Pete 379 smoking at idle.

probably needs a cylinder kit, might as well do an in-frame...those ol' b model cats are pretty affordable on overhauls if you do it yourself

 

I wouldn't jump to conclusions on an inframe just yet. What color is the smoke? How does it start after sitting all night? At what rpm does the smoke clear up?

 

Out of curiosity, what's the fuel economy like at full load with an `88, 425 Cat?

 

On my 91 379 model Pete, had 3.55 rears, 15 double over, on 24.5 tall rubber, I could get 6.5 most days just by being easy on the throttle. Would drop down to under 6 on those west coast runs. The Rockies really hurt fuel mileage.

 

White smoke can be coolant or fuel timing. Smell will tell the difference, we all pretty well know what coolant smells like in the exhaust. Timing will have a raw fuel smell to it. If its coolant its usually accompanied with a miss, and the list of could be's is long from cups to pitted liners. But from what you have said so far I don't think that's it. If it was a there would have been small amounts of moisture under the covers when the injectors were done. Milky looking oil and a little rust around valve springs etc. There are 2 different thickness of copper washers on the injectors, believe it or not wrong ones will alter the timing. You should have the thin one's on a 425. It could be a timing advance problem or depending on where you got the injectors, could still have one leaky nozzle. I would find a sure enuff good B model man in your area and tell him to give it a good tune up. I have to do my old rag about once a year but its worth every bit of time it takes. Not that the pump is complicated but I'm not sure of your experience level and don't want to create more trouble for you lol. I don't think its tired in the least from what you said, I'm betting on timing advance weights, or minor pump issues like contamination in the plungers causing it not to fuel correctly. Its possible it won't need anything but a good cleaning and adjustments.

 

If I was you, I'd be very tempted to get a light load to wherever woreout is and party him to do it. He sends to know his stuff.