pcv valve port
I personally have never had any buildup on my valve covers.
Yeah not usually a problem where its hot and dry most of the year. mostly happens where its costantly cold and humid. you got all the hot gases pumping up to the covers and the outside air is cold. next thing you know your freaking out thinking you have a blown head gasket but the dipstick looks clean.
Yep. I've even seen it here in sunny dry Colorado in the winter and spring on cars driven year round. Not really an issue in year round warm dry climates. I've even seen milk at the very top of the dipstick, that'll freak anyone out, lol.
I've even had to remove the aftermarket breather on winter driven V8's that the customer brought in and install a hose in to breathe through the aftermarket air cleaner knockout to reduce moisture in the oil. Driving year round is tough on oil with water misting in rain storms, puddle splash, temp changes, etc.
Again, in your neck of the woods this may all be a moot point and even more so if the car is a fair weather driver. The original poster lives Illinois where it's very humid, that's why I suggested going with the PCV. I used to see my garage floor sweat big beads of moisture when I lived there. It's part of the reason why I moved. Nothing like spraying down a freshly machined block with WD-40 in the spring and two weeks later it's rusting regardless. Slopping motor oil on the block was the only thing that worked short term. Long term storage (6mo+) would require greasing the bore or or using a firearm type metal preservative.
I would also like to add that a strip only car should have an exhaust style evac system or a vacuum pump as those are the only styles that pull out blow by in WFO conditions. Open breathers won't hurt anything in race only conditions (sprint, circle track, etc.) but these engines are pulled down regularly anyway and run hot enough to burn off any moisture. A good evac system can help ring seal and reduce pumping losses in certain engine builds too and can increase HP. All that air and blow by in the crankcase has to be beat around and pushed from under one cylinder to another. IIRC, GM had a problem when designing the LS1 and had to add "windows" through the main webbing as the original design was building a tremendous amount of crankcase pressure and blasting oil up on the rotating assembly. Harley Davidson had this problem too but I can't remember what engine design it was. Ideally a vacuum pump is the best solution as there would be no resistance under the pistons if the crankcase is under a vacuum. I've seen tests where over 20 hp was gained over 5500 rpm using a v pump. Of course, using a v pump requires sealed valve covers with AN fittings and steel core gaskets on the pan and VCs to avoid sucking the gaskets in.
The system used for any given purpose should be given some thought as to how the engine (car) will be driven and the environment that the car will be driven in.
Just food for thought. :read2: