Hey there everyone. First off, thanks for all your advice on buying a third gen! I finally got one!!!! I am now the proud owner of a 1988 Iroc Z28. It runs pretty well, but has a few problems. I would like your advice as to what I should work on first and how to go about doing so.
The first problem it has is the speedometer doesn't work. There for the mileage is unknown. Next I think it idles kind of low (I could be wrong) because it idles around 650-700ish. The AC doesn't work. I'm not quite sure what's wrong with it. Heat doesn't work either. I'm not even sure where to begin looking to see what's wrong with it.
It has a few other small things but here's the next one and what worries me the most... I didn't notice it at the time of sale, heck it didn't even start doing this until two days after I got it, but when you accelerate hard, blue smoke comes out of the exhaust. It's a good bit of smoke but it doesn't do it when I accelerate moderately. Not gonna lie, that last one scares me. The previous owner claimed to have the engine rebuilt and I brought along a friend who builds older muscle cars in his free time (he's a retired master chief of the navy where he was a nuclear engineer) and he said the engine looked, sounded and seemed to run well.
Basically I want everyone's input on what I should fix first (I'm thinking the speedo then the smoke thing) and what I can do to diagnose the problems.
Thanks for reading.

Will post pics soon!!

 

Congrats.. I would assume you are blowing oil.. might need a ring job... as usual, the guy lied to you.. no receipts, no rebuild.. waaay too often people claim this or say "the guy I bougjt it from said it was rebuilt" it's a utter bold face lie 99% of the time when they have no records! If you think idle is low get someone who has a timing gun that displays the rpm's. Going to need to fix that spedometer ASASAP. If you don't need heat or ac for that matter I would put that as lowest priority also.

 

the blowing smoke could also be bad valves seals, when the RPMs come up, oil gets pulled down along the valve stems into the combustion chamber. Fixing it is best done by pulling the heads and getting a valve job. (Not necessarily in everyone's "rebuild engine parts" list.) This won't destroy the engine if you don't let the oil get low...but it will leave burned oil on the valves etc.

A/C issues could just be the charge but if the heat isn't working either.... is the fan coming on? Could be a control or a bypass valve issue but first things first.

 

so it turns out the engine was rebuilt. i haven't gone to the shop yet to get the paper work, but when i calle them (the chevy shop las vegas) they told me they remember working on the car. when i get the paper work i will find out what was done to "rebuild" the engine.
also, i replaced the radiator after i noticed mine was leaking water.
it now runs nice and cool!
but, it does still burn oil and i think it's the valve seal guides and when i replace them i will replace the valve cover gasket as well.
my last issue, which i'm not 100% how to fix is that i'm getting a code that says the engine is misfiring on cyl 6.
i bought new spark plugs, wires, rotor and distributor cap and will be replacing them soon.
any other ideas/advice?

 

Blue smoke= oil leak. Idle is not bad, totally stock should be around 700-800rpm. (Our gauges make it hard to tell)


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maybe a bad wire and or connection to the plug or distributor cap... also you have to wonder why you are having engine/oil problems on a rebuilt motor.. unless it's been a long time, that sounds a bit scary.. hope for the best!!

 

Factory idle should be 900ish in park/neutral. In an Auto, 600 is pretty normal for being in "drive".

Sounds like the heads weren't worked when the motor was "rebuilt". Get the build sheet from the engine shop and see what went in it. Get those new plugs and plug wires in, also a cap and rotor and see if that misfire goes away. Could be caused by a cracked plug, a plug wire that is shorting to the headers/block, bad cap/rotor causing mis-fire in the distributor. General basic tune up should help alot and will rule out many things.

