Smoke and oil leak - are they related?

[mm1000]

Hello

I have a 1975 1800 Spider. It has sat for many years in a dry garage but I went through the engine replacing cam belt, all hoses, adding electronic ignition, new alternator etc. It started up and runs really well but there are two problems. One is there is an oil leak from the back of the L.H. camshaft housing dropping down onto the gearbox bell housing. I'm guessing a gasket has failed but any idea which one and can I replace it with the engine in the car.

The other is that it is smoking a bit. Is this likely to be piston rings or valve stem seals - or something else. Removing / stripping the head is probably the limit of my abilities but an engine rebuild is beyond me!

Any help would b much appreciated!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-sJWT ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-sJWT ... sp=sharing

Ben

[GeorgeT]

How many miles on the car? These engines usually require a rebuild around 80,000 - 100,000 miles or so.

[DUCeditor]

My 1977 has dripped oil in that way -- and smoked a bit when sitting after a hard drive -- for as long as I have owned her. Now 28 years. She has about 120,000 miles on her.

I run her just on weekends -- short jaunts on two lane back roads -- between April and mid-November.

She leaves no smoke trail. A cardboard 'diaper' under her in garage keeps things tolerably clean. About half way through the driving season I add a half quart of oil to keep her 'topped up.'

Still I was considering a full rebuild and asked my mechanic about it. He knows her well -- having cared for all her needs for the last six years. (including front end rebuild, brakes rebuild, gas tank replacement, etc.) His shop has the words "restoration services" in its title.

"Why?" he asked. "She runs well and pulls hard."

And he is right, she does both. All that expense for... what?

Now others can certainly feel differently. They want their Spiders to be pretty much as new. Mine is a beautiful, fun, old sportscar. She is now. She would be still after the thousands had been spent.

-don

[mm1000]

Thanks for your replies. As my car has done 85,000 miles I was hoping a rebuild was a fair few miles away!!

My ideal scenario would be just maintaining it with occasional use and not carrying out a full rebuild! However we have the MOT in the UK and I don't think it will get through with the smoke.....

[riverdadd]

I had a oil drip in the same area on my spider that took forever to find.... i replaced seals in distributor, and all gaskets , several times, and it still would drip oil onto the exhaust manifold....... i finally found a hair line crack in the cam tower where the distributor inserts. I found the crack by using a wire brush on a dremel and it revealed the crack . It was in a difficult area to see clearly so i used an inspection mirror and once the oil was hot you could watch the drip slip from under the distributor mating surface.... .............. I'm telling this so that everyone will think to look at other solutions instead of just gaskets and seals.... hope this helps someone in the future.....

[mm1000]

That's interesting - I can see old dripping as well which makes me wonder about gaskets.

[buzzyb]

I have oil leak in the right side in the back by the exhaust manifold and running down to bellhousing and then onto exhaust pipe,head gasket is good,can,t find the leak,anybody with suggestions,vavle cover gaskets are new,I can,t find it,been trying for a couple years,didn,t pull engine,only 61000 original miles,one owner,it is a 75 sport spider 1800.Thank,s Buzzy!