Bugeye smoking problem - needs a patch

[tdskip]

Ah I just cracked myself up. Sorry.

Anyway,

Working on the '60 Bugeye that i bought after it was stored for a long time. Compression looked decent when I fired her up, temp stable, and she pulls OK for a 1098.

After getting her running she drove OK with no smoke, then after about 5 minutes she blew heavy whitish smoke for about a minute and then stopped. Her carbs were way rich, which I think I corrected.

Upon starting her she'll smoke very lightly and then no smoke. Then she'll run smoke free for 3-4 minutes and then out comes more of a blackish or grey smoke, and then stop. Smoke is always more blackish grey color now, not whitish.



I haven't cracked her open yet.

The no smoke / smoke nature of it has me a bit confused.

Ideas or suggestions on trouble shooting?

 

[DrEntropy]

"Blackish or gray" would lead me to think it's running fat. The blue-white stuff is oil, most likely running down the guides after shut-down, burned off on restart. Kinda "normal" as long as it doesn't continue after operating temp is achieved. Also could have been a bunch of water and stuff in the exhaust from the long sleep... that'd burn out as the white smoke you saw for the minute. Run it thru a few more "heat cycles" and see how it behaves.

 

[tdskip]

So I pulled the plugs, and to put a brave face on it, one of them was good!

Of course two were oily, and one looked like it was oily at one point but burnt off.

Value or rings?

 

[jlaird]

prop rings if oily unless leaking down valve stems. check compression next.

 

[tdskip]

In the event it is the rings, on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being brain surgery (well, brain surgery done properly anyway) how tough is to replace/rebuild them at home.

The bottom has to come out for sure, but will the engine need to come out of the car as well?

Thanks for being patient with me as I learn.

 

[DrEntropy]

Best to enlist a couple friends and yank the unit and do it on the floor if it comes to that. MUCH easier to deal with and it isn't that hard to remove.

 

[jlaird]

Time for a rebuild. Take bare block and head to machine shop and have em do the needful. you may need new pistons as well as rings, bearings, timeing chain, cam chain, etc.

Have em level head, grind valves and install new guides.

Also check, all gaskets along with a new throwout bearing.

Might as well do it right while it is out.

 

[regularman]

You can re-ring it with just dropping the oilpan and pulling the head with the engine still in the car. You can put in new bearings as well. Scrape off all the old head gasket with a razor blade and then check the head for warp with a good straight edge. Take off the valve springs and replace the valve seals and lap the valves with some valve grinding grit and make sure they all seat well.

 

[Kurtis]

As others have stated, you can replace the rings, pistons, and big end bearings with the engine in the car. I'm not sure I would want to do it though. I replaced my thrust washers with the engine in the car, and that was a big enough hassle. IMHO it would be much easier to pull the engine and do the work rather than try to work on it in the car.

And as long as you have the engine out, you might as well... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[kcbugeye1275]

Congrats on the new Bugeye, and good luck with the engine rebuild. Two young teenagers and an iron crossbar have worked as a motor lift for me.

 

[jlaird]

Ha, a peice of rope and a 2x4 works well also, don't forget the teenagers.

 

[DrEntropy]

Yup-yup. As stated before: enlist two friends. We once pulled a 1275 on the curb, "coolie'd" the thing with chain and 1" angle iron INTO a townhouse apartment and did the rebuild in the livingroom.

"Yestertech" is a wonderful thing!

 

[jcatnite]

Careful trying to do an economy job on it. I broke a ring by replacing bearings. If the motor has a lot of miles on it, you probably need to pull it to make sure there isn't a large ridge at the top of the cylinders. Plus, I don't think new rings will ever seat unless you at least hone the cylinders which creates debris that will need to be cleaned out well. Probably not something you want to attempt in the car. Run the motor a bit more and see how it sorts out before you commit to rebuilding it though.
JC

 

[tdskip]

Thanks everyone - I really appreciate the advice and coaching!