what the hell is going on???

[BIRD67]

Okay, so last night, we decided to take the 67 Firebird to the track for street night on the 1/4 mile, first pass was decent.. 16.9 at 81 mph... The trip to the track was probably 100 miles or so and the valves are chattering like crazy, it's running a full tank of 93 octane... the second pass, which was probably an hour later, the car is blowing white smoke out of the tailpipes.. So on our way out of the pits, the car does not want to run, it is barely idling and so we dismiss it..We get on the highway and I turn the heat on, it isn't blowin as much then the heat goes away, so we shut the heat off.. What do you think is wrong??

5 minutes pass and we try the heat again, it did the the same thing

we pull off into manchester, I get out first.. there is steam comin from under the hood

pop the hood, the passenger side valve cover is really hot

there is steam coming from the breather

and some sort of liquid, it might be oil or coolant, it looks clear

and its all over the fan shroud and valve cover

then there is a ticking sound coming from the radiator cap, its probably on wicked wicked hot

then I open the door and the none of the interior lights are working

so we get it towed to the garage, and the car is off, keys out of ignition and the hood tach light wont go out

[maxwellwedge]

16.90?

I think it is time to get a priest. That car sounds possessed!

Check the head gasket for starters. The electrical sounds like a coincidence - or maybe the heat was so great a wire melted a little and ground out on something.

[BIRD67]

haha it's Christine's younger sister!! the car has never had issues like this before and the engine,well, the entire driveline was completely rebuilt two years ago.. I'm not sure if it was the ride over that did her in.. she's got a 2 speed automatic and 3.73 rear gears so we are averaging 70 mph at 4,000 rpm on the highway..

[BIRD67]

yeah, 16.90 on street tires, 215/65/15s.. and it was the first time my stepdad had ever been down the track...
Reaction time was .192
60' time was 2.393
330' was 6.924
1/8th was 10.804@ 63.47 mph
1000' was 14.125
1/4 was 16.900 @ 81.60

I think the major hangups were tha car not being tuned up and the 2 speed automatic.

[maxwellwedge]

It has all the classic blown head gasket symptoms...hopefully no worse than that.

What motor?

[BIRD67]

Pontiac 326, its been completely rebuilt and I helped rebuild it.. its been bored .040 over, runs TRW pistons, stock heads, felpro gaskets all the way around.. Ram Air 3 exhaust manifolds, Holley street dominator intake, Edelbrock 650 carb (eletric choke).. uhh it has a summit cam, I dont know what the specs on it meanbut heres a link..http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-2800/

The engine has always performed good, never was run too hard until we changed from 2.56 gears to 3.73's with posi, that made the car come alive... for some reason when we bought it, it was running a '69 firebird radiator, four core unit for A/C, we swapped to what should have been in there, a 3 core unit, but honestly I think it runs hotter now.. It has always leaked a little oil from the front of the passenger side valve cover, and there was another oil leak but we could never determine where it was coming from though..

[ACUDANUT]

 Head Gasket 

[BIRD67]

Oh geez, what do you think a garage would charge to replace it? and why would it blow in the first place?

[mauve66]

head gaskets are one of the easy to do things, unless thats one of those funny motor firebirds

[BIRD67]

funny motor? what would that be a Chebby powered poncho?

[mauve66]

didn't some of those early firebird have overhead cam engines?? that would make the head gasket change mor complicated

[BIRD67]

Yeah the overhead cam six (OHC 6) that was based off the Chevy inline six so I'd imagine it wouldn't be that much of a bear to work on..

[ACUDANUT]

 You can pull the head off and replace the head gasket yourself.  If your unsure of yourself, don't be.  It's not hard and chances are you can google the step by steps on doing this.  Your head may need resurfacing, My last head shop did a poor job the first time and I took it to another place.

[BIRD67]

maybe thats the case, I just don't know.. I could probably do it, I helped put the damn thing together, but I dont think my folks would appreciate me going anywhere near the car with a wrench.. I think maybe we'll swap the camshaft and we're dabating some aluminum heads.. not sure though..

[Tilar]

the car is blowing white smoke out of the tailpipes..

Only two things will make white come out of the tailpipes, A blown head gasket or a bad modulator valve... and the modulator valve wouldn't have anything to do with steam coming from the valve covers.

Head Gasket 

[green69rt]

the car is blowing white smoke out of the tailpipes..

Only two things will make white come out of the tailpipes, A blown head gasket or a bad modulator valve... and the modulator valve wouldn't have anything to do with steam coming from the valve covers.

Head Gasket 

Agree, blown head gasket means, white steam coming out of bad places, foamy oil (maybe), really bad engine performace.
Pull the head and see if anything else got messed up (head grooved, water in the piston my cause a hydraulicked rod, hopefully yours is a simple gasket replacement.  Good luck.

[greenpigs]

I would swap a turbo 350 in place of the powerslide if it were mine. It sounds like a head gasket is the problem. You have heard it a 100 times but why not build a 400 with a 350 trans and sit the original drivetrain aside?[/color

[BIRD67]

taking the 326 out and swapping another engine in is out of the question, the engine was built by Quint Stires, his two sons and I, and the car has far much more sentimental value.. he passed away and this was the last engine he ever built, he was a dear friend.. if you know where I'm coming from.. As for the 2 speed, yeah it's going, a turbo 350 would be nice, same dimensions as the 2 speed but a 200R4 like what they used in the Buick Grand National's is what is in the works.. 4 speed automatic with overdrive, the only question is now, do we get a reverse manual valvebody or keep it stock?

[BIRD67]

Just got word back from the garage, they did a couple of tests and it turns out there is 2 1/2 gallons of water in cyliner number 8.. possibly a cracked head? I'll keep y'all posted..

[BigBlackDodge]

2 1/2 gallons..........wow...that would make your engine a 4,620 cubic inch motor!


BBD

[twodko]

Wow, a 4,620 cubic inch motor! Glad I don't have to fill that gas tank!

[BIRD67]

Sorry, I meant two and a half gallons...

[Cooter]

Not to be an azz here, but this single phrase bothers me to no end...

"the valves are chattering like crazy, it's running a full tank of 93 octane..."
The Valves are closed when the piston fires....That Pinging noise you are hearing is the PISTONS dancing in the cylinders from pre ignition, which can cause a blown head gasket in severe cases.....Look for blown head gasket as stated...

[BIRD67]

Okay, thanks COOTER!

[68pplcharger]

Sounds like cool car, the first car I drove(at thirteen) was a 68 firebird with a 455HO and a 4 speed. The original motor was a 326. My older brother owned it and taught me to do my first burn out in that same car. Nothing like side stepping a big block with a lot of torque. Wait... they only made one size motor, that was the same dimension as a big block, Looks like a duck talks like a duck. Topic of debate for other forum sorry.

I agree with the previous replies (Cooter)... sounds like extreme predetonation caused a few problems in the motor. Hopefully only a blown head gasket. Good luck