I pulled the engine so I could rebuild it. Much easier to get everything done right while on an engine stand. I would never to a head gasket job with the engine in the car, my back would give out. So many good threads here on Rennlist to walk you thru almost every step of a rebuild. Devil is in the details, and it's kinda fun to find them and learn all about the engine.

Costs a lot more in the long run though....it's a slippery slope cuz you might as well rebuild or replace or clean everything in sight.

Rich

 

When my head gasket went this spring from overheating thr motor, the car ran fine. I would get a white cloud on startup and when I shut the car off I could hear a glug-glug sound which I think was coolant being forced into the cylinders and then air replacing that coolant in the expansion tank.

​​​​You can see how the guys here helped me diagnose the issue and then helped me with an engine swap back into the car. There are lots of photos in that thread. Search for "Blown / Damaged Head gasket" and you should find it.

 

Update... I did what Stan recommended above and the computer/MAF seemed to smooth the idle and the smoking stopped. I drove it for about 5 miles and I’m waiting on it to cool to check coolant level. I didn’t pay attention till this morning but the idle was surging. It would run smooth and the surge about 750 rmps and then (10 sec) smoothie back out. It’s not doing that now after getting the rpms aver 5000 a couple of times.

But, par for the course, the drivers window won’t go up now. Passenger and sunroof works. Fuse is fine. I checked to see if switch was connected in footwell (it is). Is there anything I can check prior to removing the door panel? I’m thinking window motor.

 

Push the window switch a little harder. The contacts separate a little over time from the heat.

 

I did but it didn’t move. Nothing happening. I even ensured it was connected behind the center console. It stopped w/o warning. Worked fine before I started the MAF CPS work. I also replaced the two coolant hoses under the cowl.

 

Likely the motor since these older vehicles have scissor action regs. You can try unplugging the motor and applying direct power to it to see if it works outside of the electrical system. Let us know if you need help with that motor. We specialize in rebuilding classic window motors.