Quote:

I am working on removing some unnecessary emissions items from my Slant 6. The engine is a 1976 in a 1972 Dart.

One of the items im doing away with is the A.I.R. system(We are Emissions exempt in this area anyway) There isnt an A.I.R. pump but what there is ,is a hose that goes into the bottom of the air cleaner which attaches to a check valve and then a metal tube that goes to the back of the cylinder head.

That metal tubing is rusted through anyway and I was wondering just what(if anything) bad might happen if I plug the passage at the back of the cylinder head. Seems all it does is pump air...Right?

A Pic is attached as reference,image is from before I got the car home.



To answer your question, that A.I.R. item is just a one way check valve that allows a little gulp of air into the exhaust stream (in the head) when there is a vacuum pulsation. Its not a pump. The extra oxygen is desired in the exhaust in order to better enable the CAT to burn off remaining hydrocarbons--it helps the cat do its job.

You can remove it--and as you said, plug the opening in the head. MAy as well remove the cat too.