How much smoke is too much?

[Yewhi]

Hey Guys,

I'm gonna' bug you all with another ignorant question.

I have a 55' series 1 with a stock 235 that I've had for a little more than a month. I've been working my way through some relatively minor issues. I've replaced all fluids, fuel filter, points (gapped @ 0/019) plugs (gapped @0.035) condensor, cap and rotor as well as the plug wires and checked the timing. I also rebuilt the carb (PO had the throttle cable connected to the choke and vise versa but that's another story) and set the mixture with using a tach. It starts everytime, the first time and idles smoothly.

My question is how much smoke from these old beasts is normal? I notice quite a bit under acceleration or load (climbing a hill). Doesn't appear to be abnormal smoke (ie. not blue black), just a bit more than I expected. Never having owned one of these, I was just curious whether this was normal as everything else seems to be working fine.

Thanks in advance!

T

[Highsider]

Won't the CHP let you know? (sorry, couldn't resist)

[Yewhi]

Originally Posted by Highsider

Won't the CHP let you know? (sorry, couldn't resist)

Not any more... It hasn't been the same since Erik Estrada retired from the force....

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by Highsider

Won't the CHP let you know? (sorry, couldn't resist)

Yep, that's been the experience that people I know from or who drove in Cali with vehicles that smoked too much had.

How much oil is it going through?

If you have run a compression test and the compression is good you may just have to replace the valve seals to cut down on the smoke.

I think what I would do is run a compression test and see what the compression is. That should tell you the condition of the rings.
I would hook a vacuum gauge to it and see what it says as far as engine condition as it can tell you if you have loose valve guides and what not. There are a lot of pages of vacuum gauge reading decoding on the net and in most repair manuals.

I'm not a huge fan of snake oil but some oil additive might help a bit and probably won't hurt any. Lucas seems to have good stuff that a lot of guys swear by.

[Yewhi]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Yep, that's been the experience that people I know from or who drove in Cali with vehicles that smoked too much had.

How much oil is it going through?

If you have run a compression test and the compression is good you may just have to replace the valve seals to cut down on the smoke.

I think what I would do is run a compression test and see what the compression is. That should tell you the condition of the rings.
I would hook a vacuum gauge to it and see what it says as far as engine condition as it can tell you if you have loose valve guides and what not. There are a lot of pages of vacuum gauge reading decoding on the net and in most repair manuals.

I'm not a huge fan of snake oil but some oil additive might help a bit and probably won't hurt any. Lucas seems to have good stuff that a lot of guys swear by.

Thanks!

That is exactly what I was looking for. Not to certain about oil consumption just yet but it appears to be minimal. I changed the oil when I got it and it hasn't been using it but then I probably haven't driven it enough to see it. PO said it wasn't burning any but then he was also running it with the choke stuck 3/4 closed and not noticing it, so that's probably not worth much.

I will definitely check the compression next. I haven't done it yet as I've been dealing with a miriad of other issues. That said, it has been lurking in the back of my mind. Likewise, I haven't even thought about checking the vacuum so you've given me something to follow up on. I'd rather fix it right than have to rely on an additive. Even if it helps not knowing what it is doing in there makes me more than a little nervous.

Thanks again for the advice! This is very helpful!

Tim

[OrrieG]

If it hasn't been ran for a while it will take a few miles, driving on a regular basis, for the seals and rings to seal up. When I got my 64 Chevelle it had only been driven once a month for maybe an hour. It smoked and used oil for the first couple of hundred miles than quit, running ok. I wouldn't panic unless it is still doing it after "re-breaking" it in. Same applys to brake seals, they may feel a little soft untils they reseat.

[Yewhi]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

If it hasn't been ran for a while it will take a few miles, driving on a regular basis, for the seals and rings to seal up. When I got my 64 Chevelle it had only been driven once a month for maybe an hour. It smoked and used oil for the first couple of hundred miles than quit, running ok. I wouldn't panic unless it is still doing it after "re-breaking" it in. Same applys to brake seals, they may feel a little soft untils they reseat.

Thanks! It seems to be running really well once I exercised the Carburetion demons. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it isn't something major. It clearly wasn't being driven much at all. Maybe once a month and probably less. PO had more $$$ (and cars) than common sense and this was the low one on the totem pole. Hopefully that is all it is but I'll follow up on everything just to cover my bases.

Thanks again!

T