i just fired up my newly rebuilt 355. got everything all hooked had a short problem with the starter but all fixed. when its running it has a little choppy idle and it starts putting out white smoke only out the pass side out of the exhaust. i have open headers thats how i know what side. looked at all the plugs they had ashy carbon deposits on them and where not gaped to the right size. fixed the gap it idles better but is putting out more white smoke. is it burning coolant or oil. is it the head gasket or is the block cracked or is it the heads are bad. car is a 89 tpi

it smells like unburning gas not like oil or coolant there is a pic of the spark plug

White smoke is coolant.

right but look at the spark plug it doesnt look like coolant

that plug looks rich....really rich......but white smoke is coolant....check your oil and coolant overflow...if nothing check under your valve covers there may be signs there. if this is a fresh rebuilt motor then something is not adding up..

most deff something isnt adding up. i was talking with one guy today he said it might be bad gas and that i should get some 92 oct and get some booster as well to flush out the old gas. i know gas doesnt break down right away but its been sitting since at least last october and i added that fuel stablizer to it so i am thinking that is the problem

ok so the smoke looks more blue now and gets worst as it gets warmer. if you go into the smoke it burns my eyes. i lowered the fuel pressure down to around 40-50. does it sound like oil or bad gas

What is your timing set at?

new build..... chrome molly rings? they take awhile to seat!

"New engine", rich plugs and blue smoke?

If a lot of gas ended up in the crank case (lots of start attempts?), it can thin out the oil so much it will pass into the combustion chambers and burn blue.

It happned to me. Lots of start attempts and flooding. Oil looked clean because it had a lot of gas in it. Oil level appeared high. Smoked like it was on fire. I thought the engine was ruined.

I solved the flooding, changed the oil and the smoking stopped immediatley.

Start with the cheapest things first - good luck

the timming is roughly set so it will idle. i have to set it still. i am not sure what type of rings they are. i got them from an eagle rotating assambly i forget what kind of rings that included. tryed to start the engine maybe 3 times before moving the disturbuter around. but that sounds like there might be something to that.

timming is set and after i let it run for a bit it started to smooth out but still smoked and then started to over heat so i need a new radiator.

over heat...air in block

that could be it i have to take a look at that since its new

White smoke (coolant) and eventually overheating, could be (head) gasket leak?
At least thats what I've heard. Is the oil milky?
I don't want to make it sound so drastic, though... It could be many things. New motors are like that.

Sometimes unburnt gas can be gray rather than black.
Also what DZcode said. Alot of start attempts can flood the engine.

Is it a TPI? Do you need a chip tune? What size injectors are you running?
If you make a lot of changes, the stock chip might not be able to compesate.

I "borrowed" a coolant pressure testing kit from Auto Zone to check for a coolant leak two weeks ago. They charge $80 but refund you when you bring it back. (Don't keep it too long or you won't get the refund.) Hook it up, pump it up and watch the gauge to see if it will hold pressure. Also, run the engine with it connected and if the gauge bounces, you'll know there is combustion pressure getting into the cooling system

It's better to know what the real problem is before you start replacing working parts. I don't know why I can't follow my own advice though.

ok so from what i am looking at right now the engine was over heating from air bubble in the system. got that fixed but then my coolant gauge broke so i dont know if its still over heating. i got the timming set right this time its at around 6-8 now before it was off the timming set. it runs really nice now but still smokes. i looked at the oil it looked clean and smelled like gas so that is the problem there i am thinking. so i have to change the spark plugs,oil and fix the temp gauge and i will get bac to you all to give an up date.

tol ya . . . air in block

ya gotsta purge dem tings before you fire em up the first time.

hopefully you did not get it too hot and warped something

you can set your initial timing at 12-13 especialy with a modified engine!

that did it gas in the oil and break in lube. changed plugs and took it for a drive no smoke. still a problem with the temp gauge tho dont know what that could be.

You could also have leaky or stuck open injectors on that side of the motor....

yea thats what i was thinking as well but it seems to not smoke all the time just when ever it feels like it so that would be a good reason