Keep or remove California SMOG components? (1 Viewer)

[BIRDMAN84]

There's never been a "factory" header. Here's a picture of the cast 76/77 Cali thermal reactor exhaust manifold.

The carb cooling fan only has 2 wires. One is 12v the other ground. If you unplug it and get some alligator clips just touch them one way or the other. If you get them backwards all it'll do is spin the wrong way. You won't know if it works when it's hot until you heat up the sensor that's behind the carb past 180 degrees. You can use a heat gun and a laser IR gun to make sure it's up to temp and not too much over temp to damage it. Here's a pic of the sensor.

View attachment 2857574

Here are the best pics I could get:

 

[Dizzy]

I believe that is a Mark's/Downey header. That hose with the band clamp and rusted nozzle is for hot-air-intake. The welded one is for EGR. What I see is the ceramic coating flaking off.

 

[Dizzy]

That is the signal generator for electronic ignition, so no points. It is an aftermarket signal generator in the original distributor, IIAC.

The distributor needs service due to rust.

 

[pithicus]

Looks like you have a pertronix module. Pertronix or Full Electronic Distributor - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/pertronix-or-full-electronic-distributor.1048646/

 

[4Cruisers]

That is the signal generator for electronic ignition, so no points. It is an aftermarket signal generator in the original distributor, IIAC.

The distributor needs service due to rust.

That Pertronix electronic ignition unit connects to the positive (+) and negative (-) coil terminals, so with that in place the igniter should be bypassed and either left in place or removed.

Dizzy is correct, by the looks of the breaker plate it doesn't seem that the advancer advances or retards the timing, even if the diaphragm works and holds vacuum. The breaker plate can be removed, disassembled, cleaned, re-greased, and reassembled. It's pretty easy to do. After cleaning and disassembly, if it looks like the races are pitted from rust, they can be replaced, same with the 50 small ball bearings (if they have flat spots). BTW, I sell an inexpensive DIY kit with brand new Toyota races, ball bearings, and clips.

 

[BIRDMAN84]

Ok, so its not the stock dizzy? It does appear to be connected to the coil with +/- connection.

Will removing the breaker plate require any adjustments to the timing? I don't think I am ready to tackle anything like that if I will need to reset the timing. It's running good so I don't want to get myself in trouble.

The signal generator seems to have been not really hooked up to much. The pics below shows 3 wires not connected to anything by the PO. Not sure if thats an issue or not.

-SOLID WHITE W GREEN CONNECTOR DISCONNECTED FROM BLACK WITH WHITE STIPES
-SMALL BLACK WITH YELLOW STRIPES
-SOLID BLACK NO STRIPES

 

[BIRDMAN84]

If you look on the firewall on the passenger side footwell you should see this box. This is the controller for the thermistor and carb cooling fan.

View attachment 2857607

I don't have anything like that on the passenger side, but this is mounted on the driver side below the windshield wiper reservoir. Could it be it? Also has a blue wire not connected to anything.

 

[4Cruisers]

Ok, so its not the stock dizzy? It does appear to be connected to the coil with +/- connection.

Will removing the breaker plate require any adjustments to the timing? I don't think I am ready to tackle anything like that if I will need to reset the timing. It's running good so I don't want to get myself in trouble.

The signal generator seems to have been not really hooked up to much. The pics below shows 3 wires not connected to anything by the PO. Not sure if thats an issue or not.

-SOLID WHITE W GREEN CONNECTOR DISCONNECTED FROM BLACK WITH WHITE STIPES
-SMALL BLACK WITH YELLOW STRIPES
-SOLID BLACK NO STRIPES
View attachment 2857893

View attachment 2857894

It's the stock distributor, but the points have been replaced with the Pertronix unit. The large black w/yellow stripe wire is (+) from the ignition switch, it goes to the ballast resistor. The large red wire from the ballast resistor gos to the coil positive (+) terminal. The red and black wires from the distributor go to the coil terminals as you indicated.

The breaker plate can be removed to clean and re-grease it, when it's reinstalled, the "neutral" position of the vacuum advancer will determine the location of the stud on the breaker plate. The U-shaped part on the advancer's actuator rod that engages the stud on the breaker plate is fixed in place on the actuator rod by an e-clip, so the timing will remain the same after you reinstall the breaker plate because the stud position will be the same as before.

 

[BIRDMAN84]

I believe that is a Mark's/Downey header. That hose with the band clamp and rusted nozzle is for hot-air-intake. The welded one is for EGR. What I see is the ceramic coating flaking off.

Ok, if it is a Mark's/Downy header, I might be mistaking the gap in the area under the bolt as a crack, but its not. From google images of Mark's/Downy headers, it looks like thats how it bolts on next to the Cali manifold?

 

[Fast Eddy]

Ok, if it is a Mark's/Downy header, I might be mistaking the gap in the area under the bolt as a crack, but its not. From google images of Mark's/Downy headers, it looks like thats how it bolts on next to the Cali manifold?

Yea. The original manifold is the same.

 

[Dizzy]

Thought of this thread while I was out yesterday. The HAI or hot air intake set-up on your header is kinda similar to the one I built for my air cleaner set-up. It is quite possibly the fist of the smog to go (damaged original soft hose), but, if you can deliver a summer-temp of air thru the carb, it really helps performance of the engine. They say that a gasoline engine burns 9,000 gallons of air per gallon of fuel, a mass-ratio of air to gasoline is about 12:1. Everyone talks about cold engines, but, with the difference this set-up makes, you will realize that it is the cold air, not the water temp seen on the instrument cluster, that really is responsible for the horrible winter driving. EFI works so well because it breaks up the gasoline with a high pressure system, but carbs rely on a thermal means to do that.

