Welcome.


Smoke on start up could be valve stem seals.


Rough starts....each car seems to have it's own personality, for both cold and warm. Part of the trick it to figure out what works best for you (the car actually.) I have one auto chock and one manual chock. Sounds like you have manual. I start my manual by getting it running and goosing it to keep it running. I then pull on the chock just enough so it runs smooth. I usually don't pump the gas pedal until after I've started cranking. Helps from flooding it.

 

Mine sits during the week and when I start it up every Saturday morning I give it a good 4 or 5 pumps of the gas and have the pedal halfway in then I turn the key and it starts right up everytime. :grin2:

 

maybe consider an electric choke

 

I agree with Dave the smoke could be valve seals

 

Probably that's what it is.

 

Even not using the choke at all, every 289 in good tune should have a good cold start up (immediate) after 2 or 3 medium pumps of the accelerator pedal ithe air temp. is above 20-25 degrees F or -2 to 0 degrees C.

Which leads me to ask, are you sure the car is in good tune ? Is the timing correct ? Have you checked for vacuum leaks with a spray bottle (using water is fine) around the base of carb, etc. accelerator pump working OK and float level high enough ? Lastly, is the engine compression high enough ?

Regarding the Pertronix they are not just 100% effective or 0% effective. They can partially fail and result can be a weak start or a misfire. I'd suggest putting the points back in if you still have them, if just to eliminate the Pertronix as a possible culprit. And how is it wired ? Getting enough voltage ?

Good luck


Z

PS. +2 on the valve seals faulty or even missing. They will crumble away when too old.

 

Could also be the oil drain backs

 

I remember reading some where for gas engines, if the smoke color is:
white - your burning coolant
blue-grey - your burning oil
black - too rich mixture

Since your doing cold start you want a rich mixture, but yours might be too rich. Like someone else said each one of these cars behave differently. I had a car with a manual choke and I would floor the gas once then give it full choke, keep my foot off the gas, then start cranking. When it would fire up I would not move the choke. I would only open up the choke as the engine warmed up, or it started running ruff. Check your choke setting, with the choke fully on you should have a small gap between the choke plate and the air horn, around 1/16-1/8 of in.

 

hi - all many thanks for the Mustang widsom. I will get someone to help m,e have the valve seals checked. as for the choke i will tinker with it myself and i think the best advice maybe is for me to try different startup routines, pumping gas, opening, closing choke etc etc.

many thanks!

 

Pull the engine oil dipstick, wipe it between your fingers, then smell the oil. If it smells "gassy", you're using too much choke and you should change the oil and filter.

Depending on your choke installation, you should be able to depress the pedal once to the floor, pull out your choke knob, release the pedal, then push the knob in just a bit and start the engine, immediately pushing the choke knob in a bit to keep the engine from flooding. The blackish smoke is probably soot from too much fuel.

 

@Woodchuck - that is great advice...definitely too gassy....i tried your startup routine and it started immediately so i think its twofold - getting the startup routine that's right for the car and then 20 do some work on mixture and timing, both of which i think our out of sync a little.

quick thing - you suggested an oil change - presume you mean a full oil change is needed once so much gas is mixed into the oil, not a top up?

 

@zray thank you, i think in addition to getting the right startup routine just through trial and error, I need to look at tuning, i think mixture is a little off and timing too....have ordered a timing gun will get to work with that (YouTube here i come..)

 

Sounds like your on the right track, if your still worried about valve seals, run the car up in RPMs say in 2nd or 3rd gear - not crazy but high e.g 4500 or 5k and let off the throttle completely and let the engine coast down in gear for quite a bit - say 2500 or 2000. The vacuum will pull oil by the seals, when you finally punch it you will see a blue puff of smoke if the seals are bad.

IF its bad, you'll see it in the rear view mirror, if they are warn but not too bad, you may need a chase car to see it.

 

Yes, I recommend a complete oil (and filter) change. Warm it up, pull the plug and let it drain thoroughly. I usually let mine "drip" for at least 1/2 hour while I do other stuff just so all the "yuck" comes out.

 

hi all - thanks for the help - i finally re-tuned the engine, the ignition timing was way off (14 degrees versus desired 12 degrees). also adjusted idle mixture, did an oil change and finally changed the spark plugs and its all running great. I had the oil tested by a lab as someone on these forums recommended and its come back clean clean clean....and no startup smoke either...so all is well!

thanks