Head Gasket Failure
The head was refurbished at a reputable machine shop so I wonder if it's the block. Man I hope not .
I would take a steel or aluminum ruler, level or anything with a straight machined edge and place it across the head and block to see which is warped. Shine a light behind it and see if you can see the light on the other side. If you can, check it with feeler gauges. I've got a feeling it's too far to repair but you never know.
I hope it's the head(s) as they are cheaper and simpler than replacing the block.
My smoke is oil related vs water related, This engine does have over 200k miles on it.
Have you done a coolant pressure test? I did on mine and no issues but I still get water out the driver tail pipe vs the passenger side tail pipe. I know we get condensation, but I see water droplets on,y on one side.
We also did a quicky compression test and #7 was within spec with the others I tested.
Last thing is to do a leak down test but with all the things we’ve seen it’s internal.
I think I am just going to have to pull this lq9 and rebuild it.
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
may be the rings but it has good compression. Unless the oil is sealing it up to get a good reading.
‘Once it’s warmed up and driving around, it’s smoking and definitely smokes on deceleration bad.
‘Just like if I’m smoking for mosquitoes also.
‘No no leak down test yet and I may not as I’m pretty sure it’s the rings now with all the reading and posts.
‘I just have to pull it and rebuild it





