Ok any 70's era GM (Chevette) guys on here?

[Ferrariguyma]

Sorry NO 911 content at all.

Hey Im trying to figure out a cheVETTE problem.

Last night driving home on 95 North from RI. The cabin filled with smoke. I made it to the welcome center and opened the hood. Then exhaust manifold was glowing bright red.

Shut car off called AAA for a tow. I initially figured it was possibly the fact I way way overfilled the oil. (DUH) So this morning I bring her into Jiffy Lube and get the oil changed. Get back on highway go 3 exits and the same smoke starts up again. I recently had a custom exhaust made for her and the original 1978 catalytic converter was used. I rang up the guy who made the exhaust and asked if the cat might be causing this problem. He told me it was not possible and it sounded like the car was just running rich , gas was not getting burned up and it was causing the manifold and cat to run RED hot. He suggested a simple tune up and new plugs. Any ideas?

[creaturecat]

how about putting the vette out of its misery and buying a porsche

[jluetjen]

A >>>Chev<<<-ette? AKA: Pontiac T1000? That's a pretty big admission for a guy with the nickname "Ferrariguyma"

They still exist??? I once rented one as a cheap ITC renta-racer. The handling wasn't too bad (don't laugh -- in the UK the Vauxhall version was a fairly successful rally and circuit racer!), but did I mention that the valves float in the Chevy version at something like 5200 RPM? Real "racy"! It did make it kind of hard to excercise the rest of the car though.



Bonus question? Does anyone recognize the well known personality in the blue and white driving suit standing next to the car in the top picture?

Anyhow -- if the answer to my first question was "Yes", you are talking about a Chevette. I agree -- walk away from it and buy something like used Toyota. It will be sportier, more reliable and last a lot longer.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Darryl and his brother Darryl?

Stephan

[jluetjen]

Nope. We're too far in the Northeast for that sort of family relationship.

[Justin R]

Bob Varsha

[niner11]

searching for the .........ignore button

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Blocked Cat..

wrong forum...

[makaio]

My parents had one when I was just a wee lad. What a hunk oh $hit. I remeber being stranded with my mom on many ocasions, on the way home from school. There's was the same color as the racer JOhn posted pictures of.

Take the Chevette out back and shoot it. Then go buy an e30 BMW if you need a budget car.

[Por_sha911]

Def sounds like a blocked cat.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Okay, I have to admit that when I was the editor of Car and Driver when the Chevette was introduced, I actually wrote the cover line,"Chevette: the Most Important Car That Detroit Has Even Produced."

Stephan

[Por_sha911]

It was important. That POS made everything else look good!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I learned to drive stick on my brother's pea green Chevette Scooter, the low-end version of the Chevette, as if there could possibly be such a thing. It was on that day that I decided "never would this be me" and I promptly bought the first 240Z I could find for $800.

Toward the end of my education that day, the starter motor wouldn't have any more of it and made a failed attempt at leaving the car. If only it could have gotten the postive lead off, it would have been free, poor soul, we bolted it back in place.

[Oldporsche]

Chevette...............pronounced sometimes like Shovette.

Is that Dennis Farina in the Tee shirt next to "Bob Varsha?"

Darryl and his brother Darryl are living somewhere south of me.

David Duffield

[Jim Garfield]

Originally posted by jluetjen
Bonus question? Does anyone recognize the well known personality in the blue and white driving suit standing next to the car in the top picture?

Gee, it looks like the guy on SPEED who does a lot of the Nascar stuff......umm
Mike? ...ummm Joy? hmmm.... oh never mind.

[limble]

Be nice guys.
When my wife and I were in college we shared a Chevette. Had to fix everything myself, using the curb as a jack.., Five bucks to last us to the end of the week..,
Man, those were the days. Real character builder.
Sorry to high jack the thread.

[masraum]

When I turned 16 I drove my mother's '76. 1.4 liters giving 52 hp of ground pounding fury. At least it is rear wheel drive instead of fwd.

Not much of a car really.

How was it running besides the smoke and red glow?

I vote that the exhaust is somehow screwed/clogged cat. I suppose there could be some problem with the spark being weak, but then you'd probably notice it running really crappy.

[Justin R]

Originally posted by Jim Garfield
Gee, it looks like the guy on SPEED who does a lot of the Nascar stuff......umm
Mike? ...ummm Joy? hmmm.... oh never mind.

doh!

[s2per]

I once dated the daughter of a Chevy dealer in PA. Being on a limited budget and not able to drive stick, she owned a Chevette Scooter with 2 options; automatic and an AM radio. I bought and installed an underdash FM converter (you young guys have NEVER seen one of those!) and it was one of the happiest days of her life.
Without a doubt, the worst small car I've ever driven. At least a Yugo made you laugh.

[jluetjen]

Yeah, That's Mike Joy. He's a long time road racer here in the North East and just as pleasent in person as he comes across on TV. I believe that he's still racing Spec Racer regularly. Don't hold the Nascar thing against him, he gets paid for it -- it's a job. You'd never forget Bob Varsha if you saw him in person, he has a fairly "normal" build on something like a 6 foot 4 frame.

PS: Note the 911 content in the background. It's one of two 911's that raced with the SCCA fairly frequently here in the NE during the 80's. Manfred Moering maybe? Or did he have the other (brown) 911? I seem to remember that the green 911 had a 2.7RS spec motor in it and was nicely prepared. It was the camera car for some clips on a "Track Video" of all of the NE tracks.