Mostly just saying hi

tmsnyder · December 06, 2019, 09:55 AM

Check your plugs and see which one is burning oil. Maybe it's just one or two. Change those valve stem seals and run it some more.

Oil's cheap. Try Dave's suggestion of changing the valve stem seal / umbrella(?) in place on the head with the air pressure holding the valves closed while you work on them.

I looked for an emissions waiver for you, can't believe they require emissions on a vehicle that old, but they do. You can get a waiver for a few things such as economic hardship but not if there is visible smoke from the tailpipe, which if you are burning oil, you won't be able to get that exemption.

But there are a lot of counties that don't require emissions in CO. If you are homeless, how do you document your address? Could you open a PO box in a county that has no emissions requirement?

Then you could deal with the oil burning as you could manage, or don't. Oil is cheap, and if you are in financial trouble you're not going to be driving it anywhere anyway b/c that cost a bunch of money in fuel. You're just going to park it and live in it, maybe drive a few miles now and then I imagine you won't be polluting anything.

AliceKelly · December 06, 2019, 01:20 PM

You hit the nail. The air filter is perly white. And the plug wires cap n rotor look similar. But all the vacuum lines going to and. From the carb look dry and cracked. Use there's a. Mouse nest on the intake choke side. I should start by sealing up all the vacuum leaks. Get myself a mile long spool of vacuum tubing

Elandan2 · December 06, 2019, 05:17 PM

Thinking about this, could it be the modulator valve on the transmission? If they start leaking, there will be transmission fluid being sucked up into the intake. That creates a lot of smoke out of the tailpipe.

tmsnyder · December 06, 2019, 08:05 PM

Yeah it could be tranny fluid, that's another option. It would show up in that vacuum line, right? Easy to check to see.

If it is engine oil, first thing would be to change the oil and get something a little less likely to end up past the rings and valves. I like Rotella diesel engine oil, 15w-40 I think it is. If someone put 10w-30 synthetic in it, that would be more prone to getting burned by the engine.

Rickf1985 · December 06, 2019, 09:21 PM

Completely forgot the modulator! I have seen that happen before. At the back center top of the intake manifold there will be a metal vacuum line coming up from the transmission usually to a red rubber connector but not always red. Pull that off and see if there is oil in it. If there is or if you can't see go under the vehicle and towards the back on the side of the transmission you will see the metal tube with another rubber tube connecting it to the transmission. Pull that one off and if it has been sucking oil up there then it will run out of the tube.

AliceKelly · December 08, 2019, 10:18 PM

Yes I like all these suggestions. I'll check modulator. Change to thicker oil. I'll check and or change the fuel pump just in case it's. Leaking. For tomorrow. IL going to empty my poop for. The first time. At the flying j. Yay! See yall tomorrow. And thank you all for the great advice. Smooches

tmsnyder · December 09, 2019, 08:00 AM

Also is the transmission fluid level low?

AliceKelly · December 10, 2019, 07:38 PM

Just a quick update. Starting the quadrajet rebuild tomorrow and going after the exhaust on the onan genset 3.0. Wish me. Luck. Will keep you updated

Rickf1985 · December 10, 2019, 09:07 PM

On that quadrajet, make sure the welch plugs under the main jets have been sealed with JB Weld or epoxy. That was an area of concern with these carbs since they tended to leak at those plugs and drain the bowl when sitting. If you have to seal them just be careful that you do not put so much on that the baseplate will not fit back on. Do a couple test fits and look it over before gooping them up.

AliceKelly · December 11, 2019, 10:41 PM

Everything went nuts today. Just as I woke up I got a notice that a lady on Craig's list I had offered 150 to for her 3650 watt genny had finally accepted my offer. My mouth hit the floor. It's digital and has runtime memory. 90 total hours run time. Almost pooped myself trying to drive across half the State to get it before she changed her mind. Came with a cover tools extra fuel cap and extra filter and a weather cover and a cargo carrier. Got it home put cargo carrier on and much to. My disappointment the bumper sagged so bad it looks like the whole thing is going to fail off. Yay another thing to fix. OK so some. Mild welding isn't a huge job. But then my favorite inverter blew out... ( not the one built in). The genny runs great charged the crappy batteries in about an hour. Makes me think I need some deep cycle marine batteries and maybe get 2 more to run in series.

Still a big day over all. I have tie downs. Holding the carrier up and lashed to the ladder and spare tire. Don't think it's a good idea to rely on those two places for long.

Haven't started the carb yet. Every time I get a suggestion it seems like 10 more pop up and bite me in the butt.

Oh ya I got some. Carpet to lay on my cold bare plywood foot too. Think I'll wait to tack it down until I'm done with the carb which seems to be a couple days untill I finish. I got a bucket of carb cleaner and am going to soak it for a day before reassembly.

Stupid question : does one ever get caught up restoring these old girls or do you always play catch up finding new stuff to fix every time you move? Love ya all. Thanks for that carb tip Mr. Fox! I have a real bad history with jb weld. Will epoxy work?

Rickf1985 · December 12, 2019, 08:49 AM

Epoxy will work, but JB Weld is nothing more than epoxy with a fancy name. Caught up?! Yea right. The only ones that ever get caught up are the millionaires that can afford to pay a restorer to do the job for them or someone who has a very large garage and a ton of resources to work with, including time.

LJ-TJ · December 12, 2019, 10:35 AM

Well if they do. Once they do they don't hang around here long. Shoot no matter how perfect we get them there's always something to tinker with. You WILL get all the major stuff fixed but there will always be some thing you'll want to do a little different or better.

