Question about emissions stuff on 73 comet (250 inch)

Discussion in 'Technical' started by bugman114, Sep 20, 2008.

  1. bugman114

    bugman114 Member

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    HI yall. this is my first posting. I bought a 73 comet 4 dr, 250 inch motor. It ran great, but needed some work. I am currently in the process cleaning up the motor, and giving it a good tune up. I have so far bought a new valve cover gasket, plugs, spark wires, cap, rotor, ALL NEW brakes, new drums, a BRAND-SPANK-ME-NEW 1bbl carb from orielies (new holley stock), coil, hoses, filters, breather, NEW shocks, and maybe some more stuff. So far i have replaced the brakes, and drums, and the wheel bearings, and the shocks. And i am now in the process of cleaning up the engine before i put all the new shiny things.

    So my question is, i want to get rid of all that emmisions crap (canisters, egr, the mess of hoses, etc.) mostly to simplify things, and give the motor a more clean look. What stuff can i remove, and what to plug up? I noticed that the dizzy has a vaccume advance, so I know i will have to keep that. Thanks in advance guys.
     
  2. Bob Wiken

    Bob Wiken Chronologically Gifted

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    you at least need to keep the PCV system. It is a good thing. When you have the valve cover off, you might as well clean the heck out of it, sand, prime and paint it.
     
  3. bugman114

    bugman114 Member

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    oh yes, lol. That valve cover looks like hell. In fact the funny thing is, that most of the paint was already chipped off, the only thing keeping it from rusting was the 1/4 inch thick layer of oil, and crud stuck to it (and i'm not exaggeratting, it was litterally a quarter of an inch thick:rofl2:). I will definately clean the hell out of it, and sand, and repaint it. Do ya know where i can buy the "ford blue" at? sherwin williams? I was also mystified at the 2 foot long rocker shaft on that thing, it made me all giggly inside:49:. i'm used to the 8 inch long rocker shafts on old bugs, lol.

    Also, i will definately keep the PCV system, i just want to get rid of most of that canister, and emmisions stuff. basically, all i want is the stuff needed for it to run good. Basically the reason for this, is i went to the junkyard the other day and there was a 60-something comet there, and i loved how clean and simple the engine looked (inline 6 just like mine). it had no vacume hosses, except for the dizzy hose. It had no canister thing (the blue thing on the passenger side firewall). Also, do i need the thing that goes in between the carb, and the manifold? It has a round thing (looks like the canister thing on the side of the dizzy). can that be taken off, and simply bolt the carb to the intake manifold? Also, what is that sensor looking thing that goes screwed in, in front of the valve cover, and appears to go connected to the block (looks like where the radiator hose connects to), and has two vaccume hosses coming fom it? Any ideas? Thanks
     
  4. bugman114

    bugman114 Member

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    This is what i'm talking about:
    <img src="[​IMG] alt="1972 Maverick" />
    You can see where the radiator hose connects to. and there is something else connected to that which has two vacume hoses connected to it. is that necessary?

    In this pic you can see the canister thing i was talking about under the carb (i have the stock 1bbl carb, not a 2bbl like the pic shows):
    <img src="[​IMG] alt="1976 Maverick under the hood" />
     
  5. ford84stepside

    ford84stepside Lone Wolf

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    OK, several things to address here--The blue cannister is a charcoal vapor cannister. It has a line coming from the fuel tank vent to catch the gas vapors, then supposedly draw them back into the engine to burn. As old as it is, it probably doesn't do much anymore. If you remove it and all it's lines, just vent the tank at the rear of the car. Secondly, that is probably the EGR valve under the carb. Should be able to remove it, but you may need a spacer the thickness of it under the carb to ensure the linkage doesn't bind against the intake. Thirdly, the sensor looking thing in the water neck is a temp controled vacum switch. It only allows the vacum to pull through it when the water gets a certain temp. Should be safe to lose it and plug the hole with a pipe plug. Last, you probably only need vacum hoses for the dizzy, auto trans modulator, PVC, and A/C controls.
     
  6. bugman114

    bugman114 Member

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    awsome, thanks. I'll be wrenching away tommorow, removing all that crap.

    One question tho, what does the temp controplled vacume switch thing do? its not like a thermostat is it? What happens when the temp "opens" the switch?
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2008
  7. ford84stepside

    ford84stepside Lone Wolf

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    When the temp get high enough, it lets the vacum work what ever it's attached to. Most of the time, they were used to keep the timing from advancing until the engine got up to operating temp. By keeping the timing lower, it helped with emisions somehow....
     
  8. bugman114

    bugman114 Member

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    Hi yall. Thanks for the help so far, i really appreciate it.

    On the side of the intake there is some sort of rectangular thing with three hose connections on it. I notice that one of the hose connections( where the hose slips on) has no hose connected to it. Its the last one (the one closest to the rear of the car). and i also noticed that there is a long metal tube comming from somewhere behind the motor, and stops near the "vacant" hose connection on the side of the intake. does the long metal tube go connected to the "vacant" hose connection on the side of the manifold? If so, would i just bridge the connection with a piece of vacumme hose? I had taken a bunch of pics of the motor when i bought the car, and in the pics i can see that they were both disconnected.

    Also where does that tube on the choke on the carb go. The one that stick out of where the choke is, and points towards the drivers side at a downward angle?
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2008
  9. PaulS

    PaulS Member extrordiare

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    Your "vacant" hose connection is for the vacuum modulator. Probably goes to the front tube on the modulator.
    The choke tube goes to the exhaust manifold - a hole throgh a casting in the manifold is used to heat air for the choke. On the bottom of the manifold there is another tube that goes to a fresh air port. (air filter)
     
  10. bugman114

    bugman114 Member

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    Hi. What is the modulator (u mean the Q-36-explosive-space-modulator?, lol:rofl:, sorry couldn't resist)? seriously tho, what is the modulator (the round thing under the carb, or what?

    And also where is the hole in the casting on the manifold? I looked all over and can't seem to find it. I also tried to feel around for it, but can't seem to find any holes, or ports?

    Sorry for all of my retarded questions, but i'm new to fords, i'm mostly familiar with chevy big blocks, and aircooled VW's (old bugs (O\ ! /O), lol).
     
  11. PaulS

    PaulS Member extrordiare

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    The modulator that I was refering to is the vacuum modulator on the passenger side rear of the transmission case. There is a metal line that runs between the engine compartment to the rear of the C4 case and it has a short hose that connects to the modulator and the end in the engine compartment is connected to manifold vacuum.
     

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