Smoke, Smoke Options

[Boothy]

Cheers all!

Sorry, but I again need to ask for help.

New engine blowing smoke. 1.7 punched out to 2.0 with a big bore kit. Cam, Weber 40s. It started and ran pretty well late last fall. Used engine break-in oil as recommended. No smoke but sluggish acceleration -fine at high RPM.

With the warm weather (finally) I swapped out the Weber jets to the recommended .50, 1.50, and 1.95. Ran it up to 3300 with a timing light. I remembered I did static timing but not dynamic. Now it sounds pretty good but I'm seeing light blue smoke and a really black exhaust. I don't think the jets were that different but no markings so not sure.

My immediate horror was a broken ring -I really don't want to pull the engine again. It idles fine and sounds strong. I'll do a compression check. When it idles, there's no smoke. When I bring it up, it begins to smoke a little. Then it's consistent—no horrible but noticeable.

It sounds strong. It idles nicely at a 1000 and revs up fine. I'm hesitant to push it until I figure out what's going on. Changed the oil to 20W-50. Could it be, with the soot on the tailpipe, my jets are wrong? Stretch I know but hopeful. Heads are new so the oil in the guides shouldn't be an issue.

As always, thanks in advance!

[VaccaRabite]

Hey Boothy,

its is likely that your rings are not yet seated.
Please be SPECIFIC. What was your ring seat procedure. It sounds like you did the cam bedding procedure: 2000 rpm for 20 minutes or so with no load.

For seating the rings you NEED load. You can get that by driving around over many miles (like 1000) or you can do the Raby ring seat:
When driving just above idle in second gear with a warm engine, on a SAFE road, floor it all the way up to red line, the foot off and let it coast back to just above idle. Then floor it again all the way up to redline and coast. Then do it one more time. This will help seat your rings fast.

Also, the best valve covers are the stock valve covers. Use a standard thickness cork gasket. Add a THIN smear of RTV between the CLEAN valve cover and the gasket. DO NOT GLUE THE GASKET TO THE HEAD. Not only will this likely solve your oil drip from the valve covers, you will be able to reuse your cork gaskets for years.

Zach