well, I put a deposit down on a 1980 camaro tonight. I am paying the rest tomorrow.

Its supposedly a 383 with vortec heads, .480 lift comp cam, th350 with a shift kit and 3.73 gears.

It drives really nice, but I think it needs the timing adjusted. I'm really excited about this. Its my first camaro. W00T!

 

Good luck, put a blower on it.

 

First things first I gotta take delivery on monday. I have the money worked out, thank god.

Then I gotta look over the build sheet and see exactly what the internals are. And I need to learn to drive this thing. I never took it over 4000 rpm and I think it has a lot more in it.

 

So, now I get to sort through all of the issues with this motor.

The temp gauge moves, but it sits really low when cruising. Just above the 100 mark.

There is a big puff of smoke right away when you get on it, but it goes away when you stay in it.

The exhaust is all junk. It has shorties and dual exhaust, but the pipes are hanging really low and it leaks EVERYWHERE. Luckily it comes with long tubes (which look like they have big primaries).

I smell a little coolant when I open it up...

It diesels really bad when you shut it off.

So any suggestions?

I plan on checking the timing later this week. Tonight I am going to check the fluids again after that 2 hour drive last night.

I'm really hoping I don't have a blown head gasket, and I'm starting to think thats not the problem. It doesn't smoke all the time and it never got hot.

 

Adjust the timing first like you were saying,thats a good start.

The dieseling could be from the timing being too far advanced OR not high-enough octane fuel is being run (example running 87 or 89 instead of 93).

OR

They could have it locked out...which means its running the set timing all the time instead of having initial timing to start it and vacuum advance to let it go up w/ RPM's.

Sounds like a strong engine,but the cam looks on the small side for a 383,just my thoughts.

Get back to us.

 

I filled the tank with premium, so either 91 or 93 octane.

I will check the distributor tonight, see what kind of advance it uses. I won't have a chance to get a light on it until later this week.

The cam is as big as can be used with vortec heads. That is my understanding at least. Its a .480 lift on both sides with ~231 duration and 110 LSA.

The motor makes good power from 3000-5000 rpm as it sits. I'm a bit afraid of revving it higher than that right now, and I'm sure that a new exhaust will help tremendously on the top end.

 

OOHHH,im sorry I forgot that you had wrote Vortec heads.

Well in that case yea,thats all you can do unless you pull them off and have them machine for bigger springs and the valve stem seat ground down. That cam should pull pretty good to 5,000-5,500,and thats a very good range for Vortec heads.

What kinda intake manifold is on it?

Yes,new exhaust and those long tubes will help alot. Exhaust leaks KILL performance,get her finished up and itll run like a champ .

 

Its got a Performer RPM Air-gap.

The coolant and smoke cloud scare me, but I won't know more until I check the fluids tonight. I plan on pulling the radiator cap to check for oil.

Any reason it would run so cold?

When I let it warm up at the gas station, the temp rose to the mark before 210, then the electric fan kicked on and the temps went back down. Like I said, it hovers right over the 100 mark most of the time. I gotta get some aftermarket gauges on this thing.

As it sits now, it will chirp 2nd and 3rd, but I think most of that is from the shift kit.

 

Sounds like it might not have a thermostat in it,or the one thats in it opens to early. It might have like a 160 in it and maybe it needs like a 180 to keep the temp up while driving. Even those cheap triple gauge pods SunPro and AutoGage make are great just for the fact that they're mechanical instead of relying on the almost-30 year old gauges lol.

A puff of smoke when you first nail it is normal,indicates richness (as long as its black smoke) which is good....better than lean and not knowing it. White smoke usually isnt good..unless its cold outside then its normal. Make sure the radiator and the overflow are both full/where they are supposed to be and after the next trip check it when you get back home to make sure the coolant isnt going places it shouldnt be.

Chirping gears is good,that means they put a decent shift kit in it and the trans has atleast been apart and shouldve been rebuilt with a motor like that in front of it.

 

I do have a 195F thermostat, which I think I will swap in. I can't imagine that running that cold is good for power.

Any rough estimates as to what it should run when its running sharp?

 

When you get bored one day,buy a thermostat gasket for like a buck and pull it off and check whats in there first. The engine running that cold isnt good for power OR the engine oil. The warm engine heat helps keep the oil "clean" and helps keep it from crudding up the motor as well.

Rough estimate as far as...?

 

I have a new thermostat and gasket sitting in my room. I could use some RTV though.

Any guesstimate on quarter mile capability?

 

Its hard to say without seeing the car in person and knowing gear ratio,etc. but my guess would be in the 13's. Which isnt too bad if its a full weight car...these things arent light.

 

Quite honestly I'll be very happy if I end up in the 13s once its driving nice.

I can always have the heads redone later and throw in a bigger cam.

It has some sort of 1.5 ratio rockers as well. Not sure if they're roller or anything.

Oh yeah, the build sheet says eagle h-beams and balanced internals as well.

 

Ok so I believe I'm running terribly rich. It smokes a lot of gas at startup and idle, and I believe the large puff of smoke when accelerating is gas as well.

I have good reason to believe that I have a large fuel pump in the tank, as there is a loud whining noise coming from the trunk. I have a regulator under the hood that seems to be set to 6 psi.

Could this cause me to run very rich?