The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Advice on 235

I have a 1955 235 engine in my 53 pickup. The truck sat for around 20 years and I have posted a few times on it.

So far I have replaced the gas tank, fuel filter, rebuilt the carb, fresh oil change, new cap, plugs, wires. Still need to do points/condenser. Anyway, the truck fires up now on its own and idles really nice. Sounds great with no missing or weird sounds. It shows around 40psi oil pressure at idle which I assume is pretty good when cold? My only issue is that when I accelerate from idle it dumps a decent amount (not excessive) of blue smoke. It's definitely oil related so I am leaning towards a few things. First thought is the rings are frozen, second thought is the valve guide seals are shot. Based on the good amount of reading I have done on here both are possibilities.

An engine rebuild might be in my future, but for now what can I try to at least reduce the smoke or diagnose the problem further? Long term goal with this truck is restoration, but for now I wanted to run and drive it while I am restoring it. I heard a "good run in the country" might help. Sometimes the engine needs to get up to temperature under a load. Once I address my brake issue I plan to do that. The only reason I am putting off a rebuild is that I don't notice any glaring issues with this engine. Head gasket seems fine, no bubbles in radiator, good oil pressure, no smoke on idle. It seems worth looking into a bit further before a potential rebuild.

I'd suspect valve stem seals have dried up and disintegrated over the 20 year dry spell.

Regarding your condenser, contact Jon Goodman and purchase one of his 200,000 hour condensers. The new ones you buy are all made by Chinese slaves and fail with regularity - even straight out of the box.

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...native-condenser-update.html#Post1388813

Overfill the crankcase with about 2 or 3 quarts of kerosene or Diesel fuel added to the oil, and run the engine at a fast idle (1500 RPM or so) for about 30 minutes. DO NOT DRIVE or put any load on the engine while the diluted oil is onboard! The crankshaft and rods splashing into the over full crankcase will scrub any sludge and rust from the bottom end and the piston rings more effectively than you could ever do with a brush. Drain the oil while it's hot, change the filter, and refill with good quality 15W-40 oil. You won't do any damage, and it just might free up the rings.
Jerry

X2 on Jerry’s suggestion.

My dad worked in a Howard Johnson's auto repair shop in the 1950s when he was a kid. One of their big service was an engine flush.

Filled up the engine with kerosene and oil and do what Hot Rod describes.

One time they did it and must have forgotten to drain the mixture out and refill the engine with oil.

Two miles down the road the engine seized up on the guy's car.

Howard Johnson's did auto repair?? I thought they were just a Motel/Restaurant business.

It was on the Ohio Turnpike outside Cleveland.

They had a hotel, restaurant, gift shop, and full service gas station with auto repair.

My dad's specialty was repairing flat tires. My mom worked in the gift shop.

The first time my dad saw my mom she was across the parking lot changing a tire on a 1953 F-100 (my grandparents had a farm). Naturally I asked him if that's how he made his introduction. I figured he walked over, introduced himself , and offered to change her tire as the knight in shining armor.

Nope.

He said, "She looked like she knew what she was doing." He continued to sit there watching her along with the other grease monkey.

That pretty much summed up their 50 years of marriage. My mom never knew that story until a couple years before my dad died. She was pizzed!

Do an old fashioned compression test. Remove all the plugs and conduct the test dry. Typical compression runs 110-150. What you want to see is the low reading being within 10 percent of the high reading. So if 150 is your high, you ideally want the lowest cylinder to be no lower then 135.

Once you do the test dry, do it over again but this time squirt a couple of good squirts of engine oil in just before you re run the test. The oil will form a temporary seal around the rings. If the compression raises noticeably, likely you have a ring problem. If it stays pretty close to the dry test, likely your blue smoke is the valve guides and missing crappy o ring valve seals. Pull the head and give it a good valve job and use so better valve seals.