I am new to the forum. Bought an 88 X cab 4.9 5 speed. Body is fair, paint is horrible, but mechanically, everything but the engiine is in very good shape. Even the cruise works. Almost all smog equipment is still present. Rebuilding the engine (using an exchange head) and have a problem with the A.I. R. tube that screws into the exhaust ports on the head. 4 of the 6 flare nuts came out easily, but two broke, leaving threads down in the head. Called the Ford dealer and they tell me the part is NLA. No one seems to have it aftermarket. I am OK with keeping the A.I.R. system, but if no one has the pipe, then I may as well buy six plugs to plug the six holes in the head.
Anyone have a source for the pipe?

If pipe is not available, and I plug the head, can I eliminate the pump & use the belt made for the automatic version of this engine, which appears to be identical other than the smog pump.

Thanks in advance.

Lynn

 

Regardless of parts availability, discussion of deleting/defeating emissions systems is illegal everywhere, and so not allowed on this BBS (and most others). I suggest you start browsing your local junkyards with a can of penetrating oil (PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, etc.) and snag a manifold with all the nuts.



Automatics have 2ndry air, too, so the belt is the same.

 

Parts stores all list two different belts for 1988 model, equipped with a/c, one for the manual trans and one with the automatic. Not the same belt.

 

Same belt. They list every part by auto or manual trans, regardless.

 

Have you found one yet? i got mine at LMC truck. you can order it online or by phone for about 80 bucks. it comes with everything.

 

Thanks for the source. I needed to get the engine together, so plugged the holes for now. I thought I made it clear in my first post that my preference was to replace the smog tube manifold and I asked for a source. Instead I got a lecture about defeating the smog set up. Now that I know it is available, I will order from LMC truck. Like I said in my first post, I don't mind putting it back on. It was simply not possible without locating a replacement. Apparently the replacement is available aftermarket. This is the first truck I have ever owned. I am unfamiliar with the Ford world, and just didn't know where to get one.

As for having to scour salvage yards for discontinued parts, I respectfully disagree. Even California (which is more strict than the feds on smog items) has a procedure for an exception ruling when a particular part is no longer available. I would be surprised if the feds don't have something similar. I wasn't trying to figure out how to make it run without the smog pump just because I wanted to defeat the smog system. Heck, I was taking an old oil burning, smoking engine and making it run 10 times cleaner by rebuilding the motor.

 

One sentence isn't quite a "lecture", and what exactly do you disagree with? You don't think getting otherwise-unavailable parts from a junkyard is a good way to keep your truck running right? I don't own a vehicle with less than 25% junkyard parts - most have over 50%, and they run great, and they're very reliable.

 

hey steve83. Can a licensed professional remove my smog pump and emission system, to replace it with a newer/more efficient one. Mine is 19 yrs old and I would like to replace it with something that is more technologically advanced like the ones on the 2012 trucks. Also the talk of unused fuel being sent around to be reburned somewhere else... Cant I burn fuel more efficiently with better spark or something to where Im not expelling any out of the manifolds? That would be my goal. I would like to burn fuel verrrrry efficiently.. Know what I mean!?.. Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

There hasn't been smog pumps on Ford trucks since the 460 went away in '97. The only place fuel is burned is in the cylinders, except the new diesel trucks that burn extra fuel in particulate filters that put the fuel mileage into the single digits towing.

You are driving a truck. Burn fuel like one and be proud of it.

Adrianspeeder

 

 

Sure, if he wants to lose his license & find a new profession. The laws about modifying emissions systems are like most others: clear as mud (intentionally). You can't do it without a law degree, special permission from the head of the EPA, & a note from your proctologist. And there are some new laws in the works that specify how you can restore/rebuild/restify old vehicles, and how they have to be titled/registered/inspected. Some proposed laws even allow a brand-new vehicle to be titled as an antique, and allow it to be inspected as if it was 50 years old, including emissions. So the simple answer is what I said before: don't do it. The complex answer is: consult a lawyer, and the EPA, and your local inspection station officials, and your state police reconstructed vehicle titling office, and then try to make sense of it all. Chances are, no matter what you do, no one will ever find out or care. But if you do manage to get busted, you won't enjoy it.That's what the EPA & CARB have forced every mfr. to hunt for, like the Holy Grail. The most efficient engine yet know is a Sterling-cycle, but it's not even suited to mail-delivery trucks (they tried a few thousand of them in the 90s). The most efficient engine suited to a vehicle is probably a gas turbine, but no one makes one small, cheap, & reliable enough to be used in a truck, or a similar transmission. That's why everyone still uses Otto-cycle & Diesel-cycle engines in cars & trucks (even the hybrids which are touted as being the most efficient vehicles, even though they're NOT). If you want an engine as efficient as a 2012, buy a complete 2012 engine system (wiring, computer, emissions, transmission), and put it in your truck, sort of like this:

<-Clickit

But depending on where you live, and how you title it, it may not be legal. Mine is reconstructed (and is about be RE-reconstructed) using a '95 F150 engine, and AFAIK, it's legal in LA where I built it, and in TN where it's registered now. It's certainly more efficient & makes lower emissions than the 1bbl that came out. When Frank took this one for its first inspection in MS, the guy popped the hood, closed the hood, handed him the sticker, and said, "If you made that work, it passes."