A nice looking Cordoba, you have!
I live in Oklahoma – and we did away with emission testing at the turn of the century – so with that said, I don’t know what will or will not fly in California, exactly.
The different groups of emission related items (in no particular order):
1 - PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) system.
2 - Fuel return system.
3 - Evaporative Control System.
4 - Electric assisted choke.
5 - Heated intake air system.
6 - Forced outside intake air system.
7 - Electronic Feedback carburetor (aka Lean Burn, but also goes by many other names).
8 - EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system.
9 - A.I.R. (Air Injection Reaction) system.
10 - Catalytic Converters.
11 - Air Aspirator System (not used on your California vehicle).
1 - The PCV system benefits the car in several ways. The biggest is it reduces engine oil leaks (a lot) because it keeps (or tries to keep) the engine crankcase under vacuum, instead of under pressure. I have heard that a large percentage of air flow into the carburetor goes through the PCV system – so if it is modified or removed, it will cause drivability issues.
I see no disadvantage in removing or disabling the PCV system.
2 - Fuel return system. Our cars have a 3-port fuel filter.
Two ports are 5/16” and one ¼” port. The smaller port sends fuel back to the fuel tank.
This system reduces vapor lock and nice to have/must have for a street driven car.
For race usage or those who only make short trips, this system can be disabled – but I think I would retain it, even for race usage.
3 - Evaporative Control system. There is a black charcoal canister mounted compartment on passenger side front of engine compartment (right by the coolant bottle/tank). The fuel tank on your car uses a “non-vented” gas cap. Fuel vapor from fuel tank and carburetor (gasoline does evaporate, and fuel vapors must go somewhere) are drawn into the charcoal canister. When engine is running, the small hose on charcoal canister sucks those vapors into the engine and gets burnt. It also allows air to enter the fuel tank as fuel is drawn out (to keep fuel tank from collapsing under a vacuum). This system is a requirement in emission control states (like California).
There is no drawback to this system – except for it taking up space and/or getting in your way. My opinion (for those in non-emission areas) is to leave system alone unless you are planning on a
ton of modifications. This system can net a small amount of better fuel mileage, if left in place.
4 - Electric assisted choke. Carbureted vehicles must have a choke or car just runs like crap when engine is cold. To better phrase that, having a choke makes a car run less crappy when cold (or crappier with is disconnected or not functioning correctly).
There is a coiled spring in the choke. The spring is made from two different kinds of metal (bi-metallic) which expands/contracts at different temperatures. Sometimes, that spring after 15-20 years, either from age and/or rust, will not “spring” like it once did, and a replacement can help with cold drivability. Performance wise – it is not helpful to remove. A person shouldn’t push an engine hard when cold anyway. The “relay” (if you want to call it that) will either be rectangular or round and may or might not have a resistor on it. One side will have 12 volts to it anytime engine is on. The other side will have 12 volts to it when engine is cold or cool. Easy to test and makes a big difference when driving a cold engine.
5 - Heated intake air system. This is used anytime a car is started cold. To help get engine warmed up faster, it will take the outside air and pre-heat it, using the exhaust manifold to heat the air. This system is useless if it doesn’t get cold in your area (like Los Angeles or Miami) and is very helpful if you live in the snow areas. I suspect you must have the system in place in California, but I doubt it needs to work (unless it gets around freezing in your area).
6 - Forced outside intake air system. If you are driving down the road at say 60 MPH (100 KPH) and roll down your window. Then stick your hand out the window. What happens? Yes, your hand gets through backwards. The forced outside air system uses a black paper duct that attaches to air cleaner to fender. Many ’76 F-bodies didn’t use this system – but all FMJ’s made from ’77 to ’89 did use it. This system uses the colder outside air, under pressure, to force air into the engine. This increases horsepower at highway speeds (not a lot, but it does) and it leans out the engine at highway speeds. I don’t know exact numbers but for most people it will give you about 1 MPG better fuel mileage.
I would not nor do I recommend you disconnect this system UNLESS you only drive a car in town (not getting over say 30 MPH) or for a race car. For a race car, I might be tempted to add a second air hose onto the air cleaner, if possible. I see no down sides to this system, except for the large hose(s) are in your way.
7 - Electronic Feedback carburetor. Having a computer manage the carburetor will always be better than not to – but if a person is planning on modifications (replacing the 2-bbl with a 4-bbl, adding headers, etc.) will make the computer not function as designed and will cause it not to work correctly. There are no known ways to bypass the computer or to re-program it for modifications – to get car to pass emissions tests (or inspections).
To be honest, most people have very little problems with Chryslers computer controlled engines and what problems they do have is not with the computer or its sensors. It is more normal issues, like stopped up filters, bad spark plug wire, etc. – but finger always gets pointed to the computer. For a stock build – stay with the computer if possible. For a modified engine – the computer is mostly useless. In that case, which also applies to those who want to remove the computer system, a person would need to find a non-computer carburetor, and a non-computer controlled distributor and replace/rewire accordingly.
