390, A Bit Smokey...Advice Needed Please

[My427stang]

Just checking, but you mentioned good exhaust valve seals, how about intakes?  Also, any chance of loose guides that would compound it?

Typically exhausts don't leak as bad, even with no seals, but the intakes have vacuum pulling on them, and can draw quite a bit, especially if the guides are loose

[machoneman]

Just checking, but you mentioned good exhaust valve seals, how about intakes?  Also, any chance of loose guides that would compound it?

Typically exhausts don't leak as bad, even with no seals, but the intakes have vacuum pulling on them, and can draw quite a bit, especially if the guides are loose

Yes, a lack of  good intake seals + worn guides is a recipe for high consumption and smoking.
 
Funny, but some race engine buidlers only use intake side seals but no exahust side seals. Long pulls and steady high rpm running (think: track/road racing, roundy-round racing) can cause overheated exahust valve stems to stick and/or fail. Learned some years ago the Toyota spec. NASCAR V-8's use up to 5-7 QUARTS of oil in a 500 miler. Don't know if Fords/Chevys use the same volume of oil but the oil loss prevents sticky stems and provides apparently a lot of valve stem cooling!