[RichW]

I have a 73 with 71 SU's, E88 head and L28 block. My question is that with the smog laws not applying, which (if any) of the external hardware is no longer necessary for the SU's? Also, is there a standard way to set the car up with blocking off the air pump hoses?

TIA for any advice...Rich

 

[Zornge240]

i don't know about the air pump hoses since all they do is pump clean air into the egr system and exahust pipe to aid in the catalytic converter but as for the anti smog devices on the SU's there aren't any. i have a 72 240 and there isn't one bit of smog control on that car

 

[johnh240]

You can find lots about this with a search, but in general you can remove the pump and the air gallery and most importantly if you are doing this for performance you MUST remove the nozzles from the exhaust manifold. The nozzles cause at least as much loss of power (if not more) due to restricting the flow of the exhaust as the air pump does in drag. You most likely will need to remove the manifold to get them out. They will have a pretty good buildup of crud on them so very difficult to remove from the top. You should leave the throttle closer and the control unit for it. You could also remove the anti-backfire valve, or replumb it so that the inlet comes from the air cleaner rather than the air pump. BTW the air pump is actually an A.I.R. pump. It stands for Air Injection Reaction and it functions by pumping fresh air to the exhaust port in the exhaust manifold. By putting air there is causes another BURN of the excess hydrocarbons that exist in the exhaust. It does not just dilute the exhaust as many seem to think. It actually causes another reaction or oxidation of the unburned fuel at that point. Just diluting the emissions would be no different than just letting it go out into the air. Also be aware that when you remove the system that there is a fair likelyhood that you will have a bit stronger (richer) smelling exhaust and perhaps pick up a bit more soot on the tailpipe.