I replaced the carburetors on a '69 2000 this weekend. The good news is the
car now runs great, but it has an oil leak at the joint between the front of
the cylinder head and the top of the timing case -- about where the little 6mm
stud should come through the head. On this car, the stud and nut combo has
been replaced with a 6 mm hex head cap screw, and I believe the threads in the
timing case are compromised. At any rate, the leak is a steady drip which
creates a mist of oil droplets in the air stream of the fan when the engine is
run at ~2500 rpm. Quite a mess.
There is no oil gallery in that area of the block or head, so the leak has to
be driven by whatever pressure is created inside the block. I wouldn't have
thought there was a steady film of oil draining down the inside of the timing
case wall, but there must be. The engine is fresh, and there is no evidence
of excessive blow-by -- no inordinate flow out the cam cover vent to the air
cleaner. In fact, the inside of the air cleaner had no oil in it, unlike my
own car which always seems to accumulate some oil along the bottom seal of the
air cleaner.
Does anyone know of a way to repair such a leak without pulling the head and
timing case cover? I am not necessarily looking for an elegant solution here.
I have thought of trying to pull the cap screw, clean out the threads in the
timing case, and install a stud with a goodly amount of Loctite on the
threads, but I don't think there is enough overhead clearance to drop
something with the proper length into the bolt hole. And, I am ont all that
confident in my ability to clean out the threads well enough to ensure the
Loctite binds.
The other thought I had was to clean the area well, and try a JBWeld external
"patch". Not elegant, but it wouldn't have to resist much pressure, and it
would be better than the hours of work tearing things down to do the job
properly right now.
Any thoughts from the group?
Gary Ault
'66 1600/U20 since 1971
(219) 322-1923 (Central time)
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