Hey all im currently restoring my interior and when i went to install the front carpet i couldnt get the seatbelt screws ( using the star tips ) to loosen up. and in the process i think i may have stripped them, is there still a way to get them out without taking it someplace to get them removed?

Also there was a second problem i ran into as well, i went to take the car for a drive and i noticed smoke coming from the engine, when i opened the hood i noticed a white smoke ( like oil or something burning ) coming from the exhaust manifold area or near the valve cover, just wondered if this sounds like it could be a leaky valve cover and the oil is burning off or something. oh and this is happening on both sides of the engine.

 

could drill and tap the seat belt bolts out. remove new carpet and use an angle grinder to cut them almost flush. drill them tap them install new bolts.


your leak does sound like a valve cover gasket also

 

Maybe there's something wrong with my engine, but any time I've worked on something like my headers, intake, or anything related to the ports on my engine it always ends up burning off some smoke when I crank it (and I go crazy wondering if I'm f---ing something up) but it usually goes away within a minute or two... I assume little amounts of dirt etc get burned off. or maybe that's just wishful thinking...

 

When you work on your engine, If you are anything like me, you ALWAYS get some oil/grit/grime/whatever on the parts that get really hot. This stuff will burn off as the parts get hot. Normal. Made me nervous the first couple times too......

 

that's what i figured... for whatever reason my greasy hands or feet or whatever will end up smearing grease or oils or whatever on the headers and they start smoking... I usually check the plug wires to make sure they aren't resting on headers, other than that, there's nothing you can do except wait for it to go away.