V8 Oil Leaks

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by John Keighley

Kevin, Good luck with the roadworthy. I thought that almost three years for me was a test of patience to get a Bristol back again but for you, that time would pale into insignificance! I gather you've abandoned the idea of fuel injection for the time being. Are you running it on the original induction setup?
John Keighley.

Sorry John, I meant to respond to this ages ago.

It failed the roadworthy! On oil leaks from engine and transmission. The worst being from the engine, and engine that has just been rebuilt!

I thought I knew where the leaks were. One was the oil filler cap - the rubber seal had gone rock hard, no doubt because it was off the car for 9 years. Also the rocker covers have been painted black but it's a textured finish and they painted the flat surface where the rubber in the cap seals as well. A new cap and stripping off a ring of paint beneath he cap fixed that.

The guy who had been working on the car knew it was leaking, but said that the part was “not serviceable”. A new cap cost $10!

Another issue is the sump pan. Which the guy who rebuilt the engine says is warped and tried several times to seal it. Given the amount of other stuff he bought for the engine from the USA, without my authority I find it amazing that he didn't have the sense to order a new sump pan. He also reckons that the new engine produces far more windage that a standard engine which he feels will exacerbate the problem if there is a leak.

However, while underneath the car looking to see how hard it would be to remove the sump pan with the engine in situ, I discovered another oil leak from somewhere near the back of the cylinder head on the drivers side. There is far more oil coming from this than the sump pan.

As for induction I have it running on a standard carby (a new Edelbrock) at present. The original inlet manifold has been changed to an Weiand alloy manifold.

The EFI hasn’t been abandoned, just shelved for now, literally – the EFI intake manifold is on a shelf in my garage, along with the throttle body, with sensors and the wiring loom for the EFI is in the car. However, I have been advised that the ECU that he sold me 89 years ago is now well and truly obsolete and Motec are unlikely to support it.

However, before I get to re-fitting fitting the EFI I really need to run the engine. Of course before I do that I have to get the oil leaks fixed and make sure it doesn’t overheat. Not to mention getting it registered so I can drive it on the road!

I have attached some pictures of the EFI inlet manifold, the same installed on the engine and the engine as it is now with the Weiand manifold and Edelbrock carb.

Regards,
Kevin

[David Olivant]

Check the oil leak is not coming from the oil presure gauge take off.

David

Admin Edit: Thanks David, I have moved your post to this new thread, along with my previous post that you were responding to.