ok on my 1987 corvette again, even when its warm outside shoukd steam be emminating from the exhaust at start up or do I have a greater issue

The exhaust out the tail pipe? If there is white smoke coming from the exhaust, you may have a blown head gasket. If the smoke goes away during warm up then this is not the case.

White "smoke" fro you exhaust pipe on start up is the accumulation of moisture in your exhaust system being turned into steam. If you life in an area that has humidity, this will occur. Even here in Southern California where most days there is low humidity, it will occur. zUsually if a car is left outside over night then started in the morning, this will occur. If after warm up and driving, it happens again, you may have a radiator fluid leak into your piston area. Take a white paper towel and wipe the exhaust end. If it is dark, you may have oil or other reside leaking into the exhaust from the engine. Check you radiator for fluid levels. If it goes down faster that a normal loss, you should have the pressure checked in the cylinders to see if there is a blown head gasket. Also if you have a radiator leak, you spark plugs may also show dirty and which one is leaking. Normally if it only happens on start up, that is normal. When I leave early in the morning, I see all types of vehicles emitting steam, new and older vehicles alike.