I have a late 70's small block Chevy that was completely rebuilt, but subsequently sat for about a year before I got my hands on it. The engine fires up nicely and oils good on the drivers side, but not on the passenger side. I have used an old distributor for priming and a priming tool with the collar to complete the right side oil galley and prime the engine. I rotated the engine a quarter at a time on two full rotations while priming it. Did this twice and nothing. The front and rear oil galleys are sealed and there are no leaks. The motor has about 60lbs of oil pressure on a mechanical gauge. One thing I did notice was that the distributor and the priming tool had some white assembly grease on them once pulled out. Has anyone ever come across a problem where an excessive amount of assembly grease has clogged the oil galley? Any other thoughts on what it could be?
Thanks Cactus. Unfortunately, the year model of the block is a lot newer than yours and the oiling of the engine is a bit different. I wish it were that easy.
Ok 70's SBC but what dizzy or the year of dizzy. 55 and 56 had a notch to let oil drain back into engine and if there not set in correctly you will lose oiling to right bank.
Could also be a blocked galley. Try priming the engine with with a large cut flat screw driver blade and look down the distributor hole and see if oil flows from the back. If it does galley is clear and problem could be valves seated differant than other bank and oiling holes are not lining up at the push rods to rockers.
57 is the same way.had that problem and changed many parts thought we had some blockage before we realized it.moved the distributer and it was fine. what a pain.
Sat for a Year ?? I've seen the white lube turn into concrete when it sits for along time. I've also thought that the lube setting up was to blame for a few cam failures too. How long have you ran the engine and have you ever gotten it up to operating temp? If you've got a wad of the lube stuck in the galley right in front of the distributor it's trying to shove it past the #-8 lifter and it's going to have heat up and thin down or the engine will have to be torn down for another cleaning. Not sure if this is whats wrong but it is a chance >>>>.
I'm thinking the same thing. Clogged oil galley for sure and if its hardened assemble lube it will have to soften to get pushed out. I hesitate to say this but you may try throwing some engine flush in it and running it a bit. That may soften up what is stuck and let the oil pressure clear it.
Actually there is a galley on each side of the camshaft along the lifter bores. A spun cam bearing will not block flow on a SBC.The block is grooved in the bearing bore , although people get anal on bearing alingment it is not a problem. I would take the plugs out of the back( two oil galleys ,one on each side of the cam plug) and then run the preoiler.They both should have oil, if it is pluged it may come out there.If you want the front of the galley are located behind the cam gear but you may not want to tear it down that far. Best of luck
the tip I heard was to grind the groove in the lower distributor body all the way around to ensure oiling. the distributor body actually plugs the hole in the bottom and forms part of the passage
Had the same problem when I put a 55 distributor in a 327 block. Get a later model dist. and you'll get oli to that bank.
What is your primeing dist metal or alum?.. If metal, look at bottom rings just above the gear and make sure they are not tied together with a high if so grind out the high...
Thanks for the response. I have started it up, but for no more than a minute at a time. It has not reached operating temperature at this point. I will oil the rockers up again and let it run for a bit more to see if the galley doesn't clear. The engine flush is probably a good idea seeing that it has sat for a little while. I am starting to lean toward the white grease blocking the oil galley based on everything I have seen and found. The motors currently sitting in a FED, so the timing cover and pulling the engine is easy. Thanks for the input.
I know checking the cam plugs behind the cam sprocket is a pain, but it could be dumping out in the front. The OE's used plugs that drive in like a freeze plug, if it was taken out for cleaning it could be missing. Good luck
Do what "treb11 " said. The groove in the distributor housing that matches the oil passage in the block should be the same size 360 degrees around. That way it will work in different year blocks. Had the same problem with an aftermarket distributor in my 87 and up crate motor. Very frustrating. Good luck.
FWIW the 350 I just put in my 54 didn't oil the right side for about 20 minutes. The rockers were loose - valve clatter - but once it pumped up there were no problems. This has happened to me before and hasn't caused any wear, neither have I ever figured out why it happens. Maybe let it idle for a couple more minutes and see what happens.
I have a solid lift cam and everything is good there. I measured the priming tool and was able to see that the collar does seal correctly in the oil galley. There is oil reaching the priming tool and the oil galley hole to the right side of the block. I can see the oil galley in the distributor hole and there are no immediate blocks. It looks like I will pull the motor forward and pull the rear oil galley plug to see if there are any obstructions further up in the motor.
VICTORY - Pulled the motor and the oil galley was clear. I flushed the motor out, drained that and put some fresh oil in. I put the priming tool back in and spun it with the drill on auto pilot. Every minute I turned it a quarter turn and after about 12 minutes it started to slowly oil. Don't know if the flush unblocked something, but it's working now.
I had the same problem, turned out to be the distributor bore in the block was too big, causing internal bleeding (oil).,your distributor has two rings near the bottom of the shaft. There are two oil passageways each side of the bore in the block. Oil is channeled through the slot between those two rings, however if the bore is too big,the oil leaks into other areas instead of being properly channeled. Hopefully this will help.
The Jalopy Journal