8 - EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system. This system adds exhaust gases into the intake system when cruising – to reduce the amount of emissions coming out of the tailpipe. When working correctly, this system is “not supposed too” effect performance (so I’ve been told. I would say that 90% of 318 and 360’s still on the road – the exhaust port/passageways are already 100% stopped up from carbon deposits and no exhaust is able to reach the EGR valve. The Intakes on the 318’s for both my ’77 and ’86 are in that condition.
An easy way to check for stoppage is to put on some leather gloves and stick a finger on bottom of EGR diaphragm or disconnect the vacuum hose and use a hand-held vacuum pump on the diaphragm (or suck on a “clean” piece of vacuum hose) when engine is running at idle. When the EGR valve opens, there will be a noticeable drop in engine speed. It might even kill the engine, in some cases. If it doesn’t and if you can see the EGR rod move (or feel it move) - then the passageway/ports inside of intake are stopped up with carbon. The only way to fix is to remove the intake and scrape, chisel, drill (the carbon, not iron), use some TNT, use a 150-megawatt laser (from military?), borrow a dental drill, rent a jackhammer, etc. to remove the carbon deposits from intake and cylinder heads (not a fun job).
I can’t tell anyone to remove or disable the EGR valve/system. I can tell you that neither systems work on my 318’s because of carbon deposit buildup (and I’m making no effort to clean either out).
If I did “have to” get EGR working, I would convert both to a 4-bbl system using an Edelbrock Performer intake # 2176 (or # 3776 w/EGR), or equivalent, because I would have less time into the changeover and would get better power output in the process – than digging for dinosaur bones from inside of my intake crossover port.
9 - A.I.R. (Air Injection Reaction) system. This involves an A.I.R. (or AIR for short) pump. When engine is “cold” or “cool”, this system pumps outside air, via the AIR pump, to ports inside of exhaust manifold, or when “hot”, it pumps air down to the catalytic converter. The thought process is: you have heat, you have some unburnt fuel (which happens on all engines) – but you have a lack of oxygen which is needed to complete the full combustion of that unburnt fuel.
I understand the process and have no disagreement on why it is needed for better emissions.
Now with that said, it causes problems when a person wants to install a lower restriction exhaust system (ie: exhaust headers, 340 or Magnum exhaust manifolds, etc.) for several options have no provision for the AIR ports or can cause an exhaust leak. The AIR pump can take a bit of HP to operate. There is a sizable amount of hoses, tubes, brackets, valves, etc. that clutter the engine compartment. IF a person was to “remove” the AIR system (which I can’t tell anyone to do so), it makes for a much larger engine compartment and many times cleaner area. In emission states, all AIR components are needed and need to be in working condition.
Also, if removed, there is a large hole on the downstream catalytic converter that needs to be dealt with.
10 - Catalytic Converters. This is the most restrictive system on our cars. I’m hesitant to say power robbing – but they do rob power. Think about taking an unwrapped soda straw to your lips and blowing through it. Now do the same but pinching the straw in the middle. Notice the difference? That is what the catalytic converter does to a large extent.
A converter needs to be above 800’ F (426’ C) minimum to work correctly. Some cars, they operate between 1,000’ to 1,400’ F (530’ to 760’ C) – which makes them turn faint red or yellow.
Now a converter must be small to build heat to get hot enough to operate. If you add a larger converter – it might not get enough heat to do anything.
A true story, a while back, the muffler rusted away and fell off my ’86 Fifth Ave. I already knew my catalytic converters (one or all three) were stopped up. When driving the car (before I got it fixed), that car sounded as quiet as any other car does (if not quieter) with NO MUFFLER and NO TAILPIPE (after the last converter). By removing the three converters from that car – should make a huge difference on how car drives because it can finally “breath”. In this case, I have an older Y-pipe to install – which will remove the two front “mini-cats”. Then I’ll forget to install the main cat and just hook the Y-pipe straight to the muffler. Note: it is against most state laws for a repair shop to remove a “working” catalytic converter. It is also against most state laws to only remove a defective catalytic converter and replace with another one of the same size.
If a person is going to “remove” a catalytic converter or to install a larger one (or duals) – you will have to either do it yourself or find someone to “remove your existing converters” first. I know in in my area, you leave a car somewhat close to a particular apartment building, your converters will become missing (drug money?) automatically.
11 - Air Aspirator System (not used on your California vehicle). This system works much like a AIR pump and draws outside air into the exhaust ports of engine using suction. My ‘77 318 uses an Aspirator system as well as some newer Canadian systems. When the air hose connecting to the air cleaner is off and engine is running – it sounds loud and annoying.
