Ho there,

For a while I've been putting up with this B18d and some abominable blowby. I long-since assumed it was piston rings. After running a hundred plus miles with 20w/50 and having adjusted the valves to .020" my vacuum gauge has been consistently b/t 2-3" higher at idle, now at 14-15" (not fluctuating, just random variance) and has been rebounding upon decelleration to an almost respectable 21". But, cruising in any gear other than 4th, the throttle is pretty much floored, and there's 0" vac. I used to see 5" or less in this condition. Oil pressure gets to be around 50+ at start-up, and likes to settle 35-45 while driving. Before it all leaks out sitting in traffic.

Just yesterday I discovered the exhaust pipe to be leaking from every seam and backyard weld (not mine). My compression is 1-4: 135, 140, 135, 125 DRY; 145, 143, 145, 125 WET. I went after the valve lash again, trying the vClassics method which I seemed to do a great injustice to as the car loped like a zebra with a lion around it's neck at 800rpm. Just to get home I put it back with the Clymer method, as it was getting dark, and I had a date, and it ran just it's usual crappy.

Am I wrong in concluding that based on those compression results that my rings can't be totally to blame for the blowby? So if I get rid of that exhaust, what are the predictions in terms of blowby? I suppose that if my valve timing is off, then exhaust gasses aren't being evacuated as they should be (among other sinister conditions). If I ever get the valve timing right, what then?

Someone wiser than I please illuminate the way.
Many thanks,
-Sean Custer


--
1966 122s; 1970 142s