Ive got a 78 with a 454 in it that i just bought a few months ago, it was such a steal (body is perfect) that i didnt bother to have it checked out closely before the purchase. i figured if the engine was good then great if not, its still a great deal and ill just put something new in it. 3 freeze plugs were popped when i got it and i had new ones put in 2 on the left side of the block. the guy i bought it from put dual electric fans in it and i let a buddy drive it (big mistake) he forgot to turn on the fans, ran it really hot, just once though. Now that im starting to work on it i noticed its dripping just a little antifreeze just on the inside of my front left tire under the back pipe of my headers and i also noticed that where the back pipe of the headers meets the block it smokes like its burning a liquid up. do you think i could have a blown head gasket or maybe one of the freeze plugs wasnt put in correctly? what are some other signs of either? its also having rough acceleration right at the lower gears, feels like a gap or lag in power before it really starts moving then its fine. correct me if im wrong but my first thought is misfire which means low compression with means blown head gasket. Im 20 and this is my first project car so im really new to all of it, the help is much appreciated.

 

Could be the gasket or worse the head is cracked.

 

Best if could actually see where it is leaking from. Remove all plugs and look for wet plugs or coolant in combustion chamber. Do a compression check, bad gasket will show low compression on one or more cylinders. Two adjacent cylinders with low compression indicates gasket blown between them.

The sign of a bad freeze out plug is a leak. You need to look more, lol.

 

will do, thanks!