BONES approved

Starting to put things back together, sprayed some paint on the dash and have it loosely in place. I hooked up the ignition today and was honestly surprised when it started up after a few tries.

Couple issues though: not sure if this is due to sitting all winter but its blowing white smoke out the exhaust. I only let it run for maybe 10 minutes or so, not sure if it just needs to run longer or if its something else. Also leaking oil from the valve cover, on the passenger side in the back. The 3rd picture shows it, you can see the oil stained area on the edge. Didn't have time to take the cover off today but is that most likely just gaskets?

Really pushing to have it all back together and driving by next weekend

Could be from oil leaking past your valve guides from sitting and/or a combination of moisture burnoff in the exhaust system. I would let it run up to full temp. I would like to think it it will clear up sooner than later. If not, typical issue can be blown head gasket. Also check for bubbles in the coolant. Let's hope thats not the case.

Dash looks really good. Finish her up...we want to see it as well as yourself in a couple weeks.

Definitely Bones approved...

keep after it....you have two weeks!!

dave67fd said:

Could be from oil leaking past your valve guides from sitting and/or a combination of moisture burnoff in the exhaust system. I would let it run up to full temp. I would like to think it it will clear up sooner than later. If not, typical issue can be blown head gasket. Also check for bubbles in the coolant. Let's hope thats not the case.

Dash looks really good. Finish her up...we want to see it as well as yourself in a couple weeks.

Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, I'll let it run for longer and see what happens. It was burning oil last summer when I was still driving it and that valve cover was already covered in oil before I parked it but it was never actually dripping underneath until it sat for a while. I'll look into it more this weekend. Looking forward to the event, whether the bronco makes the trip is to be determined.

bring it! have access to a car trailer if anything happens!

Couple more things crossed off the list. Got the wipers hooked back up and working and put in my refurbished gauge cluster with led bulbs. I also bought an Ididit column during the Christmas sales and starting putting that in. Its all wired up and the blinkers and hazards luckily both worked.

I'm hoping to get it inspected next week, only things holding me up right now are the horn, reverse lights and the heater. I just rebuilt the heater and connected everything but the motor isn't turning on so I need to fiddle with it some more.

looking good!! really hope you can make it!!

Started tyring to diagnose whats causing my engine to smoke. Its white smoke coming from the driver side near the area of the #6 plug. Looks like its coming from behind the exhaust manifold next the plug and it only starts after the engine is warmed up.

First thing I did was pull the valve covers and change the gaskets. Everything looked normal to me except that two of the rocker arms were not sitting level with the rest, the 2 middle ones in the first two pictures. Not sure if that could be part of the problem or not.

Then I did a compression test with the following results: 1) 120
2) 130 3) 130 4) 130 5) 130 6) 125 7) 130 8) 130

Spark plugs are also completely black and it seems like all the plug holes have oil around them but I can't see any leaks anywhere. Any ideas or anything else I should look for?

Hey Eric,
What looks good is that all cylinders are the same and the readings look ok. Levels can vary some depending on number of turnovers and engine temperature etc..
After talking to you briefly about it, I believe I understand your not burning thru the exhaust and this is oil burning in the engine or manifold area. Because it has been sitting over the winter, it's not uncommon for some residual oil to leak from the valve covers, intake, etc..
Since you replaced the gaskets, make sure to clean up as much of the old oil and grease so you can better confirm were it's leaking from. Hopefully the gaskets did it.

Your heads look clean so thats a good thing as well. Your valves wlll be at different heights as these open/close in relationship to engine timing/rotation.

Your plugs look pretty fouled. Confirm the part number of the plug and your heat range first. This is typical of an over rich condition. This can be anything from a carb issue, vacuum leak to worn rings. The wet oil can be from oil leaking past your valve guides internally into the cylinder.

I would confirm the proper plug and buy new ones. Clean up the oil areas with carb cleaner and keep an eye on any other external leaks.

As far as I remember she is running reasonably good correct? Put some miles on it and go from there. You maybe up for a rebuild sometime later in life.

Hey Dave, ya the truck is running great. Starts up very quickly and idles fine, just the smoking once it warms up with no visible leaks.

Its definitely running rich, the smell is pretty pungent too. I'll work on tuning the carb again and get some new plugs. I'm hoping to make it through this summer and then look into a rebuild but we'll see.

Over a year since I've updated this, mostly because I haven't really done anything to it. Just a couple minor changes; painted the grill and switched up the tires and wheels. Found some wheels at a salvage yard and sanded, painted and put them on some 31's. I need to work out some issues with the steering that I'll probably have some questions about but its been running good and just driving it around town.

Some before and afters: