1975 So Cal "installed Smog Thing"

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Dana67Dart

Dana67Dart

The parts you don't add don't cause you no trouble
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I have been transcribing my dads note books from the maintenance of his 67 Dart convertible.
I'm up to 1975 (100 lines in an excel spreadsheet) and he has an entry "Installed Smog Thing"
I have a very vague memory of some device that California required for a time till it was found to be illegal to require or something like that. It was added to cars at the time but don't have more than a fleeting memory of it.

Anyone have any knowledge of what the "Thing" was?

I don't think it would be a stock Mopar thing, nor was it referring to a CAP part.
 
It was called a green weeny! It basically cut off vacuum advance at certain engine temps. It went in the upper radiator hose and had vacuum lines to the dist from the carb.
And it was colored green.
 
There were several systems, some worse that others

One "kit" consisted of slime green limiter caps for the idle screw(s) and some silicone of same color to glue them on. There was also two vacuum caps which you installed on the carb and distributor after you removed the hose!!!

Carter made one, it was a "little box" that controlled a vacuum valve. I believe it had a temp sensor which severely limited any vacuum advance.

Another kit had a "deal" you cut into the top rad hose which had a temperature---vacuum switch. It basically killed all vacuum advance until the poor engine overheated LOL
 
You really have to wonder, with cars puking antifreeze all over the ground, burning valves and then getting worse mileage, overheating to the point of seizing up, if this REALLY actually helped clean up the air any? Since this stuff was implemented about ??73?? or so, and the earliest cars with smog from factory was 66, this means that a 65 or older, by 73, was old enough that there were few of them on the road, anyhow.

They required these kits, by the way, clear back to 55 I believe
 
67Dart273 said:
if this REALLY actually helped clean up the air any
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Image if 105 octane fuel was available today you could use a 4 cyl to power 1 ton truck with power to spare, 10+:1 compression, superchargers etc! The tech that has developed in car engines today even with smog controls boggles my mind.
 
yes it stopped the vac advance from working during cold running . here is a pics of one on this 69 rt . i believe it was called a knox device .
05190022.jpg
 
Why on Earth would you want to do that?

Is this why there's a "thing" with vacuum nipples in the radiator on my '75 Valiant?
 
jos51700 said:
Why on Earth would you want to do that?

Is this why there's a "thing" with vacuum nipples in the radiator on my '75 Valiant?
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No that is probably factory. What he is talking about here is CA only retrofit aftermarket add-ons "required." When I was stationed at NAS Miramar 70-74 "Top Gun", "Fightertown USA" I had a part time job at the station auto hobby shop. A few of them appeared on guys cars in there from time to time.

On a side note I remember someone came in with a pumped up V8 Bronco. The thing was all cammed up with headers, don't remember why he came in. In the course of conversation, (he probably said he just bought it) he ended up showing me where he had gotten it smog tested. The license number for the smog test guy was 23456 or some such LMAO. There was zero chance that thing would ever pass
 
I remember working at the Plymouth dealer in '72... the emission cars had plastic caps on the idle screws... we got a notice from the Feds that we could not take any car in trade unless it had the factory caps on the idle screws. Of course the sales dept. DID take them in after convincing the customers that there trades were only worth half price without those caps. Then I got them and had to install new caps!
 
Wish my dad was still with us to help my memory. It looks vaiguly familure but i dont recall any electronics. Is that photo from a sb ford?
 
It's from Google images. There were several different types of Nox kits on the market. If you had an older car and it didn't pass, they would sale you a kit. It also involved regarding the timing. It also included a sticker saying the kit was installed.
 
d55dave said:
Forgive me for not understanding. ... wouldn't retarded timing lead to higher emission levels?
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I'm not sure about that. For a brief time we had emission testing in S. Fla. The only way I could get my 77 Dodge PU through, with its modified 440, was to retard the heck out of the timing. It ran like crap and got hot fast but it passed the sniffer test.
 
Interesting... I found a forum for Ford Mustangs that talks of the Nox systems and of plugging the vacuum advance. last year I was repairing the dist in my dart and found the vacuum line to the dist to be plugged with a professional looking plug. I bet it was installed as part of the Nox device being installed and My dad forgot it was there when the Nox device was removed. That explained the drivability issues the car has had off the line for decades. I removed the plug and the engine has no hesitation of the line even with the 5 ATDC timing the service manual recommends.
 
d55dave said:
wouldn't retarded timing lead to higher emission levels?
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The service manual for a CAP equipped 67 273 calls for 5 ATDC timing. apparently it reduces certain emissions under certain conditions.

upload_2018-4-25_8-0-10.png


Here is a link that talks about the CAP and might shed some light on what they were doing with the Nox devices

CAP/CAS Distributor Vacuum Advance Control Valve

Abodybomber said:
and all the government cared about
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bad emission de jure!

All that being said.. I grew up in SoCAl in the 60s-70s and driving to downtown LA you could look behind you and see blue sky and in front of you orange sky. Once you were in the middle all you could see was orange sky front or back. I think we have come a long way in terms of performance, emissions and drivability with the new tech on cars. now if they would just realize there are soo few older cars on the road and leave us the hell alone in terms of getting a 51 year old car smogged. Here in my part of CO I have to smog my 67 Dart every year (there is a plate that has a 5 year smog but it also requires you to prepay 5 years worth of registration and has restrictions on miles per year) while other cars only need it once every 2 or more years. I think I put 1000 miles on it last year. go figure. I read that California is looking at raising its exempt year from 75 to 80 hope it sweeps the nation!
 
Drove around Vallejo late 60's. Cali started that smog thing in the urban areas starting in 70. I had a SC/Rambler and prior to titled I had to get one of these green devices installed. Once I was registered off it came and the timing re-set. They also ran random smog checks around town. They would focus on the streets where we cruised Friday and Saturday nights. Word traveled fast and all we would do is skirt around the checkpoints. The 70's was the start of the draconian government takeover of the state.
 
Yep that crap is rare as hell. Because of the ill effects i bet people threw it in the trash can. Kalifornia, the land of liberal weenies and their sanctuary state. Kalifornia y'all can keep it. If you want to try to "fix it" then a good start is to vote out ole Jerry moonbeam Brown as well as kooks like Maxine Waters. These people are hastening the demise of your lovely state. I used to say its a nice state to visit but not where i would want to live. But i'm not so sure about the visit part anymore either

Its so funny how the enviro nazis in Kalifornia forced people to retrofit that ill working bullshit to cars that werent meant to have it, causing engine problems. Typical backwards state bureaucracy.
 
I knew someone who bought a '55 Chevy from Cali in the mid 70s and it had one of those things spliced into the upper rad. hose.
 
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