1989 Corvette no power.

My dad just bought a 1989 corvette. It has the L89 tpi 350 chevy in it. It only has about 35,000 miles on it. It ran great for a few months, then all of a sudden i started hearing an exhaust rattle. It rattled for a few days then all of a sudden the rattle disappeared. Right after it stopped rattling it started running like crap.

Symptoms.

No power, it revs up but doesn't accelerate,
Rough Idle,
Occasional stalling.
I can smell somthing "burning" or that is hot.
It is not missing
It runs like it is starved for either air or gas

I checked the maf, and cleaned it out, but it still runs like crap.

I think it might be the cats, or the fuel filter.

If it is the cats, we do not have the money right now to purchase a new one, so is there a way I can gut them untill we get the funding to replace them?


This is the only car he has at the moment, and it is almost undrivable. So any help would be great.

Thanks.

No codes?

Check fuel pressure. Static, idle with vacuum on FPR, idle with vacuum OFF FPR, and pedal down pressure.

Any loping idle?

Check for vacuum leaks.
Lopin' idle is an air issue; gotta' be a vacuum leak somewhere.

Block the TB linkage, brick on pedal, anything to get a steady idle, then start sprayin' startin' fluid EVERYWHERE, a little at a time, to find where it's gettin' sucked in, and causin' a brief rev increase.

Vac leak will make a engine lope idle - 20 year old lawn mower, or a new car on the lot...
Find a leak in a tight spot? Try a book of matches. Light the whole book, blow 'em out quick while the match heads are burnin', and see if the smoke feeds into some spot...