Hemi oil consumption

I know this is a "racer" forum, but it is also an engine forum so I am hoping to glean some knowledge from the engine builders on here.
Basically, I have an oil consumption problem that I've been chasing for years. The block, crank, pistons, rods and heads were all new. I used a HEMI engine builder to final assemble the engine, but the bore and hone, balance etc. was done by none other than the late Butch Elkins of Diamond racing.
There has never been a trace of blow by, indeed, I have installed a one way valve with clear glass reservoir in the PVC line and never had more than three drops of oil collect in a year.
Intake seal was brought up, I fixed that with Superformance gaskests as the pictures show. Yet the engine used a quart in 120 miles! Here are pictures of the intake valves, is it possible to see that much oil go by the guides? Factory new MP aluminum heads.
Also, look at the rocker to valve, both open and closed and tell me if my geometery is close.
Thanks in advance for all the help and years of experience that are available on this site.

There are only a few ways that oil can get into the combustion chambers to be used up, correct?
Rings, cylinder walls, valve guides, intake manifold, spark plug threads, or PCV system
So it either one or several different things doing that
Use your ability to determine what EXACTLY is causing it, your eyes on
We can and will help but you are the doctor on scene
I'm going to assume no external leaks, correct?
More feed back is needed, now get to work

Plugs?

an

Will tell what cylinders are burning,,,,,,but your pics are clean!

Here is what the plugs look like, all of them. Also the tailpipe chalks up on a 126 mile drive. But, that is the same trip that used a quart of oil, in 126 miles.
It looks like the valve guides are the culprit, is it possible for that much oil to go down the guides?
No blow by, no oil in PVC line and no external leaks.

If guides are the problem, then I wonder if roller rockers would help. That is why I put pictures of the open and closed valves. Does the geometry look ok? Would Roller Rockers help the guides last longer?

What piston rings? If they are Total seal Gapless you've found your problem. J.Rob

The compression rings could be OK causing little blowby. But the oil rings, drain backs in the piston, or excessive oil on the cylinder wall could be the culprit. The ports,and intake gasket's look good to me. Cant see the valve well enough. Looks to have some build up. How many miles on the ebgine? Definately has oil on the plug.
Doug

I've never torn down a 426 Hemi that the guides weren't worn out. I've always felt the roller rockers were better for the guides. Does it smoke when you let off the gas? Isn't that supposed to be guides? Every Hemi I've ever had guzzled oil. They still ran great. Different/better than any other car made. By the way a quart every 126 miles wouldn't bother me at all. I bought my cars used and they drank that much. That's only a quart when you fill up. I always had to do that. You say you have an oil consumption problem. If it runs perfect and the tailpipe is clean, what's the problem? I realize your engine is fairly new and you think it shouldn't burn oil, but that hasn't been my experience. If my new truck burned a quart between 10,000 mile oil changes it would bother me.

i'd find out what ring pak is in it before I went any further. also, could that "crust" on the plugs be water/anti-freeze?

It looks like it’s got the white Teflon seals on it.

Those would be the first thing I’d change.

Mine used a lot of oil until we put umbrella seals on it. They're silicone and stand up to heat. Silver Seal in MI was where we got them.
Seems to me the Hemi valvetrain tends to elongate/wobble the guides; always thought Landy's clamps that eliminated the shaft springs were a better idea.

That plug does not look shiny(from oil consumption like your having) to me ) A quart in 120 miles is a ton of oil consumption
Fast68plymouth may have a very valid point on the valve seals
How is the oil level? Over full will cause a lot of oil consumption very quickly

The picture is blurry, but that looks like a lot of carbon build up on the backside of the intake valve. That would indicate that the oil is going in thru the intake port. So either the intake guide, which like others have said, an umbrella seal would help; or intake manifold to head seal issue which you have addressed; or a crack in the the intake manifold that is hidden by the heat shield. Have you removed the heat shield and crack checked the intake?

No, traditional moly file fit.

Thanks for the ideas and tips. I have a friend with an all aluminum hemi very similar build to this one that has put 2,000 miles on it this summer and never added a drop of oil, so I know it can be done.
I agree on the valve seals, that definitely need changing. I am thinking Viton.
My question is, with no blow by, now oil in the PVC tube, do you think that the valve guides and seals could use this much oil or do I need to pull the whole engine apart.

I think I would change the valve seals and see if that helps before I pulled the engine apart.

I have one also that doesn't use oil, but I've told you that before. Even when my guides were worn bad, it still didn't use oil. Not saying all won't, but that's been my experience.
Using as much as it does, I'd be tearing into it to change rings.

Fundamentally I agree with Chip.
It’s probably an oil control issue with the rings....... for one reason or another.

That being said, I’d swap out the intake seals first to rule that out before pulling the motor.
But honestly, I wouldn’t expect it to use a qt in 125 miles even if it had no valve seals.

As for worn guides....... I freshened and ported a set of iron hemi heads off a MP crate motor that had 70,000 miles on it........ the guides were still perfect. I was shocked...... but miracles happen every now and then.
Of course, I also went through a set that only had the dyno time on them...... that had a few ex guides with .009 clearance, and the tightest intake was about .005.

Dwayne, whar guide clearance do you usually go for? And what seals do you recommend?

Hey thanks. This is the type of info that I needed! Two days of struggling to just get the header bolts loose on the passenger side. I think I will pull the engine just to check out the lower end. I would hate to go through this again!

So, what should I shoot for in valve guide clearance!

It has taken three nights just to take 9 header bolts loose on one side. I sure don't want to do this again. So I think I will pull the engine and check EVERYTHING!

I don’t have tons of hemi experience to draw upon....... but the trend seems to be that they run more clearance than what would be typical for that stem diameter..... at least for a street duty motor.
I don’t think the ex guides get lubed very well because of the angle they’re on.

The valve stems themselves are quite small too for “5/16” ...... typically .307 ex, .308 int.

If the guides were small enough to get there, I’d run .0015 int, .0025 ex clearance.
Steel jacketed viton seals, and I’d leave the chimney spring off on the ex side.

I was told years ago by several different 426 Hemi motor SO CA really good machine shops to run the intake to guide clearances tighter than normal, .0015 or less and on the exhaust to use .0017 to .0022 max on new guides and valves for street use, less on a drag race motor
Both Larry Shepard and Tom Hoover verified those number as good to use in one of the old Mopar drag race seminars I attended several years later

Thanks, this is the info that I hoped for when I posted here.

So what do you think of the valve train geometery? Do I need roller rockers to ease the guide wear?

You don’t know if there is any guide wear.

I'm going to challenge you to check the lift at all 16 valves first on your motor before deciding to buy new rocker arms
The stock Mopar OEM rocker vary a bunch on the actual ratio at the valve tips
Let us know what you find on your set
When you look at the rocker arm to the valve stem angles on almost any American made Hemi motor it makes the SB LA Mopar valve train look good