What does that black box next to my valve cover do, it's got a couple hoses running to it. Can I move it or take it off, it looks like crap! Thanks, Matt

 

That's the AIR diverter solenoid I think. Smog pumps are a crock. I think if you lookup smog pump removal or AIR pump removal you can get all the info on taking it out.

 

I believe you are referring to the AIR system. It's used to pump fresh air into the manifolds and cat to help the cat "re-burn" the exhaust. You can remove all of that... hoses, black box, smog pump, etc. You wont throw any codes, you'll lose about 12 pounds, and get rid of engine clutter. Remember to cap the inlets on the manifolds and on the tube running to the cat. The smog pump delete is not difficult, just remember that you make have to reinstall it come inspection time (only takes about 20 min.) Refer to the smog pump delete article in the tech articles section.

 

While you're at it, remove the crappy stock heater hoses and go the classic way. 2 hoses from heater core into intake manifold and waterpump. No need for the stupid switch which is controled by the hvac climate controls! Did you know that no coolant flows into the heater core UNLESS you have the heat/vent/defrost selected! That's bull. I don't want cold air blowing on me until the engine warms up. For this reason I just have 2 hoses going from the heatercore into the engine, just like how the small block was designed for.
As for the AIR pump, remove it, it's junk. I passed my car with the vortec heads (no EGR) and no air pump. The only thing I had was a cat. Ran my engine at 200 degrees and passed the NJ sniff on dyno test.

 

Jon, I've been planning on getting rid of the HCV and rerouting the hoses like you're saying here, ever since I saw it and thought WTF is this junk? However, this little man in the back of my head wonders, why did GM do this - musta been some reason, right? The only thing I can guess is that some earlier fbodies had problems w/heater core passively warming up the interior in the summer worse than your average SBC car?? How has your summer experience been w/o the HCV diverting coolant? No difference? Minor difference? Even the A/C doesn't help when it's 100 deg out?

 

I believe it's because air is still flowing through the heater core when the AC is on, and you don't want it heating up what is supposed to be cold air. If you move the temp selector to hot while it's on MAX or AC, it'll let the coolant flow through. Why would you do that if there's a HEATER and VENT selection? Because when you involve the AC it dries the air. This is really nice in extremely humid areas where without it, you'd just fog up the windows. That's why the DEFROST selection also turns on the compressor.