AliceKelly · December 12, 2019, 07:58 PM

Still didn't get to the damn carb lol. Sometimes wish the world would die for one day so I could get things done... Smooches

Rickf1985 · December 12, 2019, 08:52 PM

Do not tackle that carb until you have a full day to do it. That is one of the tougher carbs to do as far as the sheer number of small parts so you don't want to rust the job and forget something.

AliceKelly · December 14, 2019, 02:31 AM

Couldn't sleep last night at all so got in the upper bunk and slowly tore the carb down and threw all the little pieces in the can of choke cleaner to soak clean. While it's. Snowing tomorrow I'll gently clean the surfaces of the three plates get everything ready and clean.

It was surprisingly clean everywhere except the. Float bowl. Hoping it cleans up with choke cleaner. It's really important it not flood lol

Love yall. Be. In touch. Wish me. Luck

Rickf1985 · December 14, 2019, 09:26 AM

It is not the visible surfaces that are the problem. It is the passages that get clogged with varnish and gunk. You will need to be sure you pull out the idle mixture screws, but before you do run then until they stop very gently counting the number of turns. This will be your baseline setting for reassembly. If you already took them out without counting.............. well throw it out.

Just kidding, you can set them at two turns and that will get you running and you will have to adjust them from there. You will need to blow carb cleaner through every passage in the carb that you can find and I strongly suggest you do that outside! Once the carb comes out of the bucket you can spray it down with the carb cleaner spray to get rid of the stuff from the bucket. If you have access to a compressor then you can rinse it with a hose and blow it dry with air and that way you save the carb cleaner spray for the passages.

Froggy1936 · December 14, 2019, 06:18 PM

Just a note, For all persons useing professional Carburetor cleaner DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS INTO THE BUCKET OF CLEANER ! It is a grease and oil remover and will pull the natural oils out of your skin instantly ! ( talking from experience ) A part fell out of the basket ! opps

Bad decision ! Choke cleaner will also damage hands but no where near Carb Cleaner !Frank

Rickf1985 · December 14, 2019, 08:04 PM

Your talking about the old Chemtrol stuff Frank.

Yup, that stuff would clean a carb in about ten minutes and take your skin off in one. You can't get that formula anymore. You can't get any of the good stuff anymore. N:( The stuff they make nowadays is the same part number but it is water based instead of lye based. But stil, it will do a number on your skin and it is also absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream so get some of the thicker nitrile gloves from Harbor freight. Do NOT use the latex ones, they will not hold up to the cleaner in the bucket and will disintegrate with the carb spray.

AliceKelly · December 14, 2019, 08:39 PM

I'm taking time with a soft toothbrush hitting anything that isn't shiny yet. Been letting it soak. The float valve assembly has me a bit worried. It was oxidized with white rust I figure most of it will dissappear in a day or two lol.

AliceKelly · December 14, 2019, 08:41 PM

On a side note I've looked all over for parts to my chassis. Is there any way to find crossover parts to an 84 g30?

Rickf1985 · December 15, 2019, 09:23 AM

The G series is the same as the vans so you should not have any problem finding parts. Just look for 3/4 ton van. I have it pulled up here in Rock auto for you.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chevrolet,1984,g30,5.7l+350cid+v8,1047811

AliceKelly · December 16, 2019, 12:48 PM

I think I found what I needed. You see I need a smog pump but a new one is about 150 with shipping. I know there must be an auto yard where I can find that pump as I'm sure chevy threw one on about all 350s in that Era. I just didn't know what other. Makes had the same pump. So I searched the manufacturers numbers from rock auto on gm parts direct and looked under. More to see the years and models. Now maybe I can find my parts in other trucks etc. Aperently all k class blazers that year all c10-30 1500-3500 and of course g10-30... Thank you rick

Rickf1985 · December 16, 2019, 05:14 PM

You will probably find that most of the cars with V8's all used the same pump also.

AliceKelly · December 18, 2019, 12:21 AM

I did the rebuild on carb and it ran however I didn't get a chance to let her warm up at all. She had a tiny fuel leak where the line connects to carb. I'll just replace it tomorrow and give it another try.

I double checked the oil and tyranny fluids for gassy smell. Surprisingly the trans fluid was bright purple like brand new. She doesn't leak a drop. The oil was oil and it didn't smell bad either.. And I don't have a vacuum trans kick down. Mine is operated by a cable mounted next to the accelerator on the carb.

So I'm moving on to oil and electric choke smog pump Then valve seals. I don't see any of the above as. Much problem. It's just a matter of time till I hit whatever is making it smoke. I should also note that the smoke in my opinion is very light. So when I do the. Oil I'm going to try using 15w-30 and. Miracle oil or Lucas oil additive. I will likely have all this done before 1/1/2020. Wish me. Luck.

Rickf1985 · December 18, 2019, 08:20 AM

Don't put two additives in at the same time, you have no idea if they will play well together and if they don't it could be real expensive! Remember, oil right out of the can has a whole package of additives already in it. And if the transmission oil is purple that means someone went to the expense of filling it with Royal Purple synthetic, pretty expensive stuff! That would tell me that whomever owned it planned on keeping it alive for a long time and I would bet that the engine oil is probably also synthetic. You can use whatever oil in the engine you like but I strongly suggest Rotella 15W-40 due to it's higher zinc properties to try to keep the cam and lifters alive. regular motor oils have eliminated zinc since it is hard on catalytic converters but it is necessary for sliding metal parts like old style tappets and cams.