how can i safely start to remove some of the emissions stuff on my 86 ss. I already removed cat and noticed getting better gas mileage. Now i have a tube hanging where it used to be attached to the catalytic converter. anybody have pictures? its all stock and looks good ill post a picture tomorrow when i have good light. I just want to get rid of some hoses that are cluttering it up.

Welcome. You can remove that tube and the pump in connects to. Then start removing all the vacuum lines connected to it. You will have to remove and plug the AIR tubes in the manifolds. Leave the EGR to satisfy the ECU. This has been discussed a few times lately so a search will give you more detailed information and pictures too probably.

yeah i just bought the monte it was my dream car for as long as i can remember but i am new to this (17 years old) and could use some pictures or more explanations i looked but couldnt find specifically what i was looking for on the forum but everyone seems extremly knowledgeable on here. I understand enough to know that i dont need all this smog garbage under the hood and would like to clear up some space to work.

Removing the smog stuff may give you really bad gas milage, just FYI. Welcome to the server, glad you got your dream car.

If you don't have to worry about emissions, then get rid of it at will. Pull the pollution pump/belt and remove the tubes entering the manifolds (if they are removable since they are more than likely rusted). I put 1/4" pipe fitting plugs in my manifolds from the local hardware after removing the air tubes. Some say it's a different thread than that, but I had no issues with the pipe plugs fitting
Just with the air tubes/smog pump/hoses attached/etc removed your engine bay will look 100% better (IMO). I am one of those who believe that EGR is better left in place on a stock tuned car but others will tell you differently.
If anything, removing the smog pump and it's scavenging effect on the motor should help MPG, not hurt it.

You can get rid of the egr, just leave the solenoid in place to satisfy the computer, if the solenoid is left unplugger, you will get a "check engine" light. Same goes for the air pump, you can take it out, just leave the electronics in place and plugged in.

Supernova455

I pluged mine with some pipe plugs also. Mine were rusted so they twisted the tubes and a couple of the nut heads rounded off. Had to take some vice grips to those to get them out. If you get worse mileage after removing everything then most likely you have forgot to cap off a vacuum fitting somewhere.

Just save the stuff in case Kentucky joins other states in requiring smog checks some day.

Yeah. I saved all mine. I would just have to buy some headers with the air tubes already in them. But since mine will now be registered as a historic vehicle I may not need to worry about it. I doubt we will be bringing it back anytime soon though. Whole reason VET was done away with was it was not worth what it was costing the state.

if you get a distributor and carb off a car or truck from the 70's, then you can tear a whole bunch of stuff off the motor and really clean things up- this totally gets rid of the need to have the computer and all associated wiring in the car and allows you to set up the engine bay like a car from the mid 60's, with only a couple of vacuum hoses and a couple of wires instead of 10 pounds of vacuum hoses snaking across everything and 20 pounds of wires covering whatever the hoses didn't cover up.

wow thanks i have a few questions... ok the tubes on the manifolds arent rusted so i can just wrench those off and theres 2 big nasty hoses gone.


now i noticed there is some wiring on what looks like a pump? im guessing its the smog pump what should i do with these leave them plugged into the pump or take pump out and leave wires?

and here is a random shot with the air cleaner snorkel removed so you can see everything thanks

First thing you need to know about removing emission stuff is that it is alwalys illegal under Fed law. Does not matter what state or what tags you have it's still illegal. Removing the Smog pump won't cause any negitive affects on your car. Now the EVAP system keeps your car from having that gassy smell while parked. The EGR system helps prevent spark knock so I would leave that alone. The computer system improves your MPGs and automatically controls stuff like trans lockup and EGR so again I would leave that alone. Plus in most cases converting the car to non computer costs alot and will not give you better perormance, just worse MPGs. The EFE valve in your manifold you can either replace with a spacer or just cut the valve out of the housing. The THERMVAC system I would leave alone since it helps your car to warm up faster.

what do i have to do to take off the smog pump should i put anything in its place or just run it with no belt and no pump. are there any repercussions to removing the smog pump.. im guessing if i can remove the smog pump no problem i can just go ahead and take out everything its connected to and..... any vacuum lines should be plugged?<<<<very curious!

how will doing all this effect my car

ok sorry im kinda impatient i took smog pump off car runs fine what now?

Do not attempt to remove the air tubes from the exhaust manifold unless you are using the correct size flare wrench. Soak the threads in penetrating fluid overnight.

ok my car runs better than ever... used to have rough starts in the morning but now i dont have problems. my advice to anybody TAKE SMOG PUMP OFF! not sure about gas mileage but i dont care. cleans the engine up and now it looks much great and runs better what more could i ask for

Will unplugging the leads to the air pump valves cause a check engine light? From what I can tell the leads are just how the ECU activates the valves based on data received elsewhere. I don't think there are any sensors associated with the valve.

nope, as you stated - they are direct pinned to the computer

The emissions wiring can have other uses - Using the pink/black wire on the emissions wiring is a great place to get ign power for a relay for anyone doing an electric fan swap. You pull the main power from the battery and pull the trigger power off the pink/black hot wire in the emissions wiring. Works great as an under the hood ign hot

Sounds like you had a bad pump that was causing more drag than a good smog pump. However due to emission laws not everyone can remove their smog pump, always check your local laws before removing anything!

i would imagine it was creating some sort of drag on the motor.

yeah where i am there arent any laws against it or there would be no cars on the road ha (kentucky) so im not worried about that plus if they do switch over i have it all in a box

and for gruvin84ss i would trace the wires as far back as you could to eliminate some clutter if you dont need an ign lead under the hood( which is never bad to have)

What all did you have to take off to remove the smog pump? Was there any electrical stuff and what did you do with it? How did you plug the tubes that go to the headers? -JM

ok first of all the smog pump is just connected by a belt and i removed the belt and left everything else intact. I want to know the same thing what do i use to plug the headers with but once i figure that out im just ripping everything out. im pretty sure i can just plug the holes with stainless bolts but need to find out what size so im currently working on figuring that out. as far as electrical you can just leave it and you have a IGN switch under the hood but you can also just trace it back and remove it all. shouldn't throw a code if im not mistaken