I am new here and if I am posting incorrectly, I apologize. There may be a thread like this already, but if we could all use a general troubleshooting thread to redirect us to the correct topic thread it would be helpful.
Let me state what I am dealing with, currently, and please any help or info from the car gods out there would be appreciated. : )

1st problem--smoke on startup and slight coolant smell in the car.
Smoke appears to be whiteish, BUT the car is not tuned very well and runs a bit rich as well. What are the possible issues besides the head gasket? I will have a test done to HOPEFULLY rule that out.

2nd problem--When braking as I slow down I hear a scaping in time with my speed as if I had a warped rotor. Brakes seem to Grab BUT the car pulls to that same side AND I hear a loud clunk from that side as well as if something could be loose. I have no clue. Any ideas? I so want to drive it again in the Spring. It is amazing what a winter of inactivity will unleash. It was ok last summer! Please help.

Oh the joys of an old vette - welcome to the fraternity.
1) If you cannot visually find a coolant leak, it is most likely a head gasket or possibly a block leak. Pray for the gasket. Any water getting into the combustion chamber can cause the engine to blow, as water expands much more that gasoline when heated.
2) Could be a rusty rotor - if so, it will clean itself up with some use.
Could be a warped rotor. Remove wheel and check for runout. If you do not have the euipment to measure it, turn the wheel and watch how the rotor runs through the caliper.
Could be a loose caliper - well worth checking before spending money.
Good luck.

I am new here and if I am posting incorrectly, I apologize. There may be a thread like this already, but if we could all use a general troubleshooting thread to redirect us to the correct topic thread it would be helpful.
Let me state what I am dealing with, currently, and please any help or info from the car gods out there would be appreciated. : )

1st problem--smoke on startup and slight coolant smell in the car.
Smoke appears to be whiteish, BUT the car is not tuned very well and runs a bit rich as well. What are the possible issues besides the head gasket? I will have a test done to HOPEFULLY rule that out.

2nd problem--When braking as I slow down I hear a scaping in time with my speed as if I had a warped rotor. Brakes seem to Grab BUT the car pulls to that same side AND I hear a loud clunk from that side as well as if something could be loose. I have no clue. Any ideas? I so want to drive it again in the Spring. It is amazing what a winter of inactivity will unleash. It was ok last summer! Please help.

1.it could be a head gasket leak a slight one,when the car sets over night coolant leaks in, time to do a compression test and a leak down test on the coolant system.

2. Better take that wheel off asap and inspect rotor,pad's,and wheel brg's before you drive ut anymore

I'm pretty much with kwplot34--

The smoke on start could be very simple- valve guide seals. What amount of smoke are we talking about and what does it smell like?
Are you having to add coolant? Pressure testing the cooling system will just about pinpoint those problems.
And valve guide seals sounds like a big deal- it's not, and you can run for a long long time with bad ones. Until you need to rebuild the rest of the engine.
The coolant smell in the car could be the heater core seeping a little.

I would be concerned about the brake thing. Take a look at that stuff ASAP- what may be a fairly minor thing right now can become big $$- rear bearings/rotors/trailing arms are no that cheap.

Wow! You guys are the best. I just needed a good place to start and you guys definitely pointed me in the right direction! I am soooo stressed about it because I love driving that puppy in the Spring and with a new baby AND a 13 year old son, money isn't exactly sprouting up from the ground. lol I am gonna pray for valve guide seals and pray that I catch the brake issue early if that is what it is.
It sucks because everytime I intend on making some improvements, some repair pops up. It's like an old Harley. It's paid for though and she's mine forever even if I have to roll it out in the driveway and sit in it and pretend to be driving it. hehe

I forgot to mention concerning the possible brake issue. That same side rear brake light will stay on while I am driving! As if it is sticking on that side. That would explain the pull and the excessive brake dust on that side. Would it explain the clunk as well?

The brake light and the clunk are 2 seperate things. Do 1 at a time- I'd start by pulling the rear wheels- look at the brake pads/rotors/calipers for anything loose and/or worn. Check the U-Joints too- good place for a "clunk". I'd say let's get the noise/ brakes sorted out before going to the light thing. C3's are pretty notorious for electric problems but most can be traced back to a bad ground or a bad switch. Easy fixes, just time consuming.

