1979 CA smog stuff
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1979 CA smog stuff
A good friend of mine just bought a 79 Bronco and needs to get it smoged in CA. I told him I'd ask around and figured I'd start here first. I have a 79 F-350 parts truck with a couple charcoal cans, but it doesn't have a smog pump. Trying to piece this thing together on the cheap so his 16yo can be driving it in a few weeks. Thanks fellas.
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Algona, Washington
The only thing I can say is good luck... Maybe toss 1 or 2 high flow cats on the exhaust. Charcoal canisters would help, if the engine is the original 351M it will already have the retarded timing chain they put in it for emissions. MAybe look into a smog pump system? It cycles the smog back into the vacuum system so it can be reburnt. It isn't going to be easy. I didn't know 79 still had to do emissions even in CA. Know what the cutoff age is? I hope my 78 never has to do emissions, it would cost me way to much.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2003
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I'm not a CA person ( 
), but if it has to pass the test, I would think as a starting point they would have to have all of the emissions equipment on it that a CA-spec'd Bronco would have had for 1979... and THEN fix anything that is causing it to fail.
Noooooooo! 
The "smog pump" (a gas-station guy term), it's "air pump" to the rest of us, pumps air into the cylinder head exhaust passages and/or to the catalytic converters to help increase the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and reduce Carbon Monoxide (CO). Some catalysts are three-way, meaning they reduce HC, CO, and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX), although I don't know if a '79 truck would have a three-way on it, but since California was and is the leader in emissions regulations, it could be possible.
), but if it has to pass the test, I would think as a starting point they would have to have all of the emissions equipment on it that a CA-spec'd Bronco would have had for 1979... and THEN fix anything that is causing it to fail. The "smog pump" (a gas-station guy term), it's "air pump" to the rest of us, pumps air into the cylinder head exhaust passages and/or to the catalytic converters to help increase the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and reduce Carbon Monoxide (CO). Some catalysts are three-way, meaning they reduce HC, CO, and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX), although I don't know if a '79 truck would have a three-way on it, but since California was and is the leader in emissions regulations, it could be possible.
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A good friend of mine just bought a 79 Bronco and needs to get it smoged in CA. I told him I'd ask around and figured I'd start here first. I have a 79 F-350 parts truck with a couple charcoal cans, but it doesn't have a smog pump. Trying to piece this thing together on the cheap so his 16yo can be driving it in a few weeks. Thanks fellas.
What equipment is on it? A partial list will be an evap system (the charcoal canisters, vent lines, a sealed gas cap), cats, closed air cleaner with a heat riser, the aforementioned retarded cam timing, low compression and lean jetting. Probable items would be the air injection system and EGR.
There is no "cheap". You have to have all the OEM equipment, CA or Federal, whatever the vehicle is. It has to work, and you have pass the sniffer as well.
If this is a hack job with all kinds of missing parts or a rebuilt motor with different manifold/carb/headers, the cost to put it back is probably more than it's worth.
CA tests back to '76 models. Nothing secret about any of it, it's all on the BAR web site, and no one should get surprised by the smog check as it's been this way for decades.
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 8,908
Likes: 1
From: Algona, Washington
I'm not a CA person ( ), but if it has to pass the test, I would think as a starting point they would have to have all of the emissions equipment on it that a CA-spec'd Bronco would have had for 1979... and THEN fix anything that is causing it to fail.
Noooooooo!
The "smog pump" (a gas-station guy term), it's "air pump" to the rest of us, pumps air into the cylinder head exhaust passages and/or to the catalytic converters to help increase the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and reduce Carbon Monoxide (CO). Some catalysts are three-way, meaning they reduce HC, CO, and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX), although I don't know if a '79 truck would have a three-way on it, but since California was and is the leader in emissions regulations, it could be possible.
), but if it has to pass the test, I would think as a starting point they would have to have all of the emissions equipment on it that a CA-spec'd Bronco would have had for 1979... and THEN fix anything that is causing it to fail.Noooooooo!
The "smog pump" (a gas-station guy term), it's "air pump" to the rest of us, pumps air into the cylinder head exhaust passages and/or to the catalytic converters to help increase the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and reduce Carbon Monoxide (CO). Some catalysts are three-way, meaning they reduce HC, CO, and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX), although I don't know if a '79 truck would have a three-way on it, but since California was and is the leader in emissions regulations, it could be possible.
The law in CA is that the seller has to smog it before sale. Where did your buddy buy it?
