OK guys, Im stumped again. My freshly rebuilt 350 is acting strange. Im running dual exhaust on the car, one pipe is sooty and puffing a little bit of smoke and the other pipe looks normal. Ive played with my mixture and it doesnt seem to change anything. Running a 'Brock 600 CFM. Engine has between 400-700 miles on it. Any guesses?

 

umm please dont tell me youraced or got on it at all... 500 miles your suppose to baby it. Check the head gasket, then pray its fixed

 

Head gasket? Coolant? Nope, its not coolant. That I can tell you with 100% certainity. Its black soot. Oil or fuel. The engine was broken in properly.

 

GOOD DEAL!! Did you check your valves?

 

No, I havnt checked the valves. Other than a compression or leakdown test, how would I check them?

 

Well, maybe this will help, but I dont like the looks of it. I pulled the plugs on the driver side today. The first 3 plugs were nasty oil fouled. All the others looked good. I cleaned em off and put them back in. I guess all I can do is keep an eye on it.

 

May want to check the valve stem seals, sometimes they get damaged during assembly

 

I GIVE UP ON THIS STUPID CAR! I drove to my brothers house tonight and took him for a quick spin. I was trying to show off and went to do a brake stand and spin my tires. Nothing. Engine just sat and strained against the brakes. Couldnt spin the tires to save my life. ARGH! I did it last week! Why not now! SO now my fresh (and SECOND I might mention) 350 is smoking and lost some power! I tell you, Im gonna sell this car to the first person to make me a decent offer!

 

bad day bro, umm should take it easy on her for a little while, did you get the valves checked at all?

 

No, all I did was pull the plugs. Like I said, the first 2 were FILTHY and the 3rd was dirty. But Im more concerned about this recent loss of power. I know breaking your tires loose is of minimal consequences to most people, but Ive always wanted a car that could do it and now shes crippled again. Im gonna go futz with my mixture screws again tonight and see if it helps. If not, Im gonna blow my car up. Seriously. OK, maybe not seriously......