Dual PCVs On Chev 350?

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 wrote:

> the engine is a '74 Chev truck 350. It's in a '38 Plymouth coupe

There's your problem. Plymouths aren't meant to have Chivvy engines.
They're meant to have Mopar engines. You should've built or bought one of
those, instead.

Yeah, yeah, I know the Chevy is sacrilege but it was in the car when I
got it - I'm saving up for a hemi. Thanks again for the help.


Daniel J. Stern wrote:
> On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 wrote:
>
> > the engine is a '74 Chev truck 350. It's in a '38 Plymouth coupe
>
> There's your problem. Plymouths aren't meant to have Chivvy engines.
> They're meant to have Mopar engines. You should've built or bought one of
> those, instead.

If I'm remembering correctly (and I see farther down you said this was a
'74 truck motor, and my dad actually has a '74 truck...) the one valve
cover should have a PCV valve and the other one should have a hose going
to a little filter that goes into the stock air filter housing (for
fresh, filtered air intake to the crankcase.) You could do the same
(last aftermarket air cleaner I bought included a knckout hole and a
bolt-on hose fitting I assume for such use) or just use a push on
breather, your choice.

nate

wrote:
> What you folks say makes sense but here's the part I don't understand
> (sorry - didn't give complete info in my first post):
>
> Aside from the PCV holes, the only other hole is the oil fill in the
> passenger side. The cap, which sure looks like OEM, is the screw-in,
> NON-breather type - in fact, it has the rubber gasket to seal it to the
> cover. The covers and cap were on the car when I got it - took them
> off to clean them up and found the rubber parts are toast. Anyway, it
> seems to run OK.
>
> Although...it sometimes dies on cold start and it idles a little high -
> maybe to compensate for lean mixture? And, I've had trouble with oil
> leaks - maybe vacuum breaking the gasket seal?
>
> I was looking for a plug in the auto parts stores but I just remembered
> the local hardware store has some polyethelene button plugs that might
> work. Sounds like I also may be looking for a breather cap for the oil
> fill.
>
>
> wrote:
>
>>I have a pair of nice cast aluminum valve covers for the '74 Chev
>>truck 350 in my street rod. Both have identical PCV holes so the valve
>>can be placed on either side depending on application. On mine, the
>>driver side has a rubber grommet for the valve and the passenger side
>>has a rubber plug. Both parts are too deteriorated to use. Problem
>>is, my local Chevy dealer can order the grommet but they have no
>>listing for the plug. I've looked for an after-market plug but I
>>haven't found one that fits. I really want to use the covers so I'm
>>thinking of putting a grommet and valve in each side and connecting
>>them to the intake with a "T" fitting. Is there any reason I
>>should NOT do this?
>
>


--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
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You all probably are sick of this thread but I thought you might like
to know how the project came out.

Upon closer inspection of the after-market air cleaner, I found an
unused 5/8" hose nipple - pretty obvious but I still missed it the
first time around. I got two new PCV grommets at the local Chevy
dealer. The grommets have a 3/4" hole - course the valve goes in the
driver side. For the passenger side, the local AutoZone has a plastic
elbow ("Help" brand mentioned by Mike Romain) that is 3/4" on one
end and 5/8" on the other - it's even a 45-degree bend which
should fit better than a 90 would. It's listed as a Ford part. A
piece of 5/8" hose to connect to the air cleaner and I'm in
business for under $20, including new valve, hose, and non-vented oil
cap. Pretty simple, but all your posts really helped me understand how
the system is supposed to work and what I needed to do to fix it.

