Copper shavings in oil? What’s going on!

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

RichLo

E I E I O
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
3,618
Reaction score
5,540
Location
Wisconsin

sewlow

Bitchin' Stitchin'
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
12,419
Reaction score
5,743
Location
Abbotsford B.C., Canada.
As in “the school of hard Knocks”?
No pun intended.
"Mistakes are simply opportunities to start over again, this time more intelligently."
~ Henry Ford ~

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
~ Winston Churchill ~

* Mistakes can be expensive!
 

Hipster

I'm Awesome
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Messages
3,388
Reaction score
5,853
Location
Liberty, NC
I didn't realise this had been rumbling on elsewhere...

Just out of curiosity, could the initial valve lash settings have been sufficient to coil bind the springs?
Maybe yes maybe no, I think this cam he installed was .430/.450 lift. He kind of implied it was a stockish vortec grind. Things might have been kind of tight. Valve to retainer/seal is usually a lesser # than coil bind numbers. If you use the recommended spring pack there's usually enough room in the spring pack 110% of the time unless your installed height is way short. He mentioned oil consumption as if he's trying to get someone here to validate something he heard somewhere else. If he didn't check beforehand he probably wasn't aware cutting the seals could even happen.
 
Last edited:

Hipster

I'm Awesome
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Messages
3,388
Reaction score
5,853
Location
Liberty, NC
"Mistakes are simply opportunities to start over again, this time more intelligently."
~ Henry Ford ~

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
~ Winston Churchill ~

* Mistakes can be expensive!
Yes, totally agree. Learn from your mistakes. Putting them in a highchair and spoon-feeding them doesn't always work. If you sit them down with a book and they eat the pages they have bigger problems. Pretty hard to do something with a kid that doesn't want to do the suggested homework.

On the comp cam thing, anyone that's called them knows you get the pre-programmed sales staff and it's extremely difficult if not impossible to get them to commit to anything other than the published recommendations. When you get to "that guy" because you're ordering a custom cam or what have you, you're no longer the one asking the questions, and it's still up the end user to verify assembly clearances etc.
 

Erik the Awful

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
7,595
Reaction score
15,492
Location
Choctaw, OK
I’m not happy with the install as the cam was made primarily for Vortec heads and my engine runs lean now so it’s less powerful
I'm not sure where you get that idea. The specs for the cam say it's a TBI cam and "great for a 305". Reading the numbers, it's not a great leap from stock. It's a flat tappet cam, so there's no need for a melonized gear on the distributor.

If there's any question on lifter preload, you need to get educated on adjusting the rockers and perform it carefully. If you're running lean, you need to diagnose and correct your throttle body setup. If you have a few metal specs in your oil, get an oil analysis. If you have metal flakes, chunks, or a lot of metal specs (looks like metallic paint) in your oil, it's time to tear it back down.
 

Slade88

I'm Awesome
Joined
Apr 5, 2022
Messages
111
Reaction score
40
Location
North Carolina
Damn close to saying f!ck this **** and just saving my Pennies for a 400 horse crate engine that I’ll pay a shop to drop in for me. I’ve tried to follow the rules here and I’ve tried to be polite. I was unaware that starting multiple threads on a related issue was frowned upon. I would like to bring up a quote, “you can’t get experience without experience” I do not know what you gentlemen expect an 18 year old guy to know about engines, I’ve tried my best to do this on my own but it’s got to be the most expensive disheartening hobby I’ve ever participated in. I’ve tried to just wing it and figure it out, that never goes well, I have scoured the internet for small block clubs where I live in the south East and am out of luck everywhere I look, maybe I’d have better luck looking for an ad at the bingo hall. All jokes aside, we all start somewhere. I appreciate the advice from everyone that’s tried to help, and I do not appreciate the cranky old geezers insulting me for asking questions, isn’t that the point of a forum to ask questions?

Nobody is funding my hot rod misadventure but me. Every mistake I make I either fix it or pay someone else to. Nobody suffers but me myself and I. Infact I have stopped driving the vehicle (in my garage) and am buying a second truck soon so I can deal with the mess I’ve created.

Here’s what’s gonna happen, I’m either paying for the engine to be rebuilt, or I’m buying a crate engine and paying for that to be dropped in, I’m so sick of f!king everything up and I just want a fast car at this point, my patience has ran out.

