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What do I do??

maximusj196

New Member
Hi y’all, this is my first time using a Mustang forum so go easy on me. I am a broke teenager and I am trying my best to restore my 89 GT. It has a problem with blowing (blue) smoke out of the passenger side exhaust. I suspect it to be the seals on the heads so I am trying to figure out what to do:

Do I have the heads refurbished?
Do I buy new (stock) heads?
Do I put different heads on?

I am not trying to push performance because this is very much a daily. I have heard that refurbishing is the best option but I also hear that the stock heads are trash and that I should throw some GT40’s or e7’s in. I worry about overworking the bottom end with a brand new top. There is a lot of disinformation on what is best to do, so that’s why I come to you guys. Thanks for hearing me out, any advice is appreciated.

(Emphasis on the broke teenager bit)
 

broncojunkie

Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum! When are you seeing blue smoke? Just after startup after it has been sitting? Or does it smoke whenever you're driving? Accelerating? That can give clues as to what's going on. You may also want to do a compression test, which may narrow it down to a particular cylinder(s). The goal is to figure out if it's a problem with piston rings, valve stem seals, valve guides, or maybe just a clogged pcv valve/screen. You will want to do some research on testing for these because it can be a little tough to figure out. If you have a friend with some experience in this stuff, that would be helpful.

If the problem is in the heads, your stock engine should already have e7 heads on it. While definitely not the best for performance, they are easy to find on the used market. I couldn't give my last set away so they went to the scrap yard. Nothing wrong with e7's other than they don't produce good power in stock form (and only mediocre gains from a good port job). If you find your heads need some work, you shouldn't have a hard time finding a good used set for cheap.
 
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