1966 impala 327

[Indiana79]

Hello everyone

I'm looking for advise on cleaning up the 327 in my 66 impala I just was given. It was parked in my uncles garage since 1976. I sprayed up the cylinders up with pb blaster let them set for a few days then replaced the carb and flushed the fuel tank. I changed the oil with kendall 10w40 and replaced the Canister oil filter. The car fired up after a little messing around but my issue is after running the car for a few runs. Just in the garage (it's not ready for the highway yet) I drained the oil again and I'm getting a lot of sludge in the filter. I pulled off the valve cover and it's not too dirty underneath so I'm assuming most of the sludge is at the bottom of the oil pan. The engine only has 72000 miles on it so I don't want to pull it out or mess with taking the pan off if I don't have to but I'm looking on advise on safely cleaning the crud out of the engine. Thanks

 

[Merkava_4]

Start doing 2000 mile OCI's until the engine is clean. A high detergent oil like Valvoline MaxLife would be good. Most of those high mileage oils have extra detergents for cleaning.

 

[Nick1994]

I'd pull the pan or change it with cheap oil and filter every 500 miles, especially if you can notice sludge from running it in the garage.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I'd pull the pan or change it with cheap oil and filter every 500 miles, especially if you can notice sludge from running it in the garage.


Yep, or if you have the $$, repeat the garage treatment you just gave it a couple of times before hitting the road.

 

[demarpaint]

Nice car! It brings back some fine memories. Good luck, post pictures if/when you can.

 

[Propflux01]

If your getting sludge in the filter, chances are it's gonna clog the oil pickup screen as well. Since it's not road ready, and as much as you hate it, pull the pan and clean it. Too nice of a car and engine not to.

 

[4wheeldog]

Originally Posted By: Propflux01
If your getting sludge in the filter, chances are it's gonna clog the oil pickup screen as well. Since it's not road ready, and as much as you hate it, pull the pan and clean it. Too nice of a car and engine not to.


Yup. I remember finding oil pickups on engines of that era with the pickup screen completely plugged. They usually had a springloaded button in the middle of the screen, which would open with suction from the pump.

It makes me shudder now, but we used to clean them with a propane torch.

I suppose you could put some sort of nasty solvent in the pan (Acetone? MEK?), not run the engine and let it soak for a couple of days, then drain and fill a couple of times. But that stuff really hardens on the screen.....DAMHIK.

 

[bigt61]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Start doing 2000 mile OCI's until the engine is clean. A high detergent oil like Valvoline MaxLife would be good. Most of those high mileage oils have extra detergents for cleaning.

+1 Likely one 2000 mile run and it will be fine. You already got most of the loose, aged stuff out with that 1st change. Double check to make sure the low oil pressure light is operational and then drive it with one eye on that light. If it even flickers, change the oil again.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

If the car is solid, Id do the pan,water pump, tc cover, tc, and lip gaskets - when you dig in to clean up the pan. I d also clean out the fuel tank and lines - replace what is shot.

 

[ironman_gq]

expect to be changing the crank seals after sitting that long, both front and rear main seals will probably start seeping, might as well pick up some valve cover gaskets too. Sitting that long without running tends to make the seals and gaskets dry out, shrink and or dry rot. Main seals aren't too bad to do, front one in the timing cover is pretty easy and the two-piece one in the rear is simple once you get the pan off.

 

[440Magnum]

At that age, replacing all the gaskets you can get at is a good thing anyway. Pop both valve covers, clean what you can. Drop the pan, clean it, re-install. While you're in the pan you can do things like check the pick-up screen, maybe throw in a new oil pump for good measure,- even crack a rod and main bearing (ONE of each and don't accidentally flip the caps around) and inspect to get an idea of how much life is left in them. Based on that, you could roll in new bearing shells, or just bolt it back together.

At any rate, physically cleaning as much residue as possible is always a good thing to do before starting with chemistry.

 

[Cardenio327]

I learned to drive on a 283 powered '65 Impala. Great car. Congratulations on your acquisition.

I would just get it over with and drop the pan, the rope rear main seal is probably toast, especially after being assaulted by fresh new oil after so many years of sitting.

