valve cover position?

[jeffdgale]

I'm about to replace the valve covers on the 400ci SBC in my '74 Avanti II. I was wondering if it made a difference what side or where the PCV, Breather and Oil Fill cap went? Reason being that the oil fill cap is in a difficult place and I thought either switching sides of the motor or fliping the cover front-to-back so the oil fill is toward the front fo the engine would make it easier. Thanks for any input.

[Gunslinger]

It shouldn't matter as long as all are there. Remember the engine was designed for a GM car, not an Avanti, so ease of service in a non-GM car was not a consideration. Even then, service access for many GM cars was bad...just look at many Corvettes of that era.

Many custom small block Chevy installations do away with the breather sometimes. On my '70 I only have the PCV on one valve cover and the breather/oil fill on the other. Admittedly, in 1970 there wasn't as much in the way of emissions controls as on a '74.

You can combine the breather and oil fill to save the extra hole in the valve cover.