I've got a 86 C30 crew with a 454. I want to get rid of as much of the smog and vacuum stuff as I can. With the exception of the vacuum lines that got to my cruise, distributor vacuum advance and transmission what all I can I get rid of? If I remove the vapor canister how do I vent the gas tank so I don't smell the fumes? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I think it's more a matter of where you want to smell fumes. I doubt it'll be bad, but the fumes are only really contained properly in the canister. Anything else is venting them into the atmosphere. Anyways, you can take the canister and all the purge stuff out and stick a small inline filter in the end of the line that goes to the sending unit so it sucks clean air. If you ever got around to fiddling with your sending units, you might could block off the vapor neck and use a cap that vents if you wanted. I'm assuming you have a return style system. The AIR pump and belt you just remove from the accessory drive area and the diverted solenoid that is to the top left of it. The pump is under the alternator, and remember to reground if there was a strap of cable on there. The solenoid is attached in two places, and I think it clamps down and uses a little U-shaped end instead of fully bolting down so you should only have to partially loosen the alternator bolt and the other one to remove it. Unthread those AIR lines from the manifold and replace them with like 7/16 steel plugs. I would take them to the hardware store just to double check what diameter plug you need because that's just a total guess. That should successfully eliminate the whole AIR system. Unless you're replacing your intake, use an EGR block off plate and remove that EGR purge solenoid thingy. You can use a crankcase filter and filter cap if you want to get rid of the PCV valve. The EFE on the bottom rearish passenger side of the engine can go, too. I don't know how that one unbolts. The TVS on the intake manifold can go, as can that whole mess of vacuum lines that go with it and all the lines from everything else you removed. Essentially, you can remove anything on that catalyst sticker as long as you block off whatever it was threaded into (i.e. AIR) or bolted down to (i.e. EGR) if that applies to the piece and you plug the carburetor vacuum ports that it used. Is your distributor just running off regular manifold vacuum or is it plugged into that distributor delay valve? I don't think that'll be necessary so take it all out. Should be a lot cleaner under there after that. I'm guessing you're still running a Q-Jet since you have all the smog stuff still. I say keep it, and get plenty of vacuum caps now.
