Re: alfa-digest V8 #587

[AlfaNeely@domain.elided]

       The 1975 Alfetta sedan (Berlina) that I bought new had an air pump.  
It is around here in a box somewhere.  I left it on until it came time to 
change the little oil filter in the Spica pump.  Alfa had mounted the air 
pump outboard of the Spica pump.  Removal was such a pain, that I never put 
it back.
       That Alfa did not have a catalytic converter.  I ran it for years with 
no air pump.  The hoses were still in place for some years, just the pump was 
gone.  Later I removed the rest of the plumbing and plugged the holes in the 
exhaust manifold.
      The air pump may have been fitted as early as 1974.  I have some 74 
cast iron exhaust manifolds with bosses cast for air injection, but they were 
never drilled on mine.
       And the switch from Spica to L Jetronic happened in 1982, not 1980.  
The Spica pumps in 1980 and 1981 were about the same, but they had the 
infamous large single butterfly intake manifold.  The VVT intake cams also 
came along about 1980.  I do have a late Spica engine with VVT.

Ciao,
Russ Neely
Oklahoma City

In a message dated 03/21/2002 2:40:13 PM Central Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:



> Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 10:40:59 -0500
> From: "Watry, Andrew (LNG-MBC)" <Andrew.Watry@domain.elided>
> Subject: 70s air pumps
> 
> Are the air pumps installed on late-70s 115 and 116 cars the same, other
> than the pulley and bracketing? That is, can you fit the pump off an Alfetta
> onto a Spider if you change those items and keep the original air manifold,
> header, etc?
> 
> A more general question:  Air pumps were used what years? 1977-1981?  I
> believe 75 and 76 115 and 116 cars didn't have them yet, and were quite
> detuned to meet smog regs, but introduction of the air pump and catalytic in
> 1977 did most of the cleaning work and allowed more aggressive cam timing,
> the two-point distributor, etc.  And they must have disappeared with
> introduction of Bosch injection in 1982, right?
> 
> What, if any, is the consequence of running one of these with the air pump
> disconnected (other than dirtying the air), assuming you've already passed
> your smog test?  Do you risk ruining the catalytic?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Andrew Watry
> Berkeley, CA
> 


In a message dated 03/21/2002 9:00:31 PM Central Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:



> Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 15:40:07 -0800 (PST)
> From: James Montebello <jamesm@domain.elided>
> Subject: smog equipment
> 
> The question was asked about 115/116 Alfas and air pumps, and when
> they appeared.  Since at least one person has noted they were used on
> '76 model cars, I'd strongly suspect they were used on '75 model cars,
> too.  My reasoning is that 1975 was a year of big changes in the smog
> regulations (or, rather, when earlier legislation took effect), both
> for the Federal and California standards.  The years of note for most
> Alfisti are:
> 
> 1968 - EPA and DOT regs first take effect.  Primitive stuff only, for
>        the most part, on all cars.
> 1970 - first tightening, but many cars got away with de-tuning, and
>        many more adopted 1970 standards in 1968 to make life easier.
> 1975 - big tightening, many cars suddenly acquired "smog carbs", air 
>        pumps, catalytic convertors, electronic fuel injection, thermal 
>        reactors, or some combination of the above.
> 1980 - another notch down on the standards, and catalytic convertors 
>        made mandatory (49-state, not sure about CA, which may have
>        required them as early as 1978).
> 
> Later, there was more divergence between the Federal and the CA standards,
> mostly in timing (EPA always adopting a few years after CA).  For the
> most part, these are irrelevant to Alfisti, since Alfa either used CA
> standards nationwide (typical for small-volume makers), or they stopped
> importing cars altogether before they took effect.
> 
> So, air pumps appearing in 1975 makes sense, and the reason for SPICA
> being dropped in favor of L-Jet on the 115 in 1980 becomes clear.
> 
> james montebello

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