1983 Chevrolet El Camino Valvetrain @ 380,000 mi.

[panthermike]

I'm posting this on behalf of c3po, very impressive indeed!

1983 Chevrolet El Camino with 380,000 miles.

- Valvoline Dino Oil from 24,000 to 51,000 miles.
- Mobil 1 from 51,000 miles to 200,000 miles.
- Amsoil from 200,000 miles to 343,000 miles.
- ARX from 343,000 miles with dino oil until 360,000 miles.
- It's been on Pennzoil Platinum since 360,000 miles, and at 367,000 miles I started using MMO.
- The Rocker Arms and Pushrods were replaced at 360,000 miles.
- I do have the original rocker arms and pushrods in my toolbox, so I will eventually post some pics.
- The pics of the valvetrain and valve cover were taken in the garage, I can take some pics outside.

Any questions or requests, just let him know.

Valve Cover:

 

[caprice_2nv]

Nice, my new winter rig is a 1983 Caprice with the original 305, only 165k on it though, just a baby. If my old one with 323k on it hadn't rusted out I wonder how long the 305 in it would have gone. You can barely feel it running at idle still.

 

[caprice_2nv]

I wonder if the camshaft was ever replaced, as 83 was about the last year they were really known for lobes wearing right off. I've been worrying about that on mine.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: caprice_2nv
I wonder if the camshaft was ever replaced, as 83 was about the last year they were really known for lobes wearing right off. I've been worrying about that on mine.
That was my 1st thought too.

 

[simple_gifts]

What kind of S.P. wires are those?

 

[daves87rs]

Nice!

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
What kind of S.P. wires are those?


I believe they are Accels, they have the space age boot on them that is supposed to resist heat. I have the MSD Pro Guard Covers over the wires that is good to about 1000 degrees, those Pro Guard Covers were not cheap, I think I paid almost $100.00 for them.

Originally Posted By: caprice 2nv
I wonder if the camshaft was ever replaced.


ORIGINAL CAMSHAFT

 

[dgee]

Originally Posted By: c3po
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
What kind of S.P. wires are those?


I believe they are Accels, they have the space age boot on them that is supposed to resist heat. I have the MSD Pro Guard Covers over the wires that is good to about 1000 degrees, those Pro Guard Covers were not cheap, I think I paid almost $100.00 for them.


i have the same Pro Guard sleeves over Magnecor wires on my trail rig. got them for free off a friend before he sold his truck.

 

[oliveoil]

What was your oci schedule for each brand of oil and what weight did you use?

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: oliveoil
What was your oci schedule for each brand of oil and what weight did you use?


I always used 10W-30 motor oil because that was what the Owner's Manual stated.

I always did 3000 mile OCI's, and before you guys jump on me for changing Mobil 1 and Amsoil at 3000 miles, lets remember that this engine has a carburetor on it and they do not run as efficiently as Fuel Injected Motors.

My Owner's Manual stated 6 months or 7500 miles for basically Highway type driving and it stated 3000 miles for Sever Service which was basically short trip driving.

Now that I am using Pennzoil Platinum, I am running 10W-30 in the spring and summer, and during the fall and winter I am running 5W-30 Pennzoil Platinum, the car does not get driven much in the winter and I may take the car out a few times so I just feel the 5W-30 is better for me in the colder weather.

I am still doing 3000 mile OCI's with Pennzoil Platinum, some may think this is a waste and that maybe I should use PYB instead, but the engine seems to like Pennzoil Platinum.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

So what's the rest of the car look like?

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: Camu Mahubah
So what's the rest of the car look like?


It basically looks like a 27 year old car, there is some rust in a few places and eventually I will have to do some kind of restoration on the body.

I am trying to buy some time, that is why I do not drive it when it is wet out and of course when we get snow and there is salt on the roads, this car stays inside the garage.

 

[c3po]

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/auto-rx-test-before-pictures.131084/

This Truck has 167,000 miles on it.

Glad this is not my Valvetrain.

 

[tig1]

With my old 77 Nova 305 I did 10K OCI with Amsoil when I first bought the car, then switched to M1 latter still with 10K OCIs. I needed to sell the car for something bigger and it only had 120K on it but the engine was clean like yours, and ran very good. You can safely increase your OCI with this engine to at least twice what your doing. Back in the day(70s) I knew several guys going in excess of 10K with Amsoil, in carburated engines with no problems at all.

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: tig1
With my old 77 Nova 305 I did 10K OCI with Amsoil when I first bought the car, then switched to M1 latter still with 10K OCIs. I needed to sell the car for something bigger and it only had 120K on it but the engine was clean like yours, and ran very good. You can safely increase your OCI with this engine to at least twice what your doing. Back in the day(70s) I knew several guys going in excess of 10K with Amsoil, in carburated engines with no problems at all.


Synthetics, even in the 1970's, were way ahead of their time.

They were uncomparable to dino oil...the performance was night-and-day different!

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: addguy
Synthetics, even in the 1970's, were way ahead of their time.

They were uncomparable to dino oil...the performance was night-and-day different!


I think Synthetics were still better than dino oil even in the 1980's.

 

[NJC]

that's impressive.

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: NJC
that's impressive.


I think I have an idea why the underside of my Valve Covers are spotless.

I have Edelbrock Valve Covers on the car, I put them on about 80,000 miles ago. When I went to put on the BAFFLES I noticed that the clearance between the breather and baffle was about a centimeter or maybe 2 centimeters, same thing with the PCV Valve when I was about tp put the valve covers on, so I just took the Baffles off.

My thinking is that without the BAFFLES my engine has an easier time of breathing.

I remember looking at my old valve covers that had the factory breathers and the underside of the valve covers were kind of stained.

Maybe one of the tricks in keeping a clean valvetrain is to make sure your PCV System is working properly.

I would not mind taking the Valve Cover Baffles off my Marauder that has a DOHC 4.6 Liter Engine.

 

[Zaedock]

Absolutely awesome!

I own a 1983 Malibu that was my high school car back in the day. It was originally a 229 V6 car that now holds a 355.

I don't know why, but I still remember the exact mileage I swapped out the V6; 170,080.6.

I know many think the 70's/80's GM intermediates were unreliable, but I never had a problem. I miss the days of RWD.

 

[caprice_2nv]

Since I got my license just over 10 years ago now, I've driven almost nothing but 80's G bodies and B bodies. They're bulletproof compared to cars made today IMHO.