Originally Posted by Charlie_V

You have been through hell on this rover! My friend has a rover identical to mine and has rust and problems everywhere. I'm watching him cuss and throw things right now! Hahaha. So you have shown considerable restraint.

Make sure your o2 wires didn't fall on the exhaust. That happened to me and I saw the same smoke and had the same o2 codes. Failing that, I think something plastic is against the block or exhaust. I'm assuming there's no way this could be exhaust gas (you'd definitely hear that).

The too lean codes on both sides might be a vacuum leak or or air leak. I would fix the 02 problem first and see if those codes go away. If not, check the tightness of the studs on the exhaust flange right below the exhaust manifold and the exhaust manifold bolts. Failing that, did you take the upper intake manifold off? If so, did you replace the plenum gasket and the exhaust flange gasket between the Y pipe and the exhaust manifold?

You're almost there!

Originally Posted by Mstudt

This thing isn't as rusted as others I've had. I restored a 73 VW Bus from Alaska, and I had to replace the lower 12" around the entire thing due to rust. All in all I would say this has typical Missouri rust on it, and it does need some attention.

I went ahead and put the old O2 sensors back in to see what happens. They weren't throwing any codes before so they should still be good. I'll get some good ones this time around rather than some cheap generic O2's. I also unbolt the exhaust from front to back. Got the y-pipe and tail pipe seated nicely together, and then rehung the rear. The exhaust leak is very minimal now! We're also not seeing the smoke anymore, so maybe that was an issue of just burning off some residue. I'm currently waiting for my wife to return with some MAF cleaner to see if that helps.

This Rover was a mess for sure, but I'm glad that the work I'm doing will pay off.

Originally Posted by Charlie_V

While you were typing that I was helping my buddy get his rover moving after it sat for a long time, and we immediately saw smoke coming out near the heads after starting it. Turned out he had sprayed PB blaster all over them and it was cooking off.

Rovers are fun! Keep telling yourself that!

Originally Posted by Mstudt

I think we're all fixed here now. I think the issue with the smoke for was anti-seize burning off. I noticed the header wasn't smoking anymore, but the O2 sensors were. When I put the old O2 sensors back in you could smell it burning off.

After putting in the old O2 sensors, aligning the exhaust better, and cleaning the MAF sensor I seem to be in good shape. I let it idle for 10 minutes with no codes, and then took it for a drive with no codes.

The Rover idles great, and runs smooth now. Thank you for all the help!