EGR unplugged on '77 but he let me pass smog
 

Passing smog is always a little too worrisome for me and without the thermal reactors I wanted to make sure there were no issues.
I had heard about a good shop to use and that the owner has a soft spot for air cooleds. So I figured I was in good hands - and I was. The thermal reactors were not an issue and the numbers turned out fine.
Under the hood he did find that there were two exhaust lines running to the EGR that were both unattached. He was up for the challenge to reattach them, but the shop started to get busy and he told me that I was going to pass and I should get around to reattaching those.

I have done a search through the forum and haven't seen this exact issue. Am I doing any harm by leaving them unattached? I have a good picture so I think I could get the reattach net correct, just looking for some ideas on how urgent this is.

Thoughts?

Not going to cause any driveability problems and likely will perform better and get better MPG. Thats why many are disconnected.

Not sure if I would be mentioning a cool smog guy on a public forum. He did you a HUGE favor.

A huge favor indeed, but I thought it was important to let the team know that there are a few bright guys out there who make sure the numbers line up with the goals of the smog prevention laws and also want to see great older machines on the road as well as in museums.

I will not post who the shop is and realize I have taken some risk, realizing my fate rests with the almighty and far reaching CA DMV. I am OK with that.

I had no intention of starting a post about smoging. I am a relative newby hoping to understand the benefits of hooking up the EGR, or not.

Any insights anyone?

Thanks

You can flip the gasket and bolt it back together. The gasket hole is off-center. That way it looks normal, but is decommissioned.