engine builders: do any of you agree with

this note I received from an engine builder in November 2004



"""""""I had no intention of even installing valve covers on that engine, that's your job. I cleaned them in my parts washer, rinsed them in hot water, and stuck them on there to keep dirt out of the engine while you transported it.



You shouldn't have even sent them here. I don't have time, within the context of the work I do, to detail covers and brackets which have absolutely zero bearing on the performance or longevity of the engine.



In 20 years of building and racing Indy cars, some of which set records that still stand, I have never found any benefit (in engineering terms) from sterilization of a valve cover. That is strictly a cosmetic exercise.""""""""""""



I did not "send" them; I delivered them! Didn't complain then.



He painted them before installing too, but did not mention that! The securing bolts were tight as if it was ready to crank (not loose/snug for transport). I wasn't told they were installed for "TRANSPORT ONLY" at time of pickup.



I thought I'd check out his work and found the rear cover with cavity, was just loaded with crud - a gentle tap and flakes of oil/crud buildup came falling from the inner walls. SOLUTION: I had to take it to NAPA machine shop and have it vatted; then I had to repaint and reinstall. After paying $7K who wants to disassemble an engine's sheet metal and find mucho crud (go to work).



Who in their rational mind would want that kind of OLD crud in a "new" engine? Certainly can't help anything. Point is they were not vatted, nor cleaned properly.



Be sure to get EVERY DETAIL in writing BEFORE you do business with anyone who supposedly has a good/bad reputation.

---

In another e-mail he wrote:



""""""As for the sludge trap in the valve cover, IMO the only real way to clean a sludge trap is to cut it open, clean it mechanically, and

Heli-Arc it back together. It's the way we had to clean engine oil tanks in dry sump applications when there was not 100% access

to the trap. Since you have delved into the air flow direction of the crankcase ventilation system, you have found out that that trap or

chamber is on the outlet side of the ventilation system, therefore it's impossible for any trapped contaminents to re-enter the engine

from that chamber. I do not blast nor glass bead those valve covers under any conditions, lest glass beads remain trapped in the

weld seams, and somehow migrate in to the oil system. Hot tanking should suffice to make it cleaner in the trap, following your

diligent efforts to clean it mechanically, but I will admit I don't concern myself with exit sludge traps beyond washing them out in

mineral spirits and following with water, and blowing them out with compressed air. My very own engines have that valve cover in the

identical condition that yours was in when you picked the engine up, and it presents no problem. All airflow is outboard from the

engine at that point, and no oil sludge or particulate matter can re-enter the engine from that point. However, since it's a concern to

you, I'll do what it takes to make you happy, even if I can't justify it through engineering terms."""""



1. Examine this => "...therefore it's impossible for any trapped contaminents to re-enter the engine from that chamber."



INCORRECT ; there are drain holes for residual oil droplets & dust (for those who still use the original style oil breather cap) to return into the engine-otherwise the cavity could fill up with oil if the return holes clog completely. Plus, as those return holes fill up with dust, oil and sludge it restricts the return of oil into the engine, although it might seem to be a small amount, it still needs to freely return to the crankcase (CLEAN).



2. Examine this => "As for the SLUDGE TRAP in the valve cover..."



Think about what he wrote and his admitted remedy, "I cleaned them in my parts washer, rinsed them in hot water..." SOME SOLUTION; he means he ATTEMPTED TO CLEAN them but fell FAR short of the mark.



No reputable machine shop ever cleaned a Hudson 'sludge trap' valve cover that way! .... for a rebuilt engine? GET REAL!



IMHO