Good day to you all
 

Hipster

I'm Awesome
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Messages
3,388
Reaction score
5,853
Location
Liberty, NC
Damn close to saying f!ck this **** and just saving my Pennies for a 400 horse crate engine that I’ll pay a shop to drop in for me. I’ve tried to follow the rules here and I’ve tried to be polite. I was unaware that starting multiple threads on a related issue was frowned upon. I would like to bring up a quote, “you can’t get experience without experience” I do not know what you gentlemen expect an 18 year old guy to know about engines, I’ve tried my best to do this on my own but it’s got to be the most expensive disheartening hobby I’ve ever participated in. I’ve tried to just wing it and figure it out, that never goes well, I have scoured the internet for small block clubs where I live in the south East and am out of luck everywhere I look, maybe I’d have better luck looking for an ad at the bingo hall. All jokes aside, we all start somewhere. I appreciate the advice from everyone that’s tried to help, and I do not appreciate the cranky old geezers insulting me for asking questions, isn’t that the point of a forum to ask questions?

Nobody is funding my hot rod misadventure but me. Every mistake I make I either fix it or pay someone else to. Nobody suffers but me myself and I. Infact I have stopped driving the vehicle (in my garage) and am buying a second truck soon so I can deal with the mess I’ve created.

Here’s what’s gonna happen, I’m either paying for the engine to be rebuilt, or I’m buying a crate engine and paying for that to be dropped in, I’m so sick of f!king everything up and I just want a fast car at this point, my patience has ran out.

Good day to you all
Everybody starts somewhere, and yes it's a forum to ask questions, but somewhere at some point you have to listen to the advice given and do the checks/tests that's being ask of you. If you don't have the tools that's the fist order of business.

Many people have tried to help you. If you're not receptive to their answers or willing to check or diagnose the things suggested, NOBODY CAN HELP YOU.

You're so intent on charging forward in a vortec head/cam swap your're lack of patience is making you, you're own worst enemy. Calling those with more experience "old geezers" Well, most of "old Geezers" aren't sitting here with engines we effed up. lol
 
Last edited:

Erik the Awful

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
7,595
Reaction score
15,492
Location
Choctaw, OK
All jokes aside, we all start somewhere. I appreciate the advice from everyone that’s tried to help, and I do not appreciate the cranky old geezers insulting me for asking questions, isn’t that the point of a forum to ask questions?

Nobody is funding my hot rod misadventure but me. Every mistake I make I either fix it or pay someone else to. Nobody suffers but me myself and I. Infact I have stopped driving the vehicle (in my garage) and am buying a second truck soon so I can deal with the mess I’ve created.
Yup, plenty of us had those experiences as well. If you want to give up, then give up. If you want to become a hot rodder, embrace the suck.

Please don't confuse direct talk with insults. We're trying to help you, but the advice given on this forum tends to be short and to-the-point. We're not getting paid to answer questions, we just have a love of wrenching.

If our answers aren't as thorough as you'd like, you might need to do some research on your own. There are a ton of YouTube videos that explain lifter preload, and a video is far more efficient than me typing out how to do it.

Well, most of "old Geezers" aren't sitting here with engines we effed up. lol
Says you. I have plenty of broken attempts laying around my shop. I just blew $420 on a Redhead Steering gearbox because the box I rebuilt blew out the bottom seal immediately. Come to find out I probably wasn't careful enough bleeding the gearbox I rebuilt.
 

L31MaxExpress

I'm Awesome
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
5,890
Reaction score
7,539
Location
DFW, TX
Yup, plenty of us had those experiences as well. If you want to give up, then give up. If you want to become a hot rodder, embrace the suck.

Please don't confuse direct talk with insults. We're trying to help you, but the advice given on this forum tends to be short and to-the-point. We're not getting paid to answer questions, we just have a love of wrenching.

If our answers aren't as thorough as you'd like, you might need to do some research on your own. There are a ton of YouTube videos that explain lifter preload, and a video is far more efficient than me typing out how to do it.


Says you. I have plenty of broken attempts laying around my shop. I just blew $420 on a Redhead Steering gearbox because the box I rebuilt blew out the bottom seal immediately. Come to find out I probably wasn't careful enough bleeding the gearbox I rebuilt.

Agreed, plenty of videos out there on adjusting SBC valvetrain. I typically do an initial setting and then a running one when using hydraulic lifters.

As for your bleeding of the gear box. Fill the reservoir, then lift the front end off the ground. Work the steering wheel back and forth lock to lock about 10 times before ever starting the engine. Check your fluid level, then turn it lock to lock another 10 times or so. Check the level again. The gear box will pull fluid into it without running the engine. Once the fluid level is holding its level then you can start the engine and run it lock to lock some more. The quickest way I know to get air out of the system and keep the pump from aerating the fluid from low fluid level.
 

618 Syndicate

You won't...
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2020
Messages
6,598
Reaction score
15,445
Location
Southern Illinois
I just want a fast car
....aaaand there it is.
Since this is the case, find a better platform to spend your money on. There's far more cost effective places to start from than a 30+ year old truck.
As far as advice, we can explain shìt to you, but we can't understand it for you. Nothing more frustrating in this hobby than people asking for advice, ignoring the advice they get, and then asking for more.
 
Top