someone i know is selling a 87 t2 it starts and runs well but it started to smoke a little,nothing heavy not even when you give it gas. what is the smoke from? and does it mean the engine will need to be rebiult soon? he said the odometer said 110,000 it also sounded like an exhaust leak from the manifold area. what should i look for? meeting with the guy tomarrow.

 

What color is the smoke? A little bit of blue on startup is nothing to worry about. Heavy blue when you lift from a high RPM would be rotor oil rings/seals.



If the smoke is white and smells sweet, you need rebuild as a water seal/internal peripheral o-ring somewhere is being compromised.



It's real common for those exhaust mani's to crack. I had one that was so bad I could only make 3 or so pounds of boost.



My advice would be to get the owner to pull the trailings and check compression. Bring a gauge or just your finger.



Taillights and gauge lights don't work = burnt headlight switch and/or harness.



It's common for the synchros in these trannys to get trashed.



Everybody's got different things they look for in cars, but I like mine unmolested. The more stock the better. If a car does have mods, then you have to scrutinize install quality to make sure you're not getting in on somebody else's hack-job.



Good luck with it.

Cheers