 

the computer won't throw a code and tell you what cylinder has a misfire. That ability didn't come around until OBD2 which was 1996 and newer cars

 

@justin i took the car to oreilly (they were the only ones with an obd1) and the code was a p0306 which the guy said was a misfire on cyl 6.
i replaced the rotor and distributor cap last night and today when i get home from work i'm going to change all the wires and spark plugs. i'll be heading to that shop this weekend to get all the paperwork, but they did tell me that the rebuild was done in 2004 and the previous owner told me that it was rebuilt, driven for a little bit and then it sat in storage (which seems to be the case because the car is really really clean, the tires look new, but they are kind of cracked like what you see on a car that's been sitting and not being driven.)

on a side note, it seems a little difficult to change the spark plugs on the passenger side. is it easier to reach them from underneath? i think i'm gonna jack it up and take them out that way. let me know what you think.
and thanks for all the help and advice!!
i'll post some pictures soon, she's in pretty good shape for her age!

 

Does the car have headers or the factory manifold? With the Manifold, some of them can be easier to reach from underneath, you may have to pull the starter.

If you have headers, I'd just disonnect the headers from the block...that usually gives me more room to work.

 

It has the factory manifolds and I went on a hunt and found that most people said it's easier to go at them from the bottom.
Speaking of headers, how hard are they to change/ what's a good brand for the 350

 

the code he told you sounds like an obd2 code...likely from a previous car that was scanned

 

Have fun with your new thirdgen, there a blast from the past! About the smoke run it till it blows the bottom end out don't even bother fixing it unless it's an easy fix and you just love L98s. It's probably had a lot of hard miles and high revs considing it doesn't have a revlimiter it's probably been reved to 7+ a few times = heads are shot.

 

thats a pretty bold statement

 

Pretty bold indeed but probably true yes, i have seen this.

 

i don't think it has a blown or damaged head. it seems to run fine and i put in some bardhal's no smoke and since then it hasn't smoked at all.
i do think the timing is off though.
also, i replaced the speedo cable and the speedo still doesn't work. maybe it's the gear at the tranny?

but now i have a huge question...
should i save and do an ls swap? (or even 327 my neighbor has one with 40k miles w/ a new tranny) or should i build on my stock 350?
if i go with the latter, do any of you have any suggestions on where i should start?
headers? exhaust? cam? prom?
i have no idea where to start!

 

answer this next question truthfully:

How much money do you want to spend?

 

Total I would like to spend $7k on upgrades
I'm not trying to make a race car, I just want it to sound good, run well, and go fast when I hit the throttle.
Nothing to crazy. I just want to have a fun car, ya know?

 

get a long block crate motor from Summit, get a TPIS miniram intake, and some 30lb injectors. Convert to OBD2 electronics.

You'll have all the power you need, it will rev nice and high, and will drive like a new car.

Should be well under $7k including tuning

 

What engine from summit, specifically

 

this might keep you happy

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hp...make/chevrolet

add an intake, swap to OBD2 and drive.

 

that sounds awesome! 375hp is way more than i want but that's awesome!!
would it be a direct fit or would there be fabrication involved?
also would i need a bigger radiator or anything like that?
lastly, would it hook up to my 700r4 or should i buy a different tranny?
thanks for all the info and advice justin!

 

if you're swapping small block for small block it should be a direct swap.

Might want to upgrade to aluminum Champion radiator...you can find them on ebay for $250 or less

It would hook up to your 700r4 just fine....but it may be on borrowed time with all the extra horsepower.

Only "fabrication" may be swapping some wiring IF you switch to OBD2. You could probably reuse all your factory wiring IF you can find someone local to tune your ancient dinosaur of a computer lol

 

is there another engine you would recommend with a little less hp?
my goal is 300-325.
375 sounds enticing but i don't plan on going to the track and i feel like it would get me in trouble haha

 

what about this engine?
a little closer to my hp numbers
http://www.summitracing.com/search/d...s?autoview=SKU

 

looks good, and would prove real reliable I bet.

Find one with a 1 piece rear main seal to ensure compatibility with what you already have in the car

 

This guy who lives a few houses down wrecked his truck the other day. His insurance claimed it as a total loss (and he has a camaro) so he's selling the engine/tranny. It was 2001ish (not 100% sure on the year was a bit newer) Silverado. It only has 40k miles. He wants $2k for it. How hard would it be to put that in? Would it be worth it?