UPDATE! I am editing this thread as to update everyone on the following problem I have been having. I swapped carbs last night and still have smoke! I know the carb I put on is good as it runs great on my 70 Bronco with a 289 engine. After looking at it closer I do see a blue tint to the smoke so I took a compression test on all cylinders. I got a reading of right around 120 on all so that looks good. I'm now beginning to think it is a head problem like I originally suspected. Is there anyway to narrow it down and be able to figure out what exactly the problem is? At this point I am about ready to look for another set of heads and do a swap so I can still drive my car at the current time and have the original heads rebuilt in the meantime. This leads me to the next question.. what heads interchange on a 1965 289 engine??

Long story short.... I purchased a 65 fastback a little over 3 years ago that was owned by an elderly man who had been restoring the car for several years. This restoration started in the early 80's and one of the first things he did was rebuilt the original 289 engine. Unfortantely, he never finished the car as he passed away and therefore I took ownership of the car shortly after. I ended up dissasembling the block as the motor sat on its side for years and the antifreeze had corroded on the one side. I had it all flushed out, checked the bearings and rings and they had no wear so I assembled the motor and put it back together. I just had dual exhaust hung on this car and ever since see black smoke coming out the drivers side pipe when running. I did not touch the cylinder heads other than to clean them up and reinstall. It appeared that everything was new in them as the springs, rockers, etc. were all bare/clean like they had never seen oil. Now that the car is blowing black smoke I am wondering whether the valve seals possibly dried up from sitting??? Possibly one is sticking?? Does anyone have any insight as to what I should look into? The car seems to run great at the moment but this black smoke is making it look as if I got a diesel in this car! Thanks to anyone who chimes in to help me diagnose this problem!!

 

since you're saying the block lay on it's side it would be a perfectly good explanation.
do a dry/wet compression test if you have a tester. If not pull rocker covers and see what they look like, there might even be parts missing. if there are check out the thread with a title like: "low oil pressure - solved". very recent (this week)

 

Black smoke is a sign of a rich condition, NOT oil burning.

 

Yes, that thought crossed my mind as well. I am running a Holley mechanical fuel pump with a regulator set at 5.5 psi. My carb is an edelbrock 600 CFM electric choke. I have checked the float level and played with the idle screws but haven't had much luck.

 

oh... black, not blue ... my mistake

 

There are many things inside the carb that can cause a rich enough condition to blow black smoke. You could have a dirty needle and seat, blown power valve, bad metering block gaskets to name a few.

Do you have another known good carburetor that you can put in place temporarily to prove the carb as the problem? Once you prove it, then rebuild the carb that is now on it.

 

I do have another edelbrock carb on my 70 Bronco but the carb on the mustang is brand new so I wouldn't think that was the problem. I did have some flooding issues when I first ran the motor as I am running a holley mechanical fuel pump that puts out 8 psi of pressure. I ended up putting on a fuel regulator and setting it at 5.5 psi. That seemed to cure the flooding as the car starts on the first turn of the key every time. However, I am still blowing black smoke and it doesn't seem to go away whether idling in the driveway or cruising down the highway.

 

I hope I don't insult your intelligence by asking if the choke is opening okay?

 

Nope, no insult taken.

Yes, the choke is opening all the way as I have verified this to eliminate the potential of that being the problem.

 

Worked on the car again last night and adjusted the idle screws on the carb again and had no luck. I can actually turn these screws all the way in and it doesn't seem to affect the way the car runs much - still blows lots of black smoke. Regardless I did pull my oil dipstick and it had a very strong smell of fuel. Tonight I am going to swap the carb off my 70 Bronco just to eliminate potential carb problems. I had been working outside and once I pulled the car back into the garage for the night I had to get out of there as my eyes and nose were burning from the fumes!