OK, I am now the proud owner of two thirdgeneration IROC camaros. The first one is a white 1990 73K with the 5.7 which I purchased 3 months ago: I love it, this thing is great! I did all the basic things: KN airfilters, total fluid changes, 2 sets of plugs( the first were rapidfire platinum and second were the stock ac delco) new msd coil, 8.5 msd wire set( built it myself which was quite a feat for a mechanically challenged person like myself), crappy accel cap and rotor( well let me explain: basically the terminals were too short for the msd boots so I had to cut my newly built boots down to fit it) which I will soon be replacing with the MSD one and new boots as well. I started checking this site for info on maintenance and it is full of knowledge: infact I have yet to have a problem that this site has not answered right down to the gob of glue on the msd coil that interferred with the bracket installation( I too had to file the bracket to make the coil fit properly ). Anyway my questions are many but I will try to make them clear as possible.

First of all I use about 1 qt of oil in 1000 miles with no smoke that I can see either at start up or at wot. I am guessing it is the famous valve seals as indicated by the #6 plug that was partially gap bridged (with carbon and soot but not oily or oil fouled )when I changed from the plugs that were in the car whe I bought it to the rapidfire platinum plugs they lasted about 800 miles then the car started cutting out above idle. I pulled them and again the #6 plug was completely gap bridged and the # 8 was partially bridged. This was when I went to the AC Delco factory plugs and changed the ignition stuff as mentioned above: this seemed to have solved my problem as I have driven 1500 plus with no probs.

 

Try running synthetic oil for at least one change. It will clean all the sludge out of the engine's moving parts and might fix the problems with the plugs, if they are oil ring related.

Sound like a nice car. Even one quart every 1000 miles ain't too bad. Check for leaks around the valve covers, front crank seal, etc.

 

Thanks for the response, here is the rest of the story that was left off the first post( I must have posted the same thing twice with the first post not being complete).





There were no oil leaks on the seals until I converted to Mobil 1 10-30 and then they started to seep sligthly at the valve covers and oil pan gasket area. So I checked with the GM dealership and the valve seal replacement was quoted as 425.00 and at my local mechanic shop it was 250.00. I am leaning towards the GM dealership at this point( I would attempt this at home but all I have for working area are a gravel driveway and car port with no air compressor to hold the valves). Should I get this done as soon as possible or can I wait a while? One other thing I forgot to mention is that oil will occasionally leak out of the oil cap. Is this also caused by the valve seal leak or something else in the vac system ?
Ok, so now for the rest of the questions:
I loved the 1990 IROC so much I found another one at a local towing yard( a red 1987 IROC (128K) with the 305 / 5 speed ) it had no radio or wheels but the rest was straight and clean. I bought this one ( told the wife it would make a great parts car when she questioned my sanity ) thinking that it would make a great parts or project car. So, it said bad motor on the documentation and after getting it home and checked out this weekend ( I pulled the ignition cylinder and had a key made ) it started after a few cranks and backfired and it ran and has a knocking noise on the passenger side of the engine on top.
I figured it is probably a spun rod/crank bearing or broken connecting rod but here is the strange thing as it has 40lbs+ oil pressure on the gauge and goes up when I increase the throttle.
Could this knocking noise be something else as it also does not knock constantly but intermittant and it comes and goes. Could it be a valve issue? It is fairly loud at times but goes away at times.
I have not run the motor enough to warm it up as I wanted to determine the problem only and work on a fix. Is the 305 worth rebuilding or replacing as I am not really concerned about the horsepower issue ( I have seen that many recommend the 5.7 swap but I am not really that interested in changing the motor and tranny unless it will be cheaper )as I wanted to make it a daily driver for a cheap as possible. Any ideas or information would greatly appreciated.
Thanks too all of you for all the great information on this site.


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Some oils seem to seep through the seals easier than others. Like I said, go synthetic for one change and see what happens. Also, change the PCV valve, which is only a few bucks and sits in the driover side valve cover, with a vacuum hose coming off of it. If it is stuck it can cause blow-by oil consumption, which might be what you have with the oil filler cap.

By the way, you can use a length of rope through the spark plug hole to hold the valves up, in liew of an air compressor.

The knocking might only be a collapsed lifter. Hard to say over the internet. Is there a mechanic that you trust? That is all I can offer

If the 305 is perky enough for you, there should be some in the classifieds of your city paper for around $300 that are in great shape.

305s respond very well to the standard hot rod mods. Do a search on this forum and you will be very surprised. 14 sec quarter miles are common

 

i can tell u this....a 305 with 300 miles, truck heads and cam and the 5 speed, MOVE, that thing hauls *** off the line......i would now....i own one....i am gonna change the heads and cam over to ported LB9s and a LT4 cam....I bought the 87 IROC G92 5 speed with a blown engine......piston in about 8 parts, con rod in 4 and lots. so i just put the truck 305 in there with 300 miles and it HAULED....that is going in the convert this time.......ahh a TPI 5 speed convert with a system.....FUN FUN FUN.....

 

I posted this thread twice( hit some button on the laptop and I thought it erased my previous attempt but it looks like it submitted it. As I explained in the other post I changed the original pvc valve to a fram one and then I really noticed the leaking oil cap, I changed it again to a AC delco one and it seemed to lessen the problem but not completely. When doing the spark plug wires I noticed a vac line ( on the passenger side rear of the TPI unit) going from the TPI unit to a T fitting with a round cylinder item on one end of the T and going underneath the TPI unit on the other with a hole in it. I changed it but is it possible that some material got sucked in and partially jammed the lines? I am going to change the oil on the 1990 again soon and use Mobil 1 10-30 synthetic again( I may go to amsoil but those walmart jugs are hard to beat price wise). Thanks again for the suggestions and advice.