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I have owned my 1976S for the last 10 years (original 2.7 with the required upgrades). It was originally sold in California in 1976 and its been licensed here ever since. She came from the factory with the following Smog equipment:
• Heat exchanges
• ERG valve
• Smog pump and associate recirculation system
• Factory Sticker CAT exemption sticker (locked on the driver side door jam) making it a non-cat vehicle.
The complete service and maintenance history of the vehicle reveal that getting her smog tested in CA has never been an issue, it’s passed every time. Even after the heat exchanges were taken off by one of the previous POs.
I can also attest to Grady's comment about "The air pump caused HUGE backfires in the muffler (today it would cause a terrorist alert response)." I had this problem when my car was suffering from the dreaded CIS cold start syndrome. She would start but after a few minutes she would backfire and stall out. When she backfired it sounded like a 155 mm howitzer had just gone off in the back seat. The problem was that all of the rubber components of the CIS system had never been changed out.
By the way, when my car turned 25 years of age, I got a letter from the state of CA informing that even though my 1976S was now 25 years old, she would not receive an exemption from smog testing, only 1975 model year cars would have this exemption (grandfathered).
As for the 2.7 being hard to get smog in CA, I’m not convinced. From what I’ve read on this forum it sounds like the stock 3.2s are having a much harder time passing.
I have a few questions that I hope someone here can answer regarding converting my 1976S 2.7S CIS engine equipped 1975 S ground cams from stock OEM exhaust to SSI two in two out?
I’ve read everything I can find on this forum about is subject, but haven’t found anything that addresses my specific engine. My questions are as follows:
1. Does anyone know what the true hp gain is (I’ve read, somewhere between 10-20). Is that the best info available?
2. What California street legal muffler offers the most performance gain when mated to SSI?
3. What are the affects of these mods on the power curve of my engine?
4. Will it meet California Smog requirements, I believe not.
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