Smog pump removal

[WKR]

Just wondering if anyone has removed the smog pump on their early 70's Avanti II. More specifically removed it from their 400 cid s.b. The smog pump on my 73 has been disconnected for years and the manifold ports plugged. I would like to remove the pump but I have been checking to see what location I can use for the alternator and what brackets I will need to use. The alternator is on the passenger side on this engine and the smog pump is right below it. This is also the engine configuration with the air conditioner compressor sitting almost on top of the water pump (ungodly set-up!). Any help/direction would be appreciated.

Bill

[Gunslinger]

Many with older GM cars have removed the smog pump. Supposedly the engine runs better with it, but that assumes everything is in proper operating order.

If you remove the smog pump you can also remove the rest of the system and clean up the underhood appearance. Not sure of your car, but many also had a switch of some sort on the thermostat housing. You can remove that and install a standard housing which looks much better.

My '70 did not have the smog pump...at least not when I bought the car. It may have come with one originally and been removed by a prior owner. Mine also had the a/c compressor directly over the water pump like yours. I agree...a hideous looking setup!

I'm sure you can come up with brackets to relocate your alternator. That may also require modifications to the wiring harness to reach a new location of the alternator. You should check with a custom speed shop for suggestions. You can also consider changing to a serpentine accessories kit, but that would also require changing your water pump to a reverse flow type (included in most kits), which would also necessitate a reverse direction fan and fan clutch unless you change to electric fans. Keep in mind one change may force additional changes to accommodate it. Not to put you off of making changes, but simply something to keep in mind.

In my '70 I had installed a crate engine with the serpentine accessories kit. It looks and works great, but it also required some minor modifications (clearance cuts) to the fan shroud.