well after getting my 55 running (272 y)it is smoking out the exhaust(BLUE both sides )this car has not ran in years i was wondering if it was the oil rings posible gummed up and sticking or if it could be dried out valve seals it seems to try to clear out after it runs awhile but still will puff when under a load the thing idles like a new car revs smooth just smokes i have not put more than 5-6 miles on it after getting it running i just start it every several weeks and let it run the ar has 85000 miles on it and there is little to no blow bye problem seems to have gotten worse when i changed the oil to castrol 10-w30 was hoping to do a rebuild later after the body work was done (4bl intake cam better heads)but this looks like it may be sooner than later

y-block newbie

You might want to do a compression test-hot motor carb blocked open.Gives an idea of the engine condition.This motor may just need to be run for a while to clean out the internals after sitting for a long time.You shuold also make sure the filter in road draft tube is replaced with a clean one to prevent pressure buildup inside  the motor and that the oil fill cap is clean to allow air in.

  

I would run it a hundred miles or so. Quite often this will fix it or at least make it acceptable. If it is actually using oil, it will really smoke when the vacuum goes up. After running it 100 miles or so, run it up pretty high in second and let off the gas and watch the tail pipes. If the smoke gets a lot worse you probably have stuck oil rings or valves passing oil down the guides. How is your gas? If it is stale, get it out of there. Stale gas will not only cause smoke, but it will cause valves to hang open and you could hit one with a piston and cause some real damage.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

Total agreement on everything crenwelge says and especially on the stale gas.  If the gasoline is over sixty days old, then it’s working on getting stale as the age inhibitors that use to be standard in the fuel are no longer there.

 

Something I’ve done in the past for stuck rings is to squirt a generous helping of ATF into the cylinders with the spark plugs removed and then pressurize the cylinders individually with compressed air.  Allow the engine to sit overnight so the oil can work itself into the ring lands thoroughly.  When ready to restart the engine, then spin the engine with the plugs out to get rid of the residual oil and replace the spark plugs.  After the smoke clears, drive the vehicle for awhile with the engine at temperature and see if this doesn’t make for a significant improvement.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

First of all Welcome to the site.

You say you changed the oil to Castrol 10-30, you may want to look into past threads on oil because not any oil off the shelf is good for these solid lifter/flat tappet engines. they have done a lot to oils lately to protect the life of catalytic converters by taking out the anti scuff additives ZZDP Phosphorus, zinc etc. Most people are using Shell Rotella 15-50 or equivalent heavy duty deisel oil or a Racing oil which still has the good stuff for these old engines.

Ted may be able to lead you to some past threads on this.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Hello y-Block Don!

The other thing to check if you have the covers off to look at the oil returns is to make sure you have oil comming out the rocker shafts.They are notorious for being plugged due to not changing the oil regularily.Your motor sound sounds a lot like mine when I first got it.Smoked like the devil.Took me the better part of an afternoon to cut the oil filter off.Been on forever I think.Oil returns plugged up as well as the rocker shafts.Road draft filter plugged.After getting the carb rebuilt and cleaning out the above items the motor ran like a watch and now after driving it for several hundred miles it doesn't smoke much at all.I have compression of 100-110 even in all cylinders.The car has only 68,000 miles on it but according to previous owner it was rebuilt in 1978.Don't know why this was done but I would be surprised if there is more than 30,000 miles on the motor.You may find if you go with some of the suggestions made by everyone that you end up with a decent running motor.Hope this helps

  

Good catch by Billy on the oil viscosity.  As has been brought up before, any oil with the SM rating that has 40 or more in the weight designation will have the required amounts of zinc/phosphorus content for the Y.  Here is a past thread broken down as individual pages on the subject which will in turn lead you to other posts.

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic9285-3-1.aspx

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic9285-3-2.aspx

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic9285-3-3.aspx

Performing searches using zinc or zddp as the keywords will also bring up additional posts on the subject.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

HOLD ON TIGHT- This is going to be a busy thread after this----

Here is an old remedy I have used many times. This will clean up the inside and rings.

Drain the oil, don't change the filter (yet). Put in 1-gal of diesel fuel and start car. Just let it idle till it starts to warm up. Drain the pan, change the filter. Then put in some new oil. Don't forget to let it sit for a while draining good.

Don't drive it or rev it up during the clean out. The oil in the filter mixed with the diesel has enough lub to let it idle.

And of course you have the option not to try this.

Ol'ford nutCentral Iowa

56 Vic w/292 & 4 spd.