Ok here goes. I have a 91 camaro, 305 tbi. Over the past week at school me and my buddy installed hooker shorty headers and hooker y pipe. I put in Accel "header" spark plugs for clearance. We went for the first test drive and everything was fine until 5 minutes in my car died and would not even crank.

The next day we determined that the thick purple wire going from the starter up into a wiring harness in the engine bay was faulty. We spliced a new one into the harness.

Now my car will start and idle for about 10 - 20 seconds before backfiring, dying, and shooting a puff of smoke out of the intake. Me and my dad drove it around the block with the RPM's going crazy up and down. We replaced the distributor cap and rotor and got the same results.

Looking for some advice on what to try next.

Forgot to mention that we also took out the AIR system at the time of the header install. We left the pump attatched, but removed everything else, I have the delete pulley, but have not yet installed it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

i would say you probably need to play with your timing, i think you have to advance when you install headers but i'm not sure.what color is the smoke? also did you make sure to do your firing order right? triple check.you should also make sure your air intake can keep up with the exhaust, better out means you need better in.. am i right or am i wrong you decide i'm not a mechanic just a fiddler.hope something helps you.hey maybe those new plug aren't gapped right...

 

Sounds more like your fuel pump relay isn't staying on. It gets power when the key is first turned on, and I believe while cranking.

Check for other wire damage in that harness. You must have shorted something to the headers, right?

 

Yea, most likely. Will check that out tomorrow.
Thanks