However you decide to proceed, just keep posting and we can walk you thru the correct fix. ( read that as the easiest, best, cheapest fix). I'm sort of a cheapskate- I'll spend $$ on the very best quality parts I can find, then figure out how to do the work myself. and I don't like to work very hard anymore either so I find the easy way to do everything.

What everyone is saying is right on. But i will also add that trany fluid will also puff white colored smoke if its burned. If you have an automatic, the vacume line hooed to the back of the intake that goes to the vacume mod on the trany can leak when they get old. The engine will pull trany fluid from the vacume mod and burn it. Quick way to check this is to pull the vacume line on the intake or the one off the vacume mod and see if there is oil or oil residue in it. If so, this could be one of the problems.

Do you torque your wheels evenly and use a torque wrench? If not, by not torquing your wheels evenly this will cause rotor warp. You will get a pulsing peddle, pull to one side and with the pulsing will back feed air into the break lines.
I would go and buy a torque wrench to keep at your home. So if you have new tires or a flat fixed or break work, you can check the torque and make sure its right. Don't rely on a tire shop telling you there torqued right. 90% of the time, they never are. Torque your lug nuts between 85 -95 ft lbs. I run mine around 95-100 as i'm a little more agressive driver and racer with my vette.

Thanks for even more great advice. With me being a newbie to the Vette scene and not being extremely mechanical, these suggestions are huge to me. Thanks so much. I do have some good friends who are great with cars and they help me out tons when it comes to doing the work. It is my job to try to decipher what I will need done though. LOL

Was having some problems getting the engine started. It was turning over so it was a spark or fuel issue. ok-so My buddy comes over and swaps out the ignition module and the car starts up and sounds beautiful! Well later that night I go to start it and now nothing at all. No click of the starter even! Battery is good---tried tapping the starter---nothing. I did notice that my neutral safety switch was acting up last year. What the crap?

Im not even getting in this one,every time you wake up its a new problem-get your check book out and a manual.

Hey everybody! I'm new..looking at vettes...I'm gonna have one eventually. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on. I need some advice. I stopped and checked out a 1978 yesterday that's for sale. 58,000 miles, matching numbers, L82 350/220. Automatic tranny sounds awesome and looks good, even though I would prefer a manual. Drives great. Engine will be cleaned and air cleaner cover replaced with chrome one. New yellow paint, new carpet, will have new seat covers, steering wheel and new driver side rocker panel. Dash is decent but not perfect. Shifter boot needs replacing. Air conditioning has been removed but mounts are still there. T-tops in great shape except one liner which will be replaced. Powers locks, inside dimmer light and headlights all work great. Not sure about t-top leaks but car will be kept dry. New trim, emblems on hood and rear. Body in excellent shape, including both lower spoilers. Tires and wheels are also good. The things that are new still look like stock 1978. It looks to me like somebody has put some work into it keeping it nice and close to original. I want a toy that I can drive when it's sunny and tinker with once in a while. The asking price is $11,500. As far as I know it's not been sitting unused or neglected in any way. What do you think?:o

Hey everybody! I'm new..looking at vettes...I'm gonna have one eventually. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on. I need some advice. I stopped and checked out a 1978 yesterday that's for sale. 58,000 miles, matching numbers, L82 350/220. Automatic tranny sounds awesome and looks good, even though I would prefer a manual. Drives great. Engine will be cleaned and air cleaner cover replaced with chrome one. New yellow paint, new carpet, will have new seat covers, steering wheel and new driver side rocker panel. Dash is decent but not perfect. Shifter boot needs replacing. Air conditioning has been removed but mounts are still there. T-tops in great shape except one liner which will be replaced. Powers locks, inside dimmer light and headlights all work great. Not sure about t-top leaks but car will be kept dry. New trim, emblems on hood and rear. Body in excellent shape, including both lower spoilers. Tires and wheels are also good. The things that are new still look like stock 1978. It looks to me like somebody has put some work into it keeping it nice and close to original. I want a toy that I can drive when it's sunny and tinker with once in a while. The asking price is $11,500. As far as I know it's not been sitting unused or neglected in any way. What do you think?:o

Does not sound like bad price. I gave 20,000 for my 75 with a lot of extras and only 13000 miles on it at the time I bought it. You may want to move your post over to the New To Smokin Vette forum.

http://www.smokinvette.com/corvettephotos/data/500/medium/DSC03647.JPG

http://www.smokinvette.com/corvettephotos/data/500/DSC02815.JPG