[JTW]

I have an old set of M/T valve covers that do not have any type of baffle over the breather or PCV hole, and as a result I have oil blowing through the breather and running down the valve cover and the motor. The easy fix would be to buy a new set with baffles, but I'd really like to keep these if possible. I had them ceramic coated so they look nice, plus I'm short on $$ since my motor is just getting finished up. Is there any way to add some sort of small, flat baffle inside to partially cover the holes? I can't see how I could drill and tap into the cover to hold a baffle in place since the cover is pretty thin, but I think there may be bosses cast into the cover that may help. Is there any other type of breather system I could use? I can't plug the holes and run without a breather or PCV, could I? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[69NovaSS]

you need the breather on one side and the PCV on the other side so blocking the holes really is not an option. You could get one of those hair scruntchy thingys that women use....and place it around the the breather at the base...it will catch the oil and every so often just put in a new one...they are cheap to buy

 

[Real McCoy]

You could try one of those rubber inserts that have a slot which may help you. It's shaped like a cup but only has a slot in the bottom so oil is deflected away some. That could help. RM

 

[JTW]

I figured I couldn't block the holes completely, but I thought some valve covers used a thin metal plate that sat just below the hole to serve as a deflector to stop the oil. In other words, put the plate close enough so oil won't spray out the hole but with enough space to let the pressure escape.

 

[JTW]

You could try one of those rubber inserts that have a slot which may help you. It's shaped like a cup but only has a slot in the bottom so oil is deflected away some. That could help. RM

I like that idea. Are these made just for this purpose? Also, do they sit very deep into the valve cover where the rocker arm could hit it, or are they shallow enough to clear the rocker?

 

[Gary and Matt]

I agree. We had the same problem and it WAS a mess all the time.
The shop that did our cam work said it is alot like venting the roof on a house.
You need a PCV valve and vacuum to pull the air out of the oil system and the breather is to let air IN (not out)! So hopefully both valve covers have holes already in them to accomodate this extra plumbing.

We have the tall Edlebrock valve covers and they don't have an integrated baffel either. So they used a rubber grommet with a flap on the inside to work as a spash baffel. I can check and see where they got them, but I imagine it is something you can get at any NAPA store.

As for plugging the system, I wouldn't do that. There is blow-by on the piston rings that you simply can't get away from, that will pressurize the oil system. Plug it and you may ruin a nice looking engine with other problems introduced by a over pressured oil system.

I remember in the early 60's before the EPA, engines had a little 'vent' tube that usually stuck out the bottom of the car to vent the engine. Living up north, in the winter you could always see a little puffing under the engine for the venting. Now I am dating myself!

 

[69NovaSS]

http://www.mr-gasket.com/ProductDetails.aspx?brandId=1&productID=5216878&majID=375&minID=3753&selection=9&minselection=1

 

[Greg McMillan]

build a deflector

With some thin sheet metal you might be able to build a deflector similar to the stock valve covers. If you rough up the surfaces well on the inside of the valve cover and the metal then you could used a good epoxy like JB Weld and glue it over the breather hole. This assumes you have some clearance over the rockers. A good epoxy should stand up to the oil and temperature on the valve cover.

 

[Gary and Matt]

I think 69Nova SS has found the solution!

 

[Real McCoy]

The part 69 has pictured is the groumet I referred to. They should work. RM

 

[novaboy009]

I used the baffled grommets on my Baldwin Motion repop covers, but it still blew oil. I think that's because the motor had about .020 piston to bore clearance though lol! I ended up drilling and tapping the valve covers and adding a piece of 1.5" by 2.5" metal, but the covers intentionally had meat left in them for that purpose.

Kev

 

[T. Jerman]

JTW

I had the same problem your having with my valve covers. I tried those rubber gourment things and my PVC still sucked oil and made a mess of things. So here is what I did to fix my problem if you running roller rocker.
Here is some pictures:

The top photo shows the shield I built it out of 16ga. sheet metal as you can see i built it the same lenght as the rockers and the same width with some bends on the top and bottom to stiffen it up and then had to make a few alteration to get them to fit.

The sec. photo shows how I mounted them. I took the ori. set screw out of the 2 rockers 1 in from each end of poly-lock and installed a 1 1/2" long set screw to lock the poly-lock and hold the shield. I adj. the rocker and lock it all down then put a fine thread nut on the extra long set screw for a spacer for the shield just finger tight put the shield on and put a nut alnd lock on the top. Done no more mess and oil being sucker throught the PVC. You can check more photo's from the link below. Hope this helps you!!!

 

[T. Jerman]

JTW

I had the same problem your having with my valve covers. I tried those rubber gourment things and my PVC still sucked oil and made a mess of things. So here is what I did to fix my problem if you running roller rocker.
Here is some pictures:

The top photo shows the shield I built it out of 16ga. sheet metal as you can see i built it the same lenght as the rockers and the same width with some bends on the top and bottom to stiffen it up and then had to make a few alteration to get them to fit.

The sec. photo shows how I mounted them. I took the ori. set screw out of the 2 rockers 1 in from each end of poly-lock and installed a 1 1/2" long set screw to lock the poly-lock and hold the shield. I adj. the rocker and lock it all down then put a fine thread nut on the extra long set screw for a spacer for the shield just finger tight put the shield on and put a nut alnd lock on the top. Done no more mess and oil being sucker throught the PVC. You can check more photo's from the link below. Hope this helps you!!!

 

[Hawk1]

Moroso baffles and some JB Weld. Problem solved! Keep the nuts and bolts for another project.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MOR-68790&N=115&autoview=sku

 

[1fasbu]

Valve covers

I too run the slitted rubber grommets on my tall moroso valve covers. I was doubtfull at first, however, it seems to work ok.

The downside is that they are a pain to get out to add oil. Had a friend help me on the car one day, he was trying to get the plug out and ended up pushing it in!!!

After trying to retreive with pliers finally ended up pulling cover off.

Oh well, it was a :beer: day.

T. Jerman: I like your solution for this problem, kudos for thinking "outside the box".