//puts on fireproof suit//
Everybody is going to flame me for this, but I would seriously consider using a 10w-30 oil in that 327. Chevrolet never even imagined a 40 weight oil being used in it when they designed it. You can use a HDEO such as Rotella if you are worried about regular 10w-30 not holding up or whatever it is that people are worrying about these days. I suspect that the problems in the 1960s, 1970s & 1980s with the rear lobes of the cam wiping on the 350 engine was caused by using 10w-40 combined with not changing the oil often enough.
//takes off fireproof suit//

Enjoy your new ride! Of all the full size Chevrolets I like the '65 & '66 the most.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Cardenio, the first car I remember taking a lesson in, if you can call it that, was my father's '66 283-engined Super Sport. Beige with a cream-and-gold vinyl interior, an AM only radio with a back seat speaker, the floor auto shift, and good A/C. I drove it around a large empty parking lot (on a Sunday), making right turns and stopping. I learned nothing except that the SS was a very smooth car.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Start doing 2000 mile OCI's until the engine is clean. A high detergent oil like Valvoline MaxLife would be good.

I'd agree with that. That should be a fine choice.

As Cardenio327 points out, there is also no need to go thicker than a 30 grade, even an ILSAC type 30 grade.

 

[Lyman]

My first V-8 was a 283 and my second was a 327. Great motors and real easy to work on. I'd pull the pan to make sure it's not all sludged up. Heck I'd probably do a mild cam in it. I have built a few of those over the years.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Barn find.. Nice. I have experience with Chevys of that era. 265, 283, 327, 348.. I had several. If you are getting sludge, then You really need to drop the pan and clean the oil pump screen. It will be sludged up. Also the lifter galley. The SBC's of that era had a poor crankcase ventilation system. I've seen lifter galleys totally solid with hard sludge. There will be gray slime everywhere, that is residue from leaded gas. There will be more wear then you think, most cars of that era were were pretty much used up by 100k. We ran 30w year around in Calif. Later in Mich. it was 10w-40. Quaker state, Pennzoil, Valvoline, Shell. Whatever was on sale. Oh, another thing, The rear main seal is a piece of rope! It will leak. When you drop the pan, it's a simple matter to replace it. I did many rear seals with the car on the hoist when I worked is a gas station.

Ya know, That might be a candidate for a crate engine.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Wayne

 

[Indiana79]

Thanks for all the responses. I looked under the other valve cover tonight after work and it's pretty clean. From what I can tell the sludge is just at the bottom of the pan from sitting 38 years. I definately want to keep the original engine in it. Because the car is pretty much all stock. Even has the original paint with zero rust. I may just pull off the pan if I can get to it easily but from what I see I looks like I need to jack up the motor to do that

 

[chainblu]

I'm pretty sure by the time the 327 came out, Chevy was using the 2 piece 'rubber' seals by then...

But back to the issue. Yes, you will most likely have to raise the engine a couple of inches at least to drop the pan. Unless you are just itching to do that, I'm liking the short OCI ideas. If it was me, I'd pick up several cartridge filters and some good but inexpensive oil (like SuperTech) and let the oil get good and hot when I drained it.

Eventually, you should start seeing less and less sludge in the filter housing. Also, resist the urge to install an adapter on the filter base so you can use a spin-on filter. I know it's a pain to drop the canister and clean it out, but it actually does what it was designed to do very well.

Good luck with your project no matter what you decide to do.

 

[901Memphis]

What about a solvent flush without running the engine? Letting it sit in the pan and draining it out would probably do wonders.

 

[Indiana79]

Well just I finally tried to flush the sludge out of the bottom of the pan. With the oil drained and the plug in I dumped about a gallon or so of kerosene in the pan and let it set overnight. I dumped it the pan then. Repeated the process the next day also. It seems to really have got a lot of it out from what I can tell. I didn't run the car at all with just kerosene just let it sit in the pan. After I flushed it out I changed the filter and I had a few quarts of john deere turf guard 10w30 sitting around then I mixed the rest with autozone oil I bought to make 5 quarts then I ran the motor for 15 minutes then changed the oil and filter again. No sludge this time. I don't plan on putting many miles on this car once it hits the road just maybe a few hundred miles per year. I think I will go with maxlife or defy 10w30. I will probably run that for a few hundred miles and change it...... Now what to do with a power glide trans with the original fluid in it from 66 is another matter. Thanks