Walgreens catch can

vette427sbc

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Sep 25, 2008
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Jersey Shore
Tired of having breathers spit oil all over my valve covers, so I made a quick and cheap catch can setup.

Got a 6ft length of 3/4" heater hose with 2 elbows and a T. All found in the "Help!" section at autozone/etc... The hose was $6 and the elbows and T were around $10.
Picked up an aluminum water bottle in the clearance bin at Walgreens... $5
I drilled the top to fit a grommet, and the side to thread in the hose barb.
A little sanding (it was a pink water bottle ;)) and its good to go!

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Been doing a bunch of other little projects too:
I replaced the headlamp warning light with a low oil pressure light. It comes on at 20psi or less. Sprayed some yellow tint on a piece of lexan and cut out an exclamation point (the traditional oil symbol is way to hard to cut out that small).

High quality picture:
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Also got my bubble filter assembly to fit under my BB/LT1 hood... I had to do a bit of trimming to drop the base even more. I had to cut out two small holes for the fuel bowls, but other than that, the base clears all of my throttle linkage and fuel inlets

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No pictures of my last project yet, but I got a roll of Alcantara that Im in the process of wrapping my headliner and A-pillar pieces with. The t-top center panel is getting a homelink garage door opener molded in too. :waxer: :waxer:
 
The t-top center panel is getting a homelink garage door opener molded in too. :waxer: :waxer:

Single best mod I have made to my 87 and 02 Vettes. I put then in the drivers sunvisor :thumbs:

Since my console is all custom, I put the button in there, mounted the transmitter up and behind the wiper controls in my '72 a basic Sears Tx unit from years ago, just the circuit board.....shorted out the normal button functions, ran ONE wire to the switch that has some resistor in it to knock down 12 volts to whatever that battery they used was......made it easy...

see one of the sites for a shot of the console/interior....

:shocking:
 
From a fabrication standpoint I think you did a nice job. I'm a bit confused why it was necessary, though. Is there no closed loop PCV system on the engine? I like spending track time with my '69, but I haven't run into any problems with the stock PCV system.

Just curious.
 
I was thinking something similar in-line in the PVC system with some filter media in the can....instead of the breather, the top would have a hose routed to the carb.

Nice work.
 
I like your resourcefulness and creativity, neat job! Leaking breathers can sometimes be cleaned up with a wrist sweat band slipped over them. Your Walgreen's water bottle is a clever solution and different idea.
 
Thanks guys :thumbs:

69427- I never had a PCV setup on the car. Wasnt there when I bought it. I had regular breathers on it, and since these valve covers didnt have any baffles, I was stuck using the crappy push-in rubber grommet/baffle combo. They would always collect oil and spit out of the breather. Im going to do some hard driving and see how much oil I collect in the catch can. Hopefully its minimal.
:beer:
 
Thanks guys :thumbs:

69427- I never had a PCV setup on the car. Wasnt there when I bought it. I had regular breathers on it, and since these valve covers didnt have any baffles, I was stuck using the crappy push-in rubber grommet/baffle combo. They would always collect oil and spit out of the breather. Im going to do some hard driving and see how much oil I collect in the catch can. Hopefully its minimal.
:beer:

If you are pushing oil out the breather and valve covers, it makes me think you are getting blow-by from broken rings. I kept battling leaky valve covers and oil from the breathers and suspected blow by. I took it to my auto machine shop for an evaluation and the opinion was there was no indication to support my suspicion. I guess there are degrees of this problem and mine wasn't that bad. I tore the engine down six months later and the top rings fell off the pistons as soon as they came out of the bore. The PO refreshed the engine, but failed to gap the rings properly. BTW...the engine ran fine, but pushed oil out as leaks at the rate of a pint every 200 miles. Just something to think about.
 
I like your can, nice job :thumbs: i have one in my passenger fender well, i will take a pic and post it later. Mine does have a drain in the bottom.
 
Impressive solution for a pain in the neck problem. I'll try it out very soon! :thankyou:

Arne
 
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Did you put a drain in the can?

I wonder. Could a can like that have a drain line with a check valve to the sump? Engine off, gravity drain to sump. Engine on, check valve keeps it from blowing back.
 
Thanks guys :thumbs:

69427- I never had a PCV setup on the car. Wasnt there when I bought it. I had regular breathers on it, and since these valve covers didnt have any baffles, I was stuck using the crappy push-in rubber grommet/baffle combo. They would always collect oil and spit out of the breather. Im going to do some hard driving and see how much oil I collect in the catch can. Hopefully its minimal.
:beer:

Just wondering.....how did this work out for you?
 
Thanks guys :thumbs:

69427- I never had a PCV setup on the car. Wasnt there when I bought it. I had regular breathers on it, and since these valve covers didnt have any baffles, I was stuck using the crappy push-in rubber grommet/baffle combo. They would always collect oil and spit out of the breather. Im going to do some hard driving and see how much oil I collect in the catch can. Hopefully its minimal.
:beer:

Just wondering.....how did this work out for you?

So far so good... havent checked how much oil has collected in the can yet. I should probably do that soon :rolleyes:
 
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