My 340 in my 66 developed issues :-(

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65 Mopar

65 Mopar

66 Ficks
Joined
May 4, 2016
Messages
136
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Location
Rollinsford NH
Well I didn't think Id have to tear down/break into this engine so soon...

Yesterday I started my car and pulled it out the garage, let it warm up a bit then took off with the kids for a drive. I thought it was strange that when i came to my first stop the car stalled. I started it back up and had to tickle it to keep it from stalling again...then when I started to go I noticed in my rearview mirror a cloud of white smoke and I smelled the burning oil..
The car is blowing white smoke out the left pipe and also puffing out the breather on the valve cover! So I'm thinking maybe a valve guide?? I can here a slight ticking on the left side... Anyhow, I'm curious if anyone else has had these symptoms and what ended up being the culprit??

On a brighter note, if I have to rip the heads off I guess I'll go through the rest of the
engine :)
 
That's what happened to my 340. I pulled the plugs and cranked the engine over using a remote starter and oil was shooting out of one plug hole. Turns out that the gasket broke by the oil feed hole and pushed the gasket ring into my #4 cylinder.
 
Pull the left valve cover and check out the valve springs and rockers. If everything looks ok pull the coil wire and crank it over while watching the valves. If all looks well do a compression check. A look at the plugs will most likely show you the problem cylinder.
 
Mike 340 said:
That's what happened to my 340. I pulled the plugs and cranked the engine over using a remote starter and oil was shooting out of one plug hole. Turns out that the gasket broke by the oil feed hole and pushed the gasket ring into my #4 cylinder.
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That would be great if that's all it ends up being! This is my first mopar, so I'm learning this engine..I didn't know there was an oil feed hole.. How are the cylinders numbered on a mopar? What is the firing order?
Thank you
 
justinp61 said:
Pull the left valve cover and check out the valve springs and rockers. If everything looks ok pull the coil wire and crank it over while watching the valves. If all looks well do a compression check. A look at the plugs will most likely show you the problem cylinder.
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Thanks, everything looks good under the cover, haven't had a chance to pull the plugs yet.. Will keep all posted of this and what's found.
 
Just so you guys know, now that I have to pull the heads, I'm thinking on camming it up a little more and either having the J-heads rebuilt or getting aftermarket heads already built. I'm up for ideas on that?? Right now it has a purple cam with a 484 lift; that's all I know about the cam from the guy who originally built it. He said if I were to put a bigger cam I'd need a stall. If that's the case, I'll get a stall too
 
The oil holes feed the rocker shafts. One on each side. 1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2 is the firing order.
Standing in front of the engine the #1 cylinder is on your right front and #2 is on your left. The same as a Chevy.
 
Mike 340 said:
The oil holes feed the rocker shafts. One on each side. 1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2 is the firing order.
Standing in front of the engine the #1 cylinder is on your right front and #2 is on your left. The same as a Chevy.
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On a V8 engine, the number one cylinder is always forward of the other side.
 
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Well I took the heads off.. Found the gasket blown out at the Nbr 5 cyl..
 
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The jugs look good... I'm thinking I want to change the cam.. But I'm tired and must turn in.
Here is some photos of tonight..
 
Not sure what's been done to that engine but it looks like the intake fit was terrible. That mayb have contributed to pushing the gasket out. I'd look at fixing that since you're in there.
 
I would love to get some perspective from you guys on intake, heads and cam selection. I've been told that the exhaust manifolds flow very nice and I like the look of them in the engine bay anyway, so I'm leaning on keeping them and not doing headers.

As far as the heads, I've read up a bit on them (J heads) and they seem very nice. I am most likely going to have my machine shop go through them and if I recam it they will most likely get new springs. But again, I'd love to hear thoughts on head selection/best bang for my buck.

Intake selection is vast! I need help in this area from you guys.. First off, is there much to be gained or is the cast iron one I have good enough? I seen an edlebrock ld340 intake and another one called an assault ... So many questions..

What in trying to accomplish is a car that has snap and I'd like to be in the 12's ... Once again it has a 727 trans, 355 gears w/ a sure grip.
 
Don't talk about Fords; they have their own way of doing the same thing, just to mess with mechanix.
If you re-number some of their V8s, like a Dodge or Chevy, then the firing order comes out the same.What's up with that?!
 
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moper said:
Not sure what's been done to that engine but it looks like the intake fit was terrible. That mayb have contributed to pushing the gasket out. I'd look at fixing that since you're in there.
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I'll tell ya, the car went very nice and had a nice (mild) cam sound. To anybody who don't know what a muscle car is capable of, they would think it was a scary rocket! But I know there is so much potential... If that head gasket didn't blow the other day, I would've run the car the way it was till I have it paid off but since I have to break into it, I'm building it:) I think the guy who built it did a nice job..but it wasn't me and I love to know my engines in and out. As a matter of fact, if I had the money, I'd pull the engine and go through the lower end.. But the bores look nice w/out a wear ridge, it didn't blow smoke, and my oil pressure was good.. So I have confidence in the lwr end..
 
These are a couple of intakes I seen in a quick search. But I don't know how much if any better they would be then the cast one I have??
 
Well, if it was that strong, Why mess with a good thing? To hear you extol the engine it sounds like an A-one combo.Too much more anything, may take it out of the realm of street-ability, and then the kids won't be willing to come along any more.
But I highly recommend to calculate the Scr, cuz this might happen again if the cylinder pressure is excessive.
And that combo looks to be pushing a lot of heat into the EGR port, and from there, it is cooking the oil under the intake,and probably cooking the carb too. Your manifolds/exhaust system are probably operating at their limit. I mean the evidence of the cooking is right there.
Ima thinking if you put any more power in her, you are gonna need some expensive supporting mods.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
Well, if it was that strong, Why mess with a good thing? To hear you extol the engine it sounds like an A-one combo.Too much more anything, may take it out of the realm of street-ability, and then the kids won't be willing to come along any more.
But I highly recommend to calculate the Scr, cuz this might happen again if the cylinder pressure is excessive.
And that combo looks to be pushing a lot of heat into the EGR port, and from there, it is cooking the oil under the intake,and probably cooking the carb too. Your manifolds/exhaust system are probably operating at their limit. I mean the evidence of the cooking is right there.
Ima thinking if you put any more power in her, you are gonna need some expensive supporting mods.
Click to expand...

It is a nice combo and works well and I really don't need to but I want to..kinda impulsive I guess..
Yes, I did notice the cooking in that exhaust port in the manifold, it did look to be getting hot. My exhaust system sounds nice but where it hooks the exhaust manifold to the down pipe it goes into a small pipe and steps up to 2 1/2 for the rest of the system.. Kinda hard to explain, I'll take a picture..

As far as redoing the cam, I'd like it to pull longer and have a little more snap off the bottom. I'd have to say that after 5000 that 340 is done. I'd like it to pull hard to at least 55..
 
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