My '84 Trans Am has been spitting out a little bit of smoke for a LONG time now when it starts up, and I always believed it to be just worn valve seats. For the past two months, she's thrown out a LOT of smoke at startup that comes out for up to five seconds after starting the engine. Am I looking at a problem with the rings, or just P.O.S. seats? Would it be easier for me just to throw those new Edelbrock heads on instead of tearing the junk stock ones apart? I've only got the 305 LG4 engine.

 

Still sounds like valve seals AND valve guides. How much oil is it using?


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350 with stealth intake, holley carb, 470 lift cam. 700r4 with .5 boost valve, vette servo, tci lock-up kit, B&M megashifter. Richmond 3.73 gears, powertrax locker, timkin bearings, synthetic lube. Custom 3 inch single into 2 2.5 pipes. 1 1/2 drop springs, 1 5/16 solid front sway bar, 1 inch rear bar, custom subframe connectors, custom LCA relocation brackets. Kobel ground FX, current red metallic paint. Lots of other stuff...
82camaro

 

Easy way to check which it is. Get a compression tester, check compression dry, record findings. Squirt small amount of oil in cylinder, recheck compression, if it goes up the rings, if it doesn't valve guides and seals. Hope this helps.

 

Most likely it's the valve guide seals. SBC motors are famous for always needing them, no matter whether it's a LG4, or the LT-1 from the early 70s, or L98 or whatever, they're all about the same.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Just point for clarification, but a compression test won't tell you about the condition of the seals or guides.

May have just been confusion on how the question was worded.

 

O.k. let me reword my answer, the compression test I suggested will tell you whether you have piston, rings, cylinder wall problems or if it is head related. By squirting the oil in the cylinder you temporarily seal the bottom end. Trust me, I've been doing this awhile and has worked every time.