What engine are you running? Sounds like it's not breathing, PCV problem? If it's original the breather is clogged like the road tube breather. I put a 350 in once and forgot that the later model engine needs a PCV and blew the valve cover gaskets and rear main in less than 500 miles

 

I have a 283 with a pcv, the pcv seems fine?

 

Maybe pull the valve covers and see if the valves need adjusting or maybe a cam lobe flattened... Would explain ticking rough running etc... Dc

 

Could the valves need adjusting after only 3700 miles? It had a new hydraulic roller cam installed in it. Could it be the vacuum advance or choke going bad?

 

sounds like an awful lot of issues for a newly rebuilt engine. where was it rebuilt at? Was any head work done? are plugs oil or fuel fowled? How does the compression test out ? Concentrate on one thing at a time. Ignition sounds like a loose connection to me. :anim_25:

 

A reputable local shop, and yea, the heads were worked iver and everything! Yea so, the ignition switch wires are all tightly secured, and i changed the distributor and wires 10,000 miles ago. I just bought a compression tester today. The car was just fine until i drove it 24 hours to kentucky

 

No offense, but I would not put a wrench near it until the shop that rebuilt it can look it over. 3700 miles is nothing.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

Its a low mileage motor, the rear main seal should have been an updated neoprene rubber type to eliminate the oil leak.
Certainly go back to the engine rebuilder and have it looked over :anim_25:

 

I would run a compression test with the valve covers off. That way you can see if any of the rockers are not rocking at the same time as sorting out whether you have a cylinder or two showing low compression or maybe a head gasket that is messed up, or valves. If you can get it to idle you might also do a vacuum test to see what the needle on the gauge is doing. Can be helpful in diagnosing the issue. But yes, I would start with all the basics, like checking the point gap and dwell, making sure none of the spark plug wires are touching, especially at the cap (i just ran into this problem myself, had cross firing going on, ran rough, backfiring, fouled plugs.) Put a timing light on each wire to see if it is firing, that is how i discovered two plugs were not firing (fouled and cross firing). Do sort of a static timing test by Bringing the motor almost up to TDC on No. 1 compression stroke, rotate the engine slowly by hand until you are at the proper advance for No. 1 and pull the cap and see if the rotor is pointing at the no. 1 terminal on the cap or if is and it will idle, check the timing with a light and double check the timing is what it should be with the motor running. Get rid of the low hanging fruit first, might solve the problem.

 

sorry to hear your trip didn't go well. I had an issue with my newly rebuilt 283 a few years ago. I was less than a year and still under warranty. I had to drop it back off at the shop for a full rebuild. I would think that would be your best option as well. :anim_25:

 

Okay, i vacuum tested it at the manifold, the gauge has different areas to suggest whats wrong. It said the timing for the engine was too slow? It would also fluctuate over 1-2 degrees, which the gauge said meant the valves were sticking.

 

The alternator isnt charging! You know, could it be something wrong with the ignition not supplying enougg power?

 

No, the ignition system and alternator/charging system are seperate systems.
Did you aquire a meter? Harbor Freight has a meter for $5 that works fine.
Measure the voltage at the alternator output with the engine off (about 12.6 volts) and then with the engine running (13.5 to 14.5). Does the gen light come on when the key is on and go out when the engine is running?

As Dragsix said, take it back to the mechanic. Let him diagnoise the engine problems.

 

When idling or in park, the car shakes less but when in drive or reverse it shakes a great deal more. Also, there was smoke coming from the exhaust after i shut the car off.

 

With the vaccum guage hooked up loosen the distributor enough u can turn it and with the car idleing turn the distributor and the eng speed should increase and when it starts to slow down go,back the the highest speed and see what the guage reads should be 17 to 19 ...
As i,said earlier pull the valve covers and see if u have something going,on withmthe valves.. Loose, bent pushrod, cam flattened... Who did the intial,start up? Did the cam get the proper break in?.
Let us know,what u find dc

 

Do i need to replace valve cover seals if they are rubber and new? Im nervous about voiding my "warranty" with the mechanic. The cam is a roller retrofitted for the ole 283, so proper break in wasnt so much an issue! The mechanic did the initial everything!

 

If the motor is under a warranty and you are concerned about voiding the warranty then in that case I would take it back and have the builder give it a look first then

 

If i bump the ignition switch the car will shut off, i checked the back and all of the wires are tight and secure, except for the top tan wire, which is completely off and too loose to clip on.

That wire powers the gauges, indicator lights and dash lights and shouldn't affect the car's running so you can eliminate that from your worries, except that it would be nice to have a working dashboard. That's the "Good" news. The bad news is that if you're leaking a quart of oil every 200 miles on a 3700 mile engine (2600 when you started out), you really need to get back to your re builder. Not that leaking oil is causing your running problems but if the re builder was that sloppy in his work, I'd suspect everything else he didd to the engine. Tell us that you babied it the first 500 miles or so and didn't do burnouts and run the nuts off it.

 

That wire powers the gauges, indicator lights and dash lights and shouldn't affect the car's running so you can eliminate that from your worries, except that it would be nice to have a working dashboard.

Thanks David, I missed that in the first post. Actually an alternator does need to be excited by the tan wire through the "gen" indicator light to the alternator on the brown wire. Fix that conection and it shoud charge.

 

I super babied it the first 1000 miles. Varied rpms gently, never went above 60 mph, let it warm up an extra 5 minutes after reaching operating temp, checked fluids nearly constantly i hadnt had my car in 3 months, and i certainly wasnt gonna lose it for another week if i could help it i bought a multimeter, compression tester, and vacuum gauge in bowling green. Alternator sometimes reads 14.2 volts, sometimes only 12. The top tan wire doesnt wanna stay on the terminal very well. And the ignition switch seems to want to "stick" in the ignition position. The rear main seal leaks because the auto parts store kept giving him the wrong rubber seals. So he went with a new construction rope style.. which, is garbage i am told. The gen light isnt hooked up, it never has been!

 

And the ignition switch seems to want to "stick" in the ignition position.

Why is everybody suddenly coming up with the problem?

Perhaps global warming is to blame.

 

Dropped it off at the mechanics today, he said he thonks its an i take manifold leak!

 

Did he specify that the intake is connected to the oil leak, or the rough running, or both? I ask because it's possible that it could be the cause of both of the problems.

If the intake is leaking near the rear of it the oil could be running down the back of the motor and making it appear like it's coming from the rear main seal. Even though the seal is a rope type, it's still new and shouldn't be puking out THAT much oil so soon!

If the above is the case, that still doesn't explain the ticking noise you mention. Did the mechanic have any comments about that?

I also wonder about the plug fouling problem, and the cause of it. If the intake is leaking at the intake ports the plugs should read very lean instead of rich as you mention.

 

After looking at it more,he said the transmission mounts gave out, and pinched the ignition wires to the firewall. Which makes sense, as the rough running and ticking started when i was on an incline at bowling green! Soo, how much to replace a powerglide transmission mount!

 

$45, if you do it yourself: http://www.classicchevy.com/chevy-powerglide-transmission-bellhousing-mounts-rear-1955-1957.html

 

Id take that deal! Darn good deal!