Removing Smog Equipment from a CA 1971 02.

[1971Ginger]

I ran a search on the topic and I see a few late model owners have had their questions answered. My question is, is the process to removing the smog equipment exactly the same on a 71 roundie as on a 74 or 75?

If it is, il follow the instructions there, If not can someone tell me what's different.

Just incase, here's what I know about my car:

I am wanting to begin the process of letting Ginger breathe a little better. My car is a "California special" air pump and emotions crap even though the beemer came as a European Delivery in Munich by the P/O.

My air pumps hoses are all sorts of cracked and thus my car has vacuum leaks.

Has anyone documented the removal of the air/smog pump? My issue lies with bad timing also, but I figured fix the air leakage and then attack timing.

As far aa i can tell Il need to rekove the aie pump and change my header to the IE shorty I already have bought. Is there anything else I need to plug/ remove?

Thanks in advance,

[nbcbird]

No need for a new header, you can simply block off the hole in the manifold with a threaded fitting (I used a large allen head set screw).

[Richard]

April Fools??? Nothing prior to 1975 had the smog equipment your describing. No smog check required on a 1971 2002. So whose tailpipe you pulling????

[TMK_74_2002A]

My 74 has a bunch of smog related stuff on it Richard.

[1971Ginger]

Haha I wish I was kidding but I'm not,I've seen other cars with air pumps for similar age. It's not the same smog stuff as on a late model but it still had emissions control crap under he hood.

I can send pictures if you don't believe mw

[OopsClunkThud]

Our '69 has an air pump, and a bunch of hoses.

[SteveJ]

The later 71's did have an air pump. I believe these came on around April 1971. The common fail item was the gulp valve underneath. The lucky thing was that the part was made by GM and was available in the states.

Back in the day, I have heard of others (in no way implicating that this is what I or others I know might have done) that removed the smog pump from their '71 and then used the numbers off of an earlier car in order to get theirs through the California smog check.

[eastsidebimmer]

My 68 02 had an air pump, and smog crap and so does my 71 1602. The 71 system is still complete and functioning 100%. The 68's was gone before I bought the car, but the bracket for the airpump is incorporated into the dipstick tube housing. To remove the pump bracket you will need to saw the bracket in half and then contour the remaining tube mount, then replace the gasket.

[Dave_Ganzer]

My 71 had an air pump too.... Like he said..... Just plug the hole in the back of the Ex manifold, and saw the dipstick tube fitting off the pump mount. There is just one small hose to the intake I think.... cut a short piece and plug it with a screw.....

Dave Ganzer

[eastsidebimmer]

change my header to the IE shorty I already have bought.

Go ahead and toss the injection manifild into the scrap pile..if you already have the shorty, it will probably flow better without the straws sticking into the wind. The metal tube that snakes under the intake manifold will be easier if you cut it out in pieces. Mine was rusted thru. The studs will prob come out of the head and then you have a second can of worms to solve.

Ben

[Richard]

This forum points out when people are FOS. Me.Sorry. I learned something.Thanks. Were the early smog cars only in california??? But back to the point they only need to have smog equipment to pass in 1975???

[eastsidebimmer]

This forum points out when people are FOS. Me.Sorry. I learned something.Thanks. Were the early smog cars only in california??? But back to the point they only need to have smog equipment to pass in 1975???

Ahh, good question. My 68 was a CA car, my 71 was a PA car...not sure but I thought all 68's+ had the pump. Also not an expert in CA environmental affairs, but IIRC the cutoff is 1975 meaning any car titled as a 76+ needs to pass smog, regardless of the build date.

[Guest Anonymous]

For some reason I thought it was 1974, but I think here in Cali it is 1975 - so 1975 and before have at it, webers, FI, corvette engine etc., you can go for it. With our state the way it "is" who knows how long that will last.

www.alpinabmw2002.com

[Gbare02tii]

We just removed all the SMOG stuff of my buddies 76 and replaced the reactor (exaust manifold) with an I.E. Shorty header. The car sounds and runs soooooo much better, plus the car lost about 40LBS. The removal is easy, there is some tube that runs under the intake manifold that we could not get out without removing the manifold. It was bolted in and was too long to just slide out so we disconnecteded from the reactor and just left it bolted into the intake manifold until we have time to pull off the intake. It took us a good four hours to do all the work with hand tools and no lift.....

[Chris_B]

It is, of course, illegal to remove smog equipment from any car in CA. However, smog "checks" are only required on pre- '76 cars. The CA code used to require that any car within a rolling 30 year period had to have periodic smog checks, but legislation several years ago froze that period at '76> and rolling forward. If you choose to remove any of this malfunctioning equipment, do not discard it.