Does anyone out there have hopped up engines that are emissions legal?
I am planning on modifying my 350 CCC Q-jet and would like some suggestions from people that have done it before. I would like to push as much torque as possible cause it is a daily driver, plus I don't rev it past 5200.
Thanks.

 

I know some of you guys are running emissions legal combo's with ccc carbs. Please post your combo that passes emissions.

 

Five7 kid is the only one I can think of....

 

Well, I'm not that alone, and "technically" don't qualify anymore. But, with cat & A.I.R. reinstalled, I would.

Keep the cam mild, like 220 advertised duration or less, LSA 112 or more, "computer compatible" in its description, and you aren't going to have any problems meeting your objectives.

Some would call it "mild", but I really like the ZZ4 cam (requires a factory roller block). I haven't had to pass emissions with this set-up, but it's what the factory used for their emissions-legal HO 350 Camaro Conversion Kit back when it was available. The headers and 2500 stall converter really complete the package.

 

. uh, 220* @ .050" right? not advertised?

 

Oops, right.

Good catch.

(220 advertised would be very mild, huh?)

 

Hi! I'm new here and I would like some advise from anyone else doing the emissions/adding more horses topic. I have a 1982 base model Camaro that was given a 350, 5.7 liter, Goodwrench crate engine fed by a Rochester computer controlled carburetor. The Engine and carb have not been modified, but have been tuned as well as I could get them. I feel like I'm being robbed of the engine's true potential somewhere (quite possibly the restrictive exhaust, emissions equipment and computer are to blame). The car is full of acceleration first thing in the morning when the engine is cold and so is the outside air, but when the heat of the day hits, the car gets sluggish. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding what performance upgrades I would be able to do while still passing emissions, and what I might be able to do regarding the loss of power in the heat of the day? I live in Phoenix Arizona, so the heat (as you can only imagine) is psychotic! Any help from those of you who have gone down this path before would be GREATLY appreciated!
Sincerely,
James!
PS: I also noticed you can buy computer chips that are supposed to unlock some power.....but I have no idea if they are worth it or if they would even work for the computer controlled carb. Are they only for fuel injected cars?

 

Restrictive exhaust is culprit #1 on our cars.

The chips won't make a big difference, but may be worth a few hundredths in the quarter mile. I've heard the later ECM's ('86, '87) were a little better than the earlier ones, but I don't have anything to back that up.

The no-longer-available GM "350 HO Camaro Conversion Kit" put a ZZ4 crate engine into a carb'd Camaro in an emissions-legal fashion. To the ZZ4 they added an improved exhaust (cast iron manifolds, dual cats, aftermarket cat-back), ECM & PROM, secondary rods & hanger, dual-snorkel air cleaner, electric fuel pump and pressure regulator, and poly bushing rear lower control arms. And a instrument panel decal that said "Premium Fuel Only".

 

I find it interesting that the GM "350 HO Camaro Conversion Kit" passes emissions when it does not include EGR. I also find it interesting that it has 10:1 compression and will run off of 92 pump gas with all the emissions hoocked up to it.

James Brine
Check the air cleaner heat stove. Is it opening? It is designed to heat the incoming air to speed warm up time in cold weather. Sometimes these fail and will stay in the closed position, resulting in preheated air at all times. Also check if the choke and vac pulloff are functioning. If it is sluggish after warmup, the car is in closed loop, could have carb tuning problems. Check to see if your carb is behaving properly when in closed loop. I feel it might be running lean, as when cold it is in open loop the car runs richer to keep the car running. Then it goes to closed loop when warm the car relies on the ccc system to control fuel delivery. Also check if the thermostat is stuck in the open position, as I had a problem with this. Cheap Autozone parts, then I bought a gm one with no problems. I feel that your problem is related to something malfunctioning with the engine management system, not the restrictiveness of the emissions equipment, ecm, or emissions equipment. I have a 88 caprice 9C1 that is totally stock, and it runs excellent in very hot weather. The car runs hard for a stock car, just getting gready and want more power.

 

Originally, it did have functional EGR. They had a flexible insulated pipe that went from the exhaust manifold up to the hot air choke boss on the intake manifold to feed the EGR valve. Somewhere along the line they figured out the cam had enough overlap that at idle and low speeds, the intake charge was diluted enough that the EGR wasn't needed. I believe it was programmed out of the PROM at that time, too. One of these days I'm going to try disconnecting the vacuum from the EGR solenoid (I need to keep the solenoid attached electrically because it isn't programmed out of my PROM) and see how it does.

10:1 compression and pump gas is due to aluminum heads. I can get by with regular with my setup (9.7:1 CR), but it does a little better overall with mid-grade.

 

Not necessary in the carbed cars.... the Stone Age ECM in those is far too crude and stupid to be able to tell whether there's anything hanging off of it out there or not. If you don't want it, just unplug it, the ECM will remain blissfully unaware.

 

Not a carb, but my TBI has a relativly aggressive cam given that it's a V6. One of the things that helped a lot a was getting the RPMs up a bit. My numbers went from marginal to awesome when I swapped from a 3.08 rear to a 3.73 rear. Without getting the revs above the cam lope, you'll get a lot more nasty exhaust out the tailpipe. Currently my setup barely even registers on the meter with no EGR, no AIR, and no smog pump. I do run a high flow cat, though. Engine details in the garage.

Teeleton

 

The EGR isn't needed at Idle and Off Idle. Only when cruising down the road. I doubt any engine with 10:1 compression would legally be OK without an EGR due to increase cylinder temps created by increased compression. Considering the original engine compression was much lower and still reqired the EGR. And of course you still have the FED emission laws restricting the removeal of emission items.

 

Tell ya what, my sticker is up for renewal in October, and I'll scan the results in for you (don't have the last one around anymore). FWIW, if your cam has enough overlap, it will emulate an EGR as the piston will draw from the exhaust side as well as the intake side during the overlap. It's only in the upper end of the RPMs when the exhaust starts to gain some serious velocity that cylinder scavenging starts to happen and the EGR effect drops to nil.

Teeleton

 

I'm glad I joined this forum! I didn't think I would get such a detailed and fast response, but this was truly worth my time to join in the group. Thank you for all your help and I will see if my thermostat is stuck or my carb is running lean!
Thanks guys!
Sincerely,
James Brine!

 

In response to my statement of the need to keep the EGR solenoid in the system:
I went out to the parking lot Friday afternoon and unplugged the EGR solenoid. Hasn't set a code yet (and it's been driven a lot since then, including about an hour of highway cruise operation, as well as 11 runs down the 1320).

Goes to show where listening to others will get you.