I’ve been trying to get my ‘72 Skylark to be reliable enough to get in any time and go for any distance. It’ll be my son’s someday, but he’s been romanticizing taking an epic road trip with it. He’s not mechanically inclined. While working on other stuff under the car it became obvious that this motor is as fluid-tight as a spaghetti strainer. That’s an exaggeration, but there’s a film of oil underneath and always new spots on the ground when parked. It sat for the better part of 14 years before last October. It probably hasn’t helped that I’ve been driving it hard as I try and tune it and find faults with it. And the fact that it’ll do a burnout now that it’s fuel injected is too much of an enticement to put my foot in it. So I got to thinking… maybe I’ll do a compression test start out with to get a sense of how sound the engine is before I do anything. I’d read the plugs but they’re probably not going to give me the true story because at times the EFI was way too rich. As far as idle goes, it’s pretty smooth. No bad noises coming from it, except for a few seconds of ticking until oil pressure builds. Then I’m thinking, maybe I’ll replace all the gaskets that hold oil in? It’s been a long time since I had this motor out and did all that. It was oil tight for a while but I don’t think I owned or used a torque wrench back in 1996 or so. It’s valve covers, intake manifold, oil pan, front and rear seals, and that ought to do it, right? Might as well replace the water pump and thermostat but both are fine. She runs at the exact temp she’s supposed to. So maybe not, unless they need to be removed for seal replacement. It’s been so long I’ve forgotten what I’m in for. Then there’s this: In the back of my garage is a complete Buick 350 I bought in the late 90s and never used. It came from a ‘72 skylark with a 4bbl. The engine in my car was a 2bbl so I took the manifold and Qjet off the spare engine. So I got to thinking maybe I should put that engine on a stand and do a health check on it and if it looks healthy, go through it, replace gaskets and seals, etc, maybe get the heads cleaned up, hardened valve seats, etc. Whatever else it needs. That seems like an expensive proposition but I’m thinking if done right it’ll go a long time before needing anything major. But I know me… I’d probably end up upgrading a lot of things and next thing you know I’ll have a few grand into a lump of iron that’s got to go into the car… a car that needs a lot of other things. It won’t ever end, will it?
Well you know it's a slippery slope.... why do everything when probably one or two gaskets are 80% of the leaks. I bet the valve cover gaskets and maybe the oil pan gasket are the worst offenders. That was my experience, it looked terrible because it was years of leaking vs the leaks being that severe. I would spray Simple Green or a similar degreaser on things and figure out where it really comes from. Get the big issues under control and enjoy it. Otherwise, you'll spend $$$ and it will likely be leaking again in a few years as all the sitting will have an impact
You’re probably right. I think I really need to just look at where it’s leaking and just focus on that. I could probably fix this with under $100 of gaskets and RTV. Maybe save the spare motor redo for next winter.
My spare motor is almost done. Just have to sort out a few small details. Then to find a reputable shop with an engine dyno that’s Sniper savvy.
Looks great. Almost ready to hit car night at the Bellmore station? Oak Beach? Burger at the All American? I’m in Oceanside.
Wash it off make it clean as you can, then eyeball where the oil is coming from, Maybe you'll get lucky and have some easy spots to fix, like the oil pressure sender, or the valve covers...
I took this header pic and if you blow up the block side, I can see oil streaks, I need valve cover gaskets!!!
Not planning to do the transplant till winter. But I’ll be out this summer. We’ll have to meet one day.
If your son is not mechanically inclined he should NOT be taking an old car on a cross country trip. I’m not saying the car won’t make it, most times the car is more “capable” than the driver. When you say he’s not mechanically inclined you mean he doesn’t know how or when to check fluids? All old engines leak some oil. Best you can do is slow down the leaks
"Oil tight" HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! The best way to achieve that dream is to stop putting oil in!! All joking a side valve cover gaskets would probably cure most of your issues. Your transmission probably leaks a bit too.
He’s got an appreciation for cars, but hasn’t been interested in getting his hands dirty. He also doesn’t want to mess anything up. I once asked him what he’s gonna do when I’m not around and his car - his daily or the Skylark - needs something. He said “I’ll rise to the occasion like I always do”. He’s a good kid.
Funny. As for valve cover gaskets I think they might be the only things that are not leaking I’ve not seen any oil running down the heads or smelled any burning off from the manifolds. I did notice there’s a bit of the intake manifold gasket bulging out at the front of the motor. I also think there’s a power steering fluid leak.
Sometimes the oil leaks past one of the oil pump bolts and it gets mistaken for a front main seal leak. Something to look for. Jim