I know that I'm butting heads with a whole bunch of folks here. Cold-air-intake systems are profitable because they exploit the misunderstanding. On EFI systems, it is all chemically controlled based on exhaust reading, etc. People are sold the idea that cold air burns better, hoping to squeeze a bit more mass with less volume into the intake charge, but, EFI adjusts accordingly, and, carburetor-engines send carbon out the exhaust, and/or, it got hot too late to burn fully for optimal performance.

 

[BIRDMAN84]

Update:

I have began to notice the smog pump making quite a bit of noise recently, both at idle with the hood open and also while driving under load. The sound is hard to describe, but sounds like a metallic sucking/knocking sound, and gets louder as the engine worms up. I am sure its coming from the smog pump because when I disconnect the hose going to the air cleaner, it's obvious the sound is coming is traveling thru the hose. I recently checked all the valves and they are all is spec.

My question is IF my smog pump is on the way out, can I remove it altogether? My pump has its own belt so I do not need a add a pulley.

I do not want to add expense by purchasing a rebuilt pump, and feel like the failure of the will be the beginning of the end for the stock emissions equipment. As previously stated, I do not need to pass any sort of emissions testing, but am ok with running all the smog equipment AS LONG AS is it working correctly. Plus, it sounds like a lot of guys in California would benefit from some of my smog equipment.

If I DO remove the pump, what other components will be impacted? I assume that without a pump, all, or nearly all of the remaining smog equipment will be out of commission?

 

[4Cruisers]

If I DO remove the pump, what other components will be impacted? I assume that without a pump, all, or nearly all of the remaining smog equipment will be out of commission?

The air rail on the cylinder head, for one thing. If you want to go with genuine Toyota plugs for the air rail holes, the FJ62 used Part Number 90340-14001. They're kind of pricey, retail price is $10.80 each. FJ40Jim sells a good alternative on his TLC Performance website, and the kit seems to be on sale right now .

 

[fjc-man]

You could leave the rest in place and hooked up. None of it is affected by the air injection being out of commission, including the air rail. The one way check valve on the rail where the air pump hose attaches is there to prevent exhaust going into the air pump. With the engine running and that hose disconnected, you shouldn’t feel anything coming out of that valve, unless it is bad.

 

[BIRDMAN84]

Great, I was hoping this would be the case, but it seemed unlikely. So, if I understand correctly, the air pump is a separate, independent part of the emissions system and only connected to the rail?

I may elect to remove and plug the air rail just to clean things up a bit.

 

[surfpig]

That's the igniter, they hold up pretty well, so it's probably good. No points in your distributor, it's a fully electronic ignition system. No dwell angle to worry about either. But there is a specification for the gap between the "spokes" on the pickup wheel and the signal generator inside the distributor - 0.004" and 0.020", I usually adjust them to the middle of the range, 0.012". BTW, you can check the condition of the signal generator by measuring the resistance across the pins in the wire connector - it should be between 100 and 200 ohms.

You sure about that? I'm fairly certain the 77 distributor is points based. Mine is and I'm 99% sure it's factory original.

That is the signal generator for electronic ignition, so no points. It is an aftermarket signal generator in the original distributor, IIAC.

The distributor needs service due to rust.

Original '77 ignition was igniter/points. You have a Pertronix type ignition, which is good. I left all the igniter parts on the coil, looking stock. Those frayed wires need attention.

 

[surfpig]

The air rail on the cylinder head, for one thing. If you want to go with genuine Toyota plugs for the air rail holes, the FJ62 used Part Number 90340-14001. They're kind of pricey, retail price is $10.80 each. FJ40Jim sells a good alternative on his TLC Performance website, and the kit seems to be on sale right now .

If I recall, people use pipe threaded brass plugs for that. Don't quote me though, it's been a while...

You could leave the rest in place and hooked up. None of it is affected by the air injection being out of commission, including the air rail. The one way check valve on the rail where the air pump hose attaches is there to prevent exhaust going into the air pump. With the engine running and that hose disconnected, you shouldn’t feel anything coming out of that valve, unless it is bad.

Great, I was hoping this would be the case, but it seemed unlikely. So, if I understand correctly, the air pump is a separate, independent part of the emissions system and only connected to the rail?

I may elect to remove and plug the air rail just to clean things up a bit.

I used to carry a spare fan belt sized to bypass the air pump when it failed, which was fairly often. I would finally replace the pump when it came time for an emissions check. Generally, if thinks work as intended I leave them alone.

 

[BIRDMAN84]

If I recall, people use pipe threaded brass plugs for that. Don't quote me though, it's been a while...



I used to carry a spare fan belt sized to bypass the air pump when it failed, which was fairly often. I would finally replace the pump when it came time for an emissions check. Generally, if thinks work as intended I leave them alone.

I think I will just remove the belt for for. It seems like simple brass plugs would do the job if I do decide to remove the air rail.

 

[surfpig]

I think I will just remove the belt for for. It seems like simple brass plugs would do the job if I do decide to remove the air rail.

Make sure they’re actually pipe threaded. I *think* they are…

 

[bhsdriller]

I think they're BSP (british standard pipe) threads but lots use NPT plugs