camarozz

Im pretty sure of the reports that any modifications to emissions equipement is technically illegal; obviously only as far as a state/fed will take it. But also as far as I know, you can do what ever you want to your car "for yourself" but there is no shop that will work on your car and modify that portion for you. That may have been my saving grace with this car, the original owner lived in Cali, and had everything done by a mechanic to the car. Now that it is a Washington car, and living in the middle of nowhere, I can take care of useless items and actually get it to perform better and cleaner than the stupid equipment that is on the car.

I generally lean towards "stock" with a car that I buy that is "stock" so I will probably keep the equipment that I take off just in case. I even have a vintage CDI built in a close year to the car that I have installed. Definately makes it run better (but just noticably). If I keep tuning I believe I can get a little more performance and keep the emissions down, although i have NO way of verifying that.

Im just looking for some advice on what to expect when I take it off, and what else I should look at to help just that much more. Im assuming the heads are basically fine without the equipment, but if they are part of the problem I will consider replacing them too.

2+2GT

Removing the emissions equipment will do absolutely nothing to improve performance, so don't get your hopes up.

Careful tuning will, of course. This includes getting the distributor professionally curved, something that a great many people do not do, but should.

Any Ford iron head of the period has crap exhaust ports, but these can be fixed by anyone with a die grinder. When I did my 289HP heads, it felt like I put a better cam in it.

JMD

Yea well then call me a rebel......

Don't get me wrong, I think that the reasonable emission requirements of say the 1990s are good for everyone.

IMO the early attempts at emmission control just sucked too much performance for too little gain, and the later attempts are just a little much work (i.e. too much stupid) to get that last 1 or 2% of "clean".

I know you say 2 hp, but is this just the pump or does this figure include the loss of performance attributed to the change in the heads and the retarded valve timing etc?

In any case, the **** is freaking ugly ant it makes working on the cars a pain in the ***, and to this point (thank God) no one really seems to care about the emissions on old cars. True, I MIGHT hang onto the equipment, but I would still take the **** off.

JMD

Isin't changing the ignition curve "technically illegal" also?

Starfury

Not if it restores factory settings. Overly advanced ignition (due to worn advance springs) will lead to increased NOx levels, among other things.

And I don't believe there was a change in head castings for smog vehicles. All 289/302 heads after a certain date had thermactor humps in the exhaust ports.

camarozz

Not that I have anyway to test it, but from what I have read and heard from others on other sites, a properly tuned and set up engine could still pass emissions standards without the ancient and absolutely UGLY controls of a 60's era car. I live in an area that does not test, nor does it care whether or not your car passes an emissions test. Even in the 80's I was able to defeat the testing with a 200,000 mile POS Buick that had a clogged Cat.

My main goal is to clean up the engine compartment, that emissions stuff is gawd awful to see, not to mention useless in the real world. Remember cheap to mass produce was the montra of the car manufrs, and up till the mid 90's most of the emissions stuff could be a waste of time. Ive got a period CDI and a defeat switch so I can switch to points if the unit dies, and Im working on the distributer as part of this project. Since Im generally satisfied with the performance of the motor as is, Im not too worried if I gain little to nothing. Even if I do nothing the car runs amazingly well and burns no oil... Im amazed at that because EVERY ford Ive owned from brand new to well used has burned oil.