To De-Smog or not to De-Smog...

True. I'm still working on my English. It would have been more correct for me to say that I replaced my EGR compatible exhaust manifold with one that was not provisioned to interface with the EGR valve.

No, still incorrect. There is no such thing as an "EGR compatible" slant-6 exhaust manifold. The differences in various slant-6 exhaust manifolds have absolutely nothing to do with presence/absence of EGR. There is no such thing as a slant-6 exhaust manifold with provisions to interface with an EGR valve; there are intake manifolds with/without this provision.