Now I just need to finish stripping the paint off the covers, which is
why I took them off in the first place. Yes, somebody actually painted
nice cast aluminum valve covers - a coat of primer and a coat of
enamel. At least I don't have to take the blame for that one!
Here's a tip - some stuff called Aircraft Remover made by Klean
Strip (disclaimer - it probably causes cancer, impotence, and bad
breath). I found it at Bumper-to-Bumper. Not cheap - $9 for an 18-oz
spray can. But it works way better than the Bix I tried first -
although it still takes a couple of coats and scrubbing with steel
wool. The fins on the covers are polished and I'll buff them up with
progressively finer sandpaper, ending with 1500-grit. By the time
I'm done, I'll have $30 - $40 (and a whole lot of work) in them -
about what a pair of chromed steel covers would cost but I think these
are way cooler.

OK, bring on the wisecracks about Ford parts on a Chevy engine in a
Plymouth coupe - guess that's street rodding!

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> You all probably are sick of this thread but I thought you might like
> to know how the project came out.
>
> Upon closer inspection of the after-market air cleaner, I found an
> unused 5/8" hose nipple - pretty obvious but I still missed it the
> first time around. I got two new PCV grommets at the local Chevy
> dealer. The grommets have a 3/4" hole - course the valve goes in the
> driver side. For the passenger side, the local AutoZone has a plastic
> elbow ("Help" brand mentioned by Mike Romain) that is 3/4" on one
> end and 5/8" on the other - it's even a 45-degree bend which
> should fit better than a 90 would. It's listed as a Ford part. A
> piece of 5/8" hose to connect to the air cleaner and I'm in
> business for under $20, including new valve, hose, and non-vented oil
> cap. Pretty simple, but all your posts really helped me understand how
> the system is supposed to work and what I needed to do to fix it.
>

Good job! Not to be nit picky, but is the 5/8 nipple in the *filtered air*
area of the air cleaner? If not, you still need to put a filter in there.
H

Yeah, it's inside the filter.

Thanks for the update, it is always really nice to know the outcome of
the suggestions and fixes. Helps for next time.

I was at a Custom Street Rod show in Ontario Canada last summer and one
Ford had the sticker on the tailgate, 'Built Ford Tough With Chevy
Stuff!' LOL!

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

wrote:
>
> You all probably are sick of this thread but I thought you might like
> to know how the project came out.
>
> Upon closer inspection of the after-market air cleaner, I found an
> unused 5/8" hose nipple - pretty obvious but I still missed it the
> first time around. I got two new PCV grommets at the local Chevy
> dealer. The grommets have a 3/4" hole - course the valve goes in the
> driver side. For the passenger side, the local AutoZone has a plastic
> elbow ("Help" brand mentioned by Mike Romain) that is 3/4" on one
> end and 5/8" on the other - it's even a 45-degree bend which
> should fit better than a 90 would. It's listed as a Ford part. A
> piece of 5/8" hose to connect to the air cleaner and I'm in
> business for under $20, including new valve, hose, and non-vented oil
> cap. Pretty simple, but all your posts really helped me understand how
> the system is supposed to work and what I needed to do to fix it.
>
> Now I just need to finish stripping the paint off the covers, which is
> why I took them off in the first place. Yes, somebody actually painted
> nice cast aluminum valve covers - a coat of primer and a coat of
> enamel. At least I don't have to take the blame for that one!
> Here's a tip - some stuff called Aircraft Remover made by Klean
> Strip (disclaimer - it probably causes cancer, impotence, and bad
> breath). I found it at Bumper-to-Bumper. Not cheap - $9 for an 18-oz
> spray can. But it works way better than the Bix I tried first -
> although it still takes a couple of coats and scrubbing with steel
> wool. The fins on the covers are polished and I'll buff them up with
> progressively finer sandpaper, ending with 1500-grit. By the time
> I'm done, I'll have $30 - $40 (and a whole lot of work) in them -
> about what a pair of chromed steel covers would cost but I think these
> are way cooler.
>
> OK, bring on the wisecracks about Ford parts on a Chevy engine in a
> Plymouth coupe - guess that's street rodding!

one hole is oil fill, one hole is crankcase filtered air in, 3rd hole
is crankcase air out (PCV), go cruise a junkyard with a camera, take
pics and notes.