes. As far as the cam, the machinist that does all my machine work and I get all my parts from recommended this cam. I cant believe that its that poor of a cam, not doubting you, just wondering if its the same one your thinking of. Good vacuum and streetability, yet has a decent lope at idle. I dont know much about cams thats why I listen to him and his suggestions. He knew I was going to be getting these alum heads at later point and said this would be a great match. Again thanks for your input.

 

That cam is one of those "old standby" type of things. It's an old generic grind that's been around for 35 years that I know of. Not "bad", just nothing special, modern, state-of-the-art, or competitive.

There's a whole series of them. Originally, they were sized for 300 (283, 260, 289, 318), 350 (327, 326, 350, 340, 351, 360), 400 (383, 389, 400, 403), and 450 (428, 455, 440). They're 204/214 @ .050" (the "RV cam"), 214/224 (the "mild cam"), 224/234 (the one you have), and 234/244 (the "RPM" cam). Note that Edelbrock uses at least 2 of them in their "power package" kits; the 204/214 is the "Performer", and the 234/244 is the "Performer RPM". They used to have a 3rd that was in the "Torker" package, might still for all I know, which I think is the one you have. Note also, that those cams have been around DECADES longer than those castings they're supposedly "matched" to go with. So much for the concept of "matched", designed for", etc.

They're not "bad" cams, by any means. Just like, wood stoves aren't "bad" to heat your house with, either. It's just, we've learned a thing or 2, as a species, since those things were invented. We can do better than that now. Since they came out, fuel has changed, cars have changed, markeptplace expectations have changed, speed limits have changed, laws have changed, design techniques have changed, the competition has changed, .... but those cams are the same they've been for a LONG LONG time.

Look at the specs on the Summit cam, compare them to yours. Look on Edelbrock's site and get the specs they give there. Look at AMotion, Melling, and dozens of other suppliers that sell them. All the same thing.

 

Point well made and well taken lol. I will definately consider changing cams, if I do that do I also need to go with new lifters even though these only have about 5000 miles on them?

 

I know i'm late but...
Yes you need new lifters. Flat tappets always need to be replaced.
That sucks, you fell into the common trap of hot rodding. That parts list there is a VERY common one. Lots of magazine hype about it. Not a lot of HP behind it though
Low compression, decently big cam, etc.

I think snagging some 416 heads, do some port work and throw them on. That alone (with bigger valves) will jump up your CR to the "fun" spot. It's a cheap solution. Aftermarket 64cc heads would also be great, if you can spare the cash. The voodoo 60103 is a solid winner in that combo as well. You'll probably find you want to do some port cleanup work on that intake too

 

Ya I already got the procomp alum heads 64 cc. Gonna do the swap sometime within next week hopefully. My main concern and hope is that the heads is where I'm leaking oil into my cylinders and not that my rings didnt seat. But I cant imagine that I'm having seating problems with most of my cylinders.

 

I agree.
Once you swap the parts over, drive the dogs ***** off it. Help seat the rings as much as possible