Can a head gasket leak into the crankcase?

[this old xs]

So here it is! After about 120ish miles. For comparison the photo with an oil puddle on the carby was about 20 miles!



I think I can live with this, so I reckon I'll call it good. Thanks again Jim, and thanks everyone for chipping in. Chirping seems to stop under load and come back at idle or very light loads. Can disappear when fully hot then randomly start again. Something probably not right there, but maybe good enough. I'll either tee it back into the airboxes or maybe a cheap catch can off ebay.

I do have this going on:



But I'm hoping that's from the pot I had catching the oil. It's open topped and I didn't remove it yet because you have to take the airboxes off and i was being lazy.

My 1968 Ford Fairmont had a road draft tube, never breathed heavy though so I never saw anything come out it.

 

[gggGary]

I get a weird chirping noise which I thought was the check valve, but it's definitely not. I have no idea what's going on with that, it sounds like a baby bird, or far off car alarm.

That chirping is almost always a choke housing that's loose.

 

[this old xs]

Thanks gggGarry, buy it's definitely coming out the breather. Gets louder if I move my right leg out from the tank so it's not blocking the sound. I'll check the choke screws anyway, since I did replace the plungers.

 

[eidemaddin]

That chirping is almost always a choke housing that's loose.

I can only agree. It's not that easy to pinpoint the exact source of that kind of noise. But if you press a crumpled, damp towel against the choke housing, the little birdy falls silent in what feels like 90% of cases.

 

[this old xs]

I also have a very mild chirp at idle from the left hand exhaust. I couldn't reach the choke screws on that side though, obviously.

 

[gggGary]

I also have a very mild chirp at idle from the left hand exhaust. I couldn't reach the choke screws on that side though, obviously.

"Choke chirp" comes from the choke plate area not from the exhaust...

 

[this old xs]

Ah! I think my exhaust one is something to do with the butterfly shaft seals. I recall I made a mistake when buying them and ended up with 3 instead of 4.

The other chirp is 100% coming from the breather. With it sitting on top of the carb, it's very easy to pinpoint. It was there Monday morning but after I changed the oil Monday night it stopped. Coincidence I'm sure, will see tomorrow.