Here's one for the books,a one in a million problem that no one seems to have an answer for.I'm sure with all the engine builders out there someone has to have an answer.Here goes,the engine is a 1971 340 cu.in.bored.060(10.5 to 1 Ross pistons) with a stroker kit ending in 420 cu.in.Indy Edelbrock heads,Mopar perf. tri power intake,Promax carbs,Comp Cams hyd. roller cam.HERES THE PROBLEM,on initial start up it started smoking a little and then really started smoking.I let it run for about 15 to 20 min to let the rings seat with no change in the smoking.After cool down I pulled the intake and in the intake runners it was wet with oil.Also behind the intake valves(the ones that were closed)was at least a 1/8 to 1/4 inch puddle of oil.At first I thought the intake to head surface was off, so I had a machinist resurface it.No change,I changed the intake No change.I've done everything from leak down tests to compression tests and all is fine.I've had this engine out and appart 3 times and checked everything 10 times.All parts are new.I've taken the block and heads to 2 different automotive machinists and everything checks out fine.Everyone I have talked to has no idea what the problem could be.I have a Lot of money and time invested in this and still have problems.I hope I haven't bored you to much with this but I have been trying to figure this out for months. I have built many engines over the years but never had a problem I couldn't figure out.This has got me.ANY HELP WOULD GREATLY BE APPRECIATED.
Thanks in advance Bob

Valve seals?

is the PCV valve have a baffle inside the valve cover? maybe it's sucking oil windage into your intake?

does your intake have a hole in it somewhere? where it's open into the valley of the block? maybe just a small crack that you can't see, then when it heats up it opens up enough to suck in massive amounts of oil?

I don't know where else you could get oil into the intake on a small block

Indy heads are new and have been dissasembled and checked twice.I changed the intake with a 4 barrel intake I had and still no change.PCV is fine.

I had the same problem that your discribing with a sreet engine build a few years ago. On the first start up, it smoked just a tad bit but the smoking just got worse over the next few minutes so I shut it down. I went through all the trouble shooting that you've gone through and after a few weeks of pulling my hair out, I called Perfect Circle who I bought the rings from and found out that I had to change out my 2nd rings. I normally used the light tensil Perfect Circle rings on low vaccumm engines, however this street motor was high vaccumm and the 2nd ring wasn't doing its job. Perfect Circle sent me out a different 2nd ring pack and all has been good ever since.

There's only three ways to get oil in the runners, intake/head mating area, valve seals or PCV valve. I'd look in the area of the mating surface between the head & intake. It's either too wide of a gap or the angle is off.

At first I thought it was the intake to head surface angle and had that resurfaced.Same problem.Removed intake and gasket,placed .005 shim vertical on all 4 corners and placed thick plastiguage next to shims, result was straight smash.Also changed intake with 4 barrel and no change.

What type oiling system is in the motor, high volume or high presure pump?? how much oil, try running it one quart low , are you running a evac system? Presure is pushing oil past the oil ring.

This is a mainly a street engine.Milidon 9 qt. pan,high volume oil pump,70psi @1100 rpm.

Is the oil in all of the intake runner, both sides and behind all of the intake valves, except the ones that are open? Are the oil drain holes in the valley opened to allow all of the oil to run out at the same or quicker rate that the pump is pumping it in?

The oil is behind all intake valves that are not open.These are new Indy heads and have no oil drainage problems at all.There is also oil laying in the plenum.

is the pcv fitting baffled in the valve cover?

The PCV valve is incorporated in the valve cover breather and baffeled.

i would ditch the PVC and see how it is

Warm it up, pull the plugs and do a leakdown on all the cylinders....

I just cured a smoking problem last week I had and it was the header evacs sucking oil....

2 Years ago I had a concern such as yours. It was a new build 440. I had Indy Heads on it. It would blow smoke on start up but then go away after running awhile. I pulled the intake and found oil puddled around the intake valve. Lucky the valve was closed so it could puddle or I would not have ever found it. But the head had a crack in the intake runner in the top. You could not see it because it was around the valve spring seat area. When it warmed up it partially sealed the crack. I blocked all the ports and opening for a vacuum leak test. But I cooled the head with 134a refrigerant before I tested it and found the crack. Had it welded and it has been fine ever since. Hope this helps and good luck.

It is posiable there could be a crack around one of the springs but that would'nt explain the oil in all the runners.Today I will block the PCV valve and do another leak down test.I'll also drain a quart of oil.

Depending on the cams overlap a cracked spring seat leaking into an intake port can move oil into the plenum and foul other cyls

how's this for "pulling fluids accross the intake"?

when I hydro locked my motor from a cracked cylinder, I thought it was #6, because that's where the bent pushrods were, as well as the lifter that got tossed. pulled the engine apart, and the crack was in #3!!!

the water sucked out the intake valve, and into the manifold, accross the engine, and went into #6!

at first I thought "great, I have 2 cracks/water leaks" but the machine shop couldn't find anything wrong with the heads, no signs of a leaky head gasket, and no other cracks in the block.

sleeved #3, and have since put 3,000 miles on it without issue.

If I didn't see it with my own eyes, and have it happen to me, I would STILL call BS if someone told me that water could get sucked OUT of a cylinder, accross the manifold and into a cylinder on the opposite bank!