170 vent question

[oldford63]

To many of you this will be a silly question, but here goes.
I have a 1963 Falcon with a 170 inline 6. This is my first time owning a car this old. The engine has an open ended pipe coming out of the drivers side. I understand this vents the engine air and that newer engines have this vent running from the valve cover into the air cleaner instead.
If I install the air cleaner set up can I remove that vent pipe and put a freeze plug in it's place?
Every time I stop in traffic people look at the smoke venting out of the front of the car and by the looks they give me they must think my engine is about to blow up or something. I told you guys it was a silly question but would like some confirmation before I go ahead with this one.

[pbrown]

What you speak of is a PCV system or Positive Crankcase Ventalation. It is an improvement over the old road draft tube but may not help as much as you want. Your engine is just worn out from what I'm reading.

You'll need a valve cover from a later 200 engine that has the provision for the PCV valve. Swap that out and plumb the valve to an intake vacuum source. You can use the base of the carb or the intake log.

[oldford63]

Thanks for the information. I told a hard look at that vent pipe after reading your reply and found a large build up of hardened oil towards the open end. I am going to clean this off of the pipe and see if the excessive smoke goes away.

Thanks again for your time,
Guy