What equipment is on it? A partial list will be an evap system (the charcoal canisters, vent lines, a sealed gas cap), cats, closed air cleaner with a heat riser, the aforementioned retarded cam timing, low compression and lean jetting. Probable items would be the air injection system and EGR.
There is no "cheap". You have to have all the OEM equipment, CA or Federal, whatever the vehicle is. It has to work, and you have pass the sniffer as well.
If this is a hack job with all kinds of missing parts or a rebuilt motor with different manifold/carb/headers, the cost to put it back is probably more than it's worth.
CA tests back to '76 models. Nothing secret about any of it, it's all on the BAR web site, and no one should get surprised by the smog check as it's been this way for decades.
What equipment is on it? A partial list will be an evap system (the charcoal canisters, vent lines, a sealed gas cap), cats, closed air cleaner with a heat riser, the aforementioned retarded cam timing, low compression and lean jetting. Probable items would be the air injection system and EGR.
There is no "cheap". You have to have all the OEM equipment, CA or Federal, whatever the vehicle is. It has to work, and you have pass the sniffer as well.
If this is a hack job with all kinds of missing parts or a rebuilt motor with different manifold/carb/headers, the cost to put it back is probably more than it's worth.
CA tests back to '76 models. Nothing secret about any of it, it's all on the BAR web site, and no one should get surprised by the smog check as it's been this way for decades.
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Super Moderator
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Yea, we used to be on a rolling 20 or 25, can't recall. Then the idiots in the legislature set it at '76. Some talk of moving it up to '81, but not sure if that's real or just smoke (so to speak....
) at this point.
) at this point.
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From: Boise, Idaho
Yeah, seeing the haze over L.A. greatly diminish in the last decade or two really shows just how much good the smog laws are doing, despite how annoyed people get with them.
For what it's worth, newer cats do SO MUCH more than the original ones did, that often you can pass a test with the cat alone. My '81 has had all of the emissions equipment removed, has been upgraded from a 1bbl to a 4bbl carb, and I installed a 3-way cat and I pass the emissions test here in Idaho way, way below the limits.
Granted, I don't have a visual.
Point being, you may only need to have the stock emission equipment present even if it isn't fully working, as long as you have a nice, new 3-way cat in the system. Dunno.
For what it's worth, newer cats do SO MUCH more than the original ones did, that often you can pass a test with the cat alone. My '81 has had all of the emissions equipment removed, has been upgraded from a 1bbl to a 4bbl carb, and I installed a 3-way cat and I pass the emissions test here in Idaho way, way below the limits.
Granted, I don't have a visual.
Point being, you may only need to have the stock emission equipment present even if it isn't fully working, as long as you have a nice, new 3-way cat in the system. Dunno.
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 8,908
Likes: 1
From: Algona, Washington
Yeah, seeing the haze over L.A. greatly diminish in the last decade or two really shows just how much good the smog laws are doing, despite how annoyed people get with them.
For what it's worth, newer cats do SO MUCH more than the original ones did, that often you can pass a test with the cat alone. My '81 has had all of the emissions equipment removed, has been upgraded from a 1bbl to a 4bbl carb, and I installed a 3-way cat and I pass the emissions test here in Idaho way, way below the limits.
Granted, I don't have a visual.
Point being, you may only need to have the stock emission equipment present even if it isn't fully working, as long as you have a nice, new 3-way cat in the system. Dunno.
For what it's worth, newer cats do SO MUCH more than the original ones did, that often you can pass a test with the cat alone. My '81 has had all of the emissions equipment removed, has been upgraded from a 1bbl to a 4bbl carb, and I installed a 3-way cat and I pass the emissions test here in Idaho way, way below the limits.
Granted, I don't have a visual.
Point being, you may only need to have the stock emission equipment present even if it isn't fully working, as long as you have a nice, new 3-way cat in the system. Dunno.
Super Moderator
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 34,499
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That's a good point, as they only test as to if the stuff works--for the most part--is the sniffer test. The evap has a separate test, and ignition timing is checked as well.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,716
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) or "Air Supply Pump".My 1970 460's (5 years before catalytic converters) used an air pump driven by a little 1/4" wide V-belt, and had an intake manifold vacuum-controlled Air Bypass Valve to dump the compressed air out into the atmosphere instead of into the exhaust system on coast-down, to avoid backfire in the exhaust system when the throttle was closed but engine RPM was up. The 1970 Ford/Lincoln/Mercury car shop manual set devotes about 1 1/2 pages to it. It was a lot simpler back then!!!
Here is a reasonably good explanation of secondary air injection:
Secondary air injection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia