Should air be coming up from the engine bay? It's like a windy day under there, blowing towards the passenger side. It's mostly coming from around the alternator. I don't see any vacuum lines that could be the culprit.

I have the brake booster vacuum nipple plugged on the ram housing, since I don't have the line yet, but everything else is hooked up and in place.

 

Dude... not to doubt your knowledge of car parts, but do you mean air coming from the radiator fan when running the engine?

 

Ha, well, I don't know much, but this is way more air than what was blowing from the radiator fan before the HG job. I did replace the fan, but it's the same size and orientation as the original.

I also hear a hissing sound, so I suppose I must have a vac leak somewhere.

 

I'm assuming from your other post that you did the head gasket job yourself... Absolutely no offense intended but IMO you have something (or a few things) botched. You should take it to a professional before you make your engine most useful as a coffee table I know it's expensive, but disassembly of the engine on that scale is not something for the amateur mechanic (myself included in that category). If you didn't do the gasket job yourself, ignore everything I've said and take it back to whoever did it.

 

I suppose so. It fires right up and runs much smoother than it did pre-HG. The actual HG replacement wasn't all that complicated. The PO had rounded off nearly every bolt, including head bolts, so removing those was more frustrating than the majority of the engine work. But something is amiss.

 

Especially if you're still having the smoke issue you mentioned in your other post, you've likely got coolant leaking into somewhere it shouldn't be and getting boiled off. That and a hissing sound, I wouldn't be starting that car again until someone stripped it down and reassembled. You did replace the head bolts, correct? Did you blow out all the block coolant passages when you had the heads off? Is it at least running at the correct temp? Does it have oil in it?

 

 

I attached some videos. Non smokey one is right after startup. Other one is after running for a few minutes. Smells like burning rubber/plastic, not like coolant. I don't see anything rubber or plastic touching the manifolds. No fluid leaks under the car, which is shocking given how gouged up the front cover was.

 

Grab a flashlight after the sun goes down and scan over everything. Sounds weird I know but things seem to appear in the light of a flashlight over ambient sunlight.

 

Does your master cylinder have brake fluid in it-it looks empty? Did it leak onto the drivers side cat and smoke off? The motor sounds quiet- that’s a good thing.
how long did it take you to replace the gaskets?