the air pump on my car works... i am just on a quest to remove weight and unclutter my engine bay... so is there any gain to either keeping or gettin rid of the air pump, i was thinking at the very least its getting rid of parasitic drag... i dont have a emmissions check in my county but they do a visual inspection im just banking on them not noticing its gone, if not ill have to buy a sticker... anyway all thoughts on this matter will be appreciated, thanks in advance

 

There's a guy on here selling a gutted air pump if you want to get rid of it but still look like you have one. I don't have the link on hand but if you look in the classifieds under engine/drivetrain parts for sale, then you'll find it.

I'll see if I can find the link for you.
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Here you go:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/engi...arts-sale.html

Not sure if he still has it, but you can PM him and check.

Like I said, this will allow you to get rid of the smog system but still look like you have it. It's just a gutted out air pump so it will just be a free spinning pulley.

 

do a search on i think smog pump removal....there is a way to re route the belt to completly by-pass the smog pump. i have done so on my camaro...you actually have to purchase a slightly longer serpintine belt...and remove the smog pump completly to make it work. the downside is if your using you stock manifolds, you still have those ugly tubes that you have to leave on there so exhaust doesn't leak out.....i have put headers on mine and removed the A.I.R. tubes completly, and blocked of the air lines going to the cat. i also didn't get any computer codes when i unpluged the system.

 

really i was just thinking about taking it off and seeing if the guy who inspects it notices, guess i could justake it off after the inspect if it isnt going to throw any codes,btw i dont have a serpentine i have belts for each accessorie, so taking it off would free up some hp (i hope plus it will just look alot nicer in the engine bay if most of the stupid lines are gone not tomention the weight... anyone have any more thoughts???

 

i thought there was a post on here that told you exactly what fittings you need to plug the lines, like the size and everything, does anyone know or do they have pics of it done on their own car... i work at a hardware store so these fittings will be like next to nothing for me i just wanna be well prepared before i start ripping things out, if anyone knows where the post is please link me, thanks

 

To keep the stock manifolds, just use 1/4" NPT pipe plugs. Not PRECISELY the "correct" thread, but close enough that they won't damage teh threads, & the stock AIR tubes will still fit if needed.

 

on my hooker 2055 headers i had, i used standard 1/2 inch pipe caps you find at homedepot. worked good enough. 1/4 NPT is about same thing, but alittle larger i believe.

there is no hp gain in doing this by the way. i sure saw nothing

 

like i said i want the engine bay to be cleaner and i want to rid the engine of the parasitic drag, even if it isnt a great loss im sure it takes a little bit to spin the pulley, next thing i do will probably be underdrive pulleys so it should all work together

 

A) its about a 1 horsepower difference

B) if you get a missing air pump thru a visual inspection then your smog techs arent doing their job.

 

the "smog tech" as u put it, is from north eastern pa, so picture "Cooter" from dukes of hazard... lol

 

A) maybe at 10,000RPM

B) exactly. I had a 75 Impala that I removed the heat riser on. I'd gotten a new exhaust so the butterfly was removed from the manifold. I changed the waterneck to get rid of the vacuum sender that controlled it and I took off all the linkage stuff. I passed a dyno smog test and they passed the car, but one guy quietly said something to the effect of, "You don't think I didn't notice the missing heat riser, do you?".

Why remove it? It consumes virtually no power from the engine and it's against the law (federal) to boot. An idler pulley will use virtually the same power. A reroute of the belt (pulley delete) will be lots of fun when it snaps way out in BFE and you don't remember the new length or how to route it. Not to mention when they get around to your county/state/muni and you have to put it back on. That's my 2cents.

 

yeah i guess ill leave it for now, but 4 more years and shes antique/exempt... i wouldnt have to reroute the belt cause she dont have a serpentine and i wouldnt put an "idler pulley" on id just delete it anyway im just gonna wait till i get headers then worry about it

 

Antique doesn't mean you can legally remove everything. Just that the sniffer test is no longer required.

Everything still has to be there for the visual portion of the inspection.

 

ive seen ppl around here with holleys, demons and other types of non factory carb systems with no egr no cats etc... they are gettin through so i think itll be ok...

 

They are either paying the inspecctor "extra" to look the other way (which is STUPID), they are lucky, or know what stations to go to.

But if an inspector "looks the other way", he can lose his license, get fined AND the station can get fined. Multiple violations at the same statio, can get the station's license pulled. Meaning, that $20,000 plus machine they bought for testing? It can't earn them any more money, much less on repairs for people to pass.

Removing your stuff is not worth the 2 hp (if your lucky) gain.

 

wow... texas must be harsh...

 

heres another reason to be rid of the pump... headers that work with it... are expensive

 

Not burning my thumb on the AIR tube while trying set the timing: Priceless.

 

You could always just tack the air lines to the outside of the primaries. If it doesn't have to pass the sniffer it can at least pass the visual. If the expencive ones are welded, you can surely take a set of cheapies and weld the factory pipes on to them. Combine that with a gutted air pump and gut that valve-body. Makes me glad I saved mine just in case. That's what I'm going to do.

 

Stealing is illegal too, but some people still get away with it. It just means they havent been caught, yet.

Clumsy much? I've never burned my hands on the AIR tubes, but I have on the headers.

Headers with AIR tubes are more expensive because those headers usually are 50-state legal, and the header company is charged HUGE rediculous fees to get the 50-state certification. Those fees are passed on to us, unfortunately.

 

The bottom coolant hose, as well as the fuel pump, are easier to access with the smog pump and bracket removed.
If I ever needed to reinstall the system, the blanking plugs that are frozen in the engine would prevent me from putting back those pretty chrome air tubes.

Seth

 

Most of my troubles are either the AIR pipes (which get relocated to a much better place when you get a decent set of headers) or the diverter valve. Dunno what to do about that monstrosity. *shrug*

And I took apart my last AIR pump. There's not a lot in there to cause parasitic drag. It's a piece of something, riding on another piece of something, to push a little bit of air. There's no compression, or anything to slow it down, other than the friction of the two pieces (it looked like some kind of composite) riding on each other. And I can't imagine that's all to much more than one of those craptastic delete pulley bearings.

 

Does anybody have the reroute on a serpentine belt without the smog pump for a 350 5.7 litre? Also, if anyone has left the pump on this engine and ran with headers, can you hear the air being blown out of it? In other words, is it worth all the trouble of pulling it out (looks like I'd have to pull the AC pump first) to get to it? Thanks for your replies.

 

Back to those pipe plugs for a moment.

I speak from experience that even with teflon tape and anti-seize lube, they will rust themselves to the iron exhaust header, and will need to be drilled out. This was the case with the two back plugs that faced the sky. Of course, steel filings got into the engine, making it sound like a broken washing machine for the short time a valve seemingly remained opened from a stuck shaving.

JEGS lists pages of fittings, including STAINLESS-STEEL, which would be worth every extra dollar.

And, BTW, antique cars are not exempt from dyno-tests to California-based standards, in NYC and surrounding townships. My '83 is not exempt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seth

 

There's a tech article on this website that deals with removing the air pump and how to deal with the serpentine belt.

Just remember its illegal to do that on a street car in all 50 states.

I can remove and install mine just fine without pulling the A/C. No its not worth the trouble to remove it, in my opinion. All youre saving is about 5 lbs of weight, there is no horsepower gain.