I recently bought a 1 owner, 1985 delta 88, 307 brougham.

The man I bought it from was getting older and could keep up with the car anymore and it had been sitting for 1 or 2 years.

The problems the car had when I bought it-•leaking valve covers with the worst of the two on the driver side.
• An oil leak on the intake manifold.
• Rusty or muddy brown coolant
• And difficulty cold starting. I would have to pump the gas about 3 times, crank the engine about 2 or 3 time and hold my foot on the gas for 5-10 minutes in order for it to idle.

I drove the car with these issues for about a week (20-30 miles a day) before I changed the oil (10-W30), spark plugs (AC Delco), front brake pads and all the belts myself.

After driving the car to work (30 miles with traffic) for about 3 weeks, I noticed blue smoke coming from the tailpipe every time I would take off after a stop. So I took the car to my cousins shop who “specializes” in classic cars.

I asked to replace my intake manifold gaskets, and Valve cover gaskets. Which took about a week to do.. while working on my car he said that my water pump seized up in the process and I had to replace it and my driver side valve cover was warped and had to replace it as well. All totaling nearly $900.

When I got my car back it was smoking worse (a noticeable cloud of blue smoke at first acceleration and A small cloud of blue/white smoke while driving at a normal speed) and running a bit rough. I continued to drive the car for another month or so until I had a scare.

I noticed the smoke was still there and getting worse. Not only was it smoking upon acceleration it was now smoking when stopped at a red light. I decided to stomp on the gas, about 3/4 throttle to test the engine power and see what happens. It didn’t lack too much power and couldn’t tell you the RPMs cause I don’t have a tach yet (I know, I know!) but after this test the engine was rotating pretty hard (4-5000 rpms approximately?) and had a bellow of white smoke out of the tailpipe and the engine bay. I made it home and parked the car and notice most of the smoke was coming from the driver side cylinder head.

This car has been sitting for 6 or 7 months now. I haven’t had the cash to fix it due to this pandemic but I did attempt to start it a couple of times with some starter fluid. It has ignition and will spark the fluid but will not idle..

As you can tell I’m a novice when it come to classic cars, being that it’s only my first year having and caring for one. Can someone please help give me some steps to bringing this all original beauty a new lease on life?

 

This is baloney. Your cousin owes you at least $700. Valve covers don't warp unless some knuckle head uses a breaker bar to tighten them. Even then, a competent technician can straighten them with a wooden dowel and a 2x4. Plus, it's hard to believe that a water pump would just fail while a car was at the shop. Check your coolant. It should be translucent green. If it's still brown or just water your cousin scammed you!

As far as getting the car started it probably needs a carburetor rebuild and to have the timing set. White smoke can be from an improperly set carburetor while blue smoke comes from worn rings. Have you done a compression test?

 

No not yet, that will be my next! Thanks so much.

 

White smoke can also come from a bad vacuum modulator on the transmission.

 

White smoke plumes out the exhaust- usually comes from a blown head gasket...or somehow water is getting into the cylinders. Hopefully not a cracked block.

The blue smoke IMO, is most likely coming from the worn valve guides/worn out stem seals. Of course, could be bad rings as well. Muddy brown coolant means there's a lot of corrosion getting into the coolant system and needs some attention very soon.

This car has been mistreated all its life, IMO.

 

Op states the cousin replaced the intake manifold gaskets, and car was white smoking after. Sounds like intake water ports may not be sealed well.

 

The white smoke coming from under the hood after you drove fast was possibly burn off of oil on the exhaust manifolds from the valve cover leaks.

 

There is no vacuum modulator on the transmission to leak. You better look at the oil and see if has turned milky. If so, you have a water leak probably from the intake manifold leaking internally into the oil. That aluminum intake manifold can pit very badly around the water ports and cause internal and external leaks. If there was any pitting at all I wouldn't use the OEM style turkey tray metal gasket, but rather aftermarket old style paper gaskets sealed liberally with Permatex. Don't run the engine with milky oil.
Make sure you have an OEM PCV valve it the valve cover. From what I know (?), If the engine has not been maintained with regular oil changes, maybe it is worn out. I wonder if the crankcase was filled with motor honey or something when you bought it. Better check the compression. If the EGR is stuck open, you won't be able to maintain an idle of any kind. You do need a functioning EGR for the engine to not ping on acceleration. You need a good mechanic who was around in the 80s to work on that engine; the carb has an extended learning curve to understand how it functions. Better start with the factory Service Manual. Are there any trouble codes in the ECM and is the Check Engine light on?

 

yea I think he just made matters worse on everything he touched. I’m thinking I’ll rebuild the top end myself.

 

great points. I’ll do an inspection on all of these things tomorrow. And no steady check engine light.. I only seen it appear once during my couple of months driving it.

 

I would bet no RTV was used around the water ports. Use RTV around both sides of the gasket on the 4 corner water ports. Also use a tall and thin layers, I usually go three beads high on the intake end rails in place of the rubber gaskets. I would check the condition of the valve seals when you pull the valve cover gaskets. It could be a good part of the blue smoke. I would also put engine flush in the oil and run it a few days, the rings could be sticky and incase any coolant is seeping in the crankcase. This is why I do my own work on my cars, huge bills for work that I could do much better.

 

yea, I didn’t have the confidence before. I ended up parked aways, would have been better to be parked with 800 extra in my pocket from my own wrong doing. Thanks for your help. I’ll be sure to do this stuff myself