ironheart1

Hey, what's up guys? My friend just picked up an '86 Berlinetta 5-speed from a mutual friend real cheap... And is letting me drive it around until I can get something more stable of my own. He doesn't mind, really. He'd rather be driving his 2002 SLP Camaro anyway (wouldn't you)? But I'm rambling, so on to my questions.

I started the car and let it warm up today, after 30 seconds of turning over without starting. It has a 305 HO (eew) and a T-5. The clutch is pretty new and makes no noise, but I think something's up with the carb. The exhaust makes enormous amounts of smoke (no antifreeze smell though) and makes a slight tapping noise (even though the catback is brand new). After I shut it off (I warmed it up to 190*) the passenger-side exhaust tip smoked like mad (same smell the exhaust makes when car is running). Also, it idles at about 1500RPM. Sounds to me like the previous owner had no clue at all and I need to adjust it. Sound to you guys like its running rich?

Also, I wanted to know if I could remove the belt that spins the AC to reduce accesory drag. I know this is not really a big jump in power (if any) but the less I have under the hood, the less stuff there is to break (I've had bad, bad luck with my beloved American cars thus far). I'd also like the car to not be so slow... Aside from a 350 swap, what are some of your favorite, low-to-no-budget mods for this vehicle? Currently all it has is a new catback and 3.73s.

Thanks for your time, guys. I really appreciate it

teke184

not to sure on the cause of the problem, but one thing is that the car should only have a single pipe running to the muffler, then dual tips.
so the "smell" from one side thing is kindda pointless.

i would just do a basic tune up:
cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel filter

and maybe take it someplace ot have the carb tuned

teke184

get it running decent, then worry about the mods

cheap/free mods:

-160 degree thermostat
-open element air filter, possibly a type of snorkel intake for cold air
-bump the timing a few degrees and run good gas
-carb spacer
-intake manifold, like edelbrock performer or performer RPM
-new coil and maybe an ignition box (not sure how well these work on carbed cars)
-underdrive pullies

if you wanted to tear into the engine a bit, i would think a cheap set of 1.6ratio stamped steel roller tip rockers and some new springs would wake up the car, get a bit more lift out of the peanut cam and at the same time replace the tired valve springs.

Rice Killer87

when it started up and u said it smoked,what color was it?

blue=oil
black=fuel
white=coolant

u should be able to adjust the idle down to 600 or 700 w/ the idle screw. there should be a screw located on the same piece on the carb where the throttle cable connects to.

hope that helps

ironheart1

It's strange... I know the usual weird exhaust colors for trouble-shooting purposes, but its just light to medium grey exhaust. I suppose it may be a hair darker than it should be and it does smell very strong. The smell is just like a normal exhaust smell, but it is much stronger.

I'll take strong-smelling exhaust over the blown head gasket in my Fix or Repair Daily.

Oh, and I have a feeling the tach might be off.. It "redlines" at 6000+ when I'm pretty sure it's not even hitting 4500 or so and the tach needle wobbles funny.

Thanks, guys.