smokes please help

[Dave-hid]

ok i just got my car on the road after replacing the whole cooling system but it starts to smoke after it runs for a while and also sometimes idles high and sometimes not at all. also the smoke comes off the top of the headers. and also the temp gauge doesnt read hot.

[shepherd79]

well, lets start with the color of the smoke. what color is it?
your idle can be many reasons, and that can be a hole new thread.
if it smokes of the top of the header, your valve cover gasket is leaking oil.
your temp sensor is not working, you probably unpluged the sensor.
it is on the back of the intake manifold.

[k-roy]

You should replace the header gasket if its leaking. Check closely for cracks on the header as well. Since you replaced the cooling system I am assuming it was overheating. So it may be the head gasket is blown. Keep an eye out for oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil.
As for the idling problem could also be a vacuum leak somewhere in the miles of hosing. You should probably re tune the carb, its listed in the howto section.