VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Took Oil pan off my '30 Engine, what should I see?

A brief recap, my car sat dormant in a garage for 45 years before I began restoring it in 2008. Had head rebuilt in 2009, new carb, fuel pump, and got it running pretty well. Top of engine sounds fine, bottom half quite noisy once revved up. So decided to drop oli pan and see what it looks like.

Pan has about 1/4" of black gunk across all of bottom of pan and engine oil is black. Gunk is so thick it just stays in a lump when removed. Oil in dipper troughs does not have any sign of gunk, just black oil, no sign of grit in these either. Screen on oil pump gunky on bottom third, rest clear.

all of bottom of engine is covered in the black oil which I plan to wipe off tomorrow. I see some signs of shim material of some sort on some rod caps, don't know how one might tell if it has ever been adjusted or if pan has ever been off? I see cotter pins locking the rod cap nuts.

Checked briefly for any obvious play/wiggle in crank or rod caps, cannot feel anything. A previouis veteran suggested noise may be piston slap, I'm not quite sure what that is, something like piston skirt hitting cylinders?

Any advice you can provide a novice would be appreciated. I thought I might clean up all the old oil/gunk, clean pump screen, fill troughs with new oil, re-install pan temporarily, add oil and restart engine to see if new clean oil will quiet things down? If still noisy, remove pan again and examine each bearing and each rod cap for play.

The way to check rod bearing clearance is moving the rod back and forth (front to rear).....To adjust rods remove shims until the rod can not be moved back and forth by hand and add a shim one at a time until it take a light blow with an 8 Oz. hammer to move it back and forth.
Don't wipe down castings with a rag as it will leacve lint sticking to the casting. Check the oil pockets above the top of the front and rear main with your finger tip. They are probably full of sludge. If it were mine I would adjust the mains also....est to see shop manual.
Piston slap,would be heard when the engine is cold. Will go away or at least get less as the engine warms up.

I agree with checking the oil pockets for sludge. I used a mirror and a flash light to look at these pockets on my '28. Then, I used some Qtips (sprayed with carb cleaner) to clean out the pockets. A lot of gunk came out of there.

Cheers, Dean

Hello Gunsmoke,
You say the engine's bottom half is quite noisy once revved up. Chev Nut says, the noise should become less as the engine warms up. Is your engine noise less when warmed up? I would like to know, concerning oil additives and/or thicker oils for high time engines, whether they are effective for the low oil pressure engines such as the Stove Bolt Sixes for noise reduction? They may only be a bandaid to mask worn machinery, but maybe they are useful until an engine rebuild becomes available. Let us know what you discover, in the belly of the beast. Good Luck

Thanks Chev, Rust, Harry for all your learned and prompt suggestions. I'll keep you posted.

Did my 1929 Last Summer, and HIGHLY RECOMMEND checking ALL the Oil Pockets!!

My post is here with Pictures of all the Fun & Good Stuff :)
1929 Engine Oil Pockets/ Ball Check

For his 1930 the front and rear is ALL the pockets. The 1930 had full pressure to the center main and no pocket.
I would sure recommend adjusting the main bearings as there is no way to "feel" if the bearings are too loose.
Its is normal to find a lot of gunk in the bottom of the pan of an engine that sits a lot with out being run. The crap in the oil settles out and drops to the bottom of the pan.

I'm kind of repeating what everyone has said...

Here's what I'd do. With the pan off, and car on the lift (?), look for the push rod that is lowest in the downward position. Lightly tap it on the side with a rubber mallet. Then tap the other side. Check to see if it moves and by how much.

Now have your "friend" turn the engine crank so that another piston rod becomes lowest. Then tap that one too. Do this to all of them when they are in the lowest position.

Now - the question is, "Which one(s) felt different from the others?" Most of the time, before you get to checking clearances and such, you can get a good idea of what needs to be done by checking the "relativeness" of each part to another. In this case you're looking for one, or more, rods that appear to be more loose than the others. Or, in some cases, maybe you'll find one that is "tighter" than the others.

I find that do this kind of comparison first is a great way to focus in on where the greatest issues might be.

Now-- don't worry about refilling the troughs with oil. That's not necessary. When you reassemble the pan, do one of two things,either 1) insert a rod down the distributor opening and turn the oil pump with your drill, or 2) just remove the spark plugs and turn the engine over for 2 to 3 minutes. If your oil system is working, this will be more than enough to fill the troughs.

A way to make sure that the oil lines are full, is to remove your valve cover when you're doing this and watch the oil fill up the rocker shafts... Then it will begin to squirt out of the various openings along the rocker shaft.

One last thought. If your car has been sitting that long, then you probably should remove the oil distributor on the drivers side of the block and clean it up real good. I've had one of those get gummed up and then the oil doesn't flow properly between the high and low pressure lines.

--Bill B

Bill B, I'm getting back to your comment about servicing the oil distributor while I have oil pan off. Is this just a case of pulling it off engine, cleaning with some solvent and putting back on? Does it need new gaskets, etc? What about all the internal oil lines? Any special tips or suggestions for doing this item?

Good questions...my intent was to remind you of the importance of this "little" item in the engine systems. Specifically the oiling distribution system.

Yes, all you need to do is to clean it really good... makes sure that the check valve spring is free to work.

Now, how to check the lines is a matter of preference, and "where" you are in the rebuilding process. On one engine I just hooked up my garden hose and ran water through all of the oil lines... that's a really cool experience. It's also a GREAT way to align the "squirters" into the dipping troughs.

But -- if you are already assembled then you might want to just blow air through the lines that connect to the oil distributor. That might be enough to show you that the lines are clear.

A new gasket is always a good idea.. especially when it's the simple one on the oil distributor.

--Bill B

Parts book says the Oil Distributor Gasket is a copper asbestos gasket? Sounds like a special order. I suppose the existing one may be re-useable? Whatb have you used in carrying out this service?

1929-1936 Copper Asbestos Gasket (for the oil distributor valve bolt).

Yep... special... and VERY expensive. $1.80.

Scroll down this page until you find it about half ways down.

http://www.billypossum.com/C&P_Catalog/C&P_Catalog_rev_031225.htm

You're welcome.

Thanks Bill, I thought it may have been the 3 hole other gasket which I asume can be cork or similar material. I may be able to pick this copper/asbestos one up locally as well as the similar type gasket for the oil pan plug. So much to learn about these old cars.

I went to my local Car Quest automotive store and picked up 2 drain plug gaskets (copper) at a cost of 1.00 each. Those gaskets fit multiple Chev engines. Their number is DOR 095-001 if interested.

Jim.