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Ok so let me start by saying I have a 1987 Sport Coupe 305 with a carb. When I bought the car it was riding sweet, all I had to do was put gas and go, beautiful throttle response, fast, no leaks no problems at all. One thing did happen though, after a while the water pump started to make a noise so I got it replaced, shortly after driving off the lot the car overheated twice boiling over into the reservoir tank. After those times it never happened again and never did I experience overheating.

(I forgot to mention I owned a Nova with a beefed up 350 so I was used to a fast car, naturally I would be driving the camaro the same way) So one day im hauling butt and stop at the store real quick to put gas, then I noticed the car leaking water, to my surprise there was water spewing out of the intake. Apparently there was water in the engine instead of coolant so the water corroded the water passages to the point the gasket couldnt seal it anymore, so I bought a Professional Products Aluminum intake just for a little upgrade.

So as soon as its installed I leave the mechanics and floor it and to my surprise, it was slower than when I had the original intake!! So I retard the timing a bit and damn did that thing kick even better, later on that day I had to pick up my wife from work so when I drive there about 5 miles away, of course Im hauling butt because it drives extremely great but as soon as I get to her work, the damn thing boils its water into the reservoir.

So I say oh well and put coolant and drive home, drove it like that for a month or so. So one day me and my friend take the car out for a cruise so we end up racing a honda,get to my destination and go back home and once again, it boiled over. In the mean time we have a couple beers and decide we want to go to a bar about 11 miles away. . . . . . BUT I FORGET TO PUT COOLANT IN IT!!!

So im driving to the bar and it almost makes it there!!! But it starts to feel slower and slower so I down shift to 2nd and drive for the fear it was going to die in the middle of traffic, and sure enough it does when I try to shift to third

So it sputters and I pull into a store and it starts to smoke and doesnt even crank over anymore, so I leave it for the night and come back the next day, put water in it just for the drive and to my surprise it started right up but smelled VERY funny like burned plastic. I drive it home and it seems to be doing ok except for a huge loss of power, very sluggish, I dont mind though because its my only car and im glad its still running.

Well ever since then of course there was a huge lack of power and I never would I be able to step on it again without it overheating, so as of now the timing is advanced to where it has just an ok take off but doesnt haul butt.

So to summarize what happened, after in stalling the intake I would try to drive it fast all the time (Why wouldnt I be able to when I was able to do so as much as I wanted to with the original intake with no problem, why not with a newer one right??) Its been overheating a lot to the point where it spilled most of its water and I ran it on empty coolant until the car stalled out on me and since then i have never been able to drive it fast without it overheating, if I drive it normal however its ok.

So far Ive been reading a lot of common problems of overheating on this website and done the following, checked to see if the air dam was there and it seems to be pointing into the radiator. Ive installed a failsafe 160 degree tstat and all thats done is make the car warm up faster of course, still gets progressively hotter on normal driving conditions. Replaced the bottom hose to the engine because the old one would collapse when i would rev the engine, fully flushed out the coolant system with a solvent and the fan is configured in the way it turns on as soon as I turn the key, why leads me to my last question, does anyone think I have a blown head gasket??? There is no white smoke coming from the mufflers or coolAnt in my water so far but im still unsure what I should do or try next. Sorry for the extensive post I just wanted to provide as much details as possible, thanks guys!!

 

To summarize your summary... you drove it without coolant until it siezed?

 

Well yea basically, but i mean as soon as I installed the intake it started to overheat. To the point where I forgot to put coolant in it one time and it did die, it still runs now I just want to know what I can do to prevent it from overheating in general, im tired of driving it like its some sort of 4 banger.

 

I'd be more worried about the damage that's already been done.

 

Ohhhhkay so do I plan on purchasing a new engine? How can I tell exactly what the problem may be because it starts right up, like I said oil has no water in it and its not emitting white smoke, it just progressively heats up under normal driving conditions and I need an idea of what to do since it is my only car that I drive daily.

 

So your car overheats so bad that all your coolant goes into the overflow. You probably have a leak somewhere or your coolant going to your oil. I have a crack in my radiator and it will not leak until my car gets to 190. Your probably have a blown head gasket now running your car that hot. If your car hits 260+ you have about 5-15 mins mins until you do some damage to the engine. If you have a compression guage I would do a compression test on all 8 cylinders. Do you have your fan blowing the right way? Water pump still good? Is your thermostat opening up? Do you have a gauge telling you your temp?