1982 Pontiac Grand Prix Emissions Removal

ok first of al i dont want any stupid comments on how i shouldnt do this becuase it's illegal, well dont make any assumptions because i am using this car for off road uses. anyways the problem is that i hate all that plumbing under my hood, though there is no real heavy duty computer system its the basic 80's CCC emissions system.( if you know what that is) the car is ball less it only makes 125 HP and a small amount of torque, the engine wont even squek the tires right now becuase fo the ageing emission system, well anyways lets get to the point.... i want to remove all traces of the stock system including the ignition, and all the cat converter, egr, AIR pump, etc, etc! I know someone out there has done this so if you have and can point me in the right direction it would eb much appreciated, the car has the stock Buick 4.1L 252Cubic Inch V6 4 Barrel Carbed engine. The engine has potential but is being choked by the emmisions system!

Thanks in advance!
JR

This could be a PITA if there is no aftermarket for the 4.1 Buick. If there is an aftermarket intake, headers, and distributor than it would just be a matter of removing the stock parts and replace with the aftermarket ones. Bolt on your favorite aftermarket carb and get a custom exhaust. Not knowing anything about the 4.1 Buick I don't know what is available. Look out for emiisions connections that are built into the head. If you have them, they would have to be blocked off somehow.

In reality though, it's not the emissions equipment that is choking your motor...at least not if it's all in working order. Being an 82 though, your cat is probably partially clogged, the EGR valve probably looks like h*ll and the evac cannister is not breathing anymore. Emissions get a bad rap when it comes to performance, but it is possible to stay clean and have a fast car. More likely your 4.1L Buick has a restictive intake and exhaust, a head that won't flow above 4500rpm and a cam shaft that makes peak HP below 4000rpm - I'm not dogging your motor, it's just typical of the engines built during the late 70s, early 80s.

If you're looking to go fast it will probably be cheaper and easier to do an engine swap...just my .02 cents.

thanks for the help but i need more info. i agree with you that not all emissions systems eat up power but a Buick V6 Performance book i read said that " with the 82' Buick 4.1L V6's the emissions systems are the cause of low performance, because of the systems bad design and overall odd setup" i quoted this from the book and they seem right about it because it is a very overly massive plumbing job and it's very crude to say the least! i am tired of it's crap and want performance please help me!!!! also the intake is a breather it's not real restrictive thoguh the exhaust was design on strictly emissions only and NO ( I MEAN NONE! ) performance whatsoever. though i wll proabaly put on a True Dual setup anyways!

i'd say go with a new motor too. by the time you get into new heads and a bunch of other parts it's gonna get quite expensive. i did some quick research i believe you can get a turbo model 3.8 or 4.1 that was put in the grand national. it you want speed, that's where it's gonna be at.

Okay, I'll go into a little more detail than I did above. All your emission control equipment is connected to your carb, intake manifold, and exhaust manifolds in some way (some also have conections directly to the exhaust ports on the heads). After all the emissions stuff is removed you are going to have to plug these holes. Some are just vacuum lines which can be plugged easily. Other connections will have to be welded or covered with some kind of "plate" that you'll have to fabricate yourself, because I doubt anyone makes these for your car. Even if you did this the carb will not run properly because it's tuned to run with the emissions in place. The majority of the carbs were "sealed" and not adjustable by the late 70s, so I doubt yours will be either. The other item is the distributor. The advance curve won't be aggressive enough for a performance engine. I doubt kits for adjusting the advance curve will be available it. None of these pieces were designed with performance in mind. Even if you find a way to adjust them my guess would be a 17 sec 1/4 mile.

Like I said before the easiest route would be to replace those items with aftermarket ones...if they are available. Even if you did replace all those items with a dual plane intake, aftermarket 4-barrel, headers, and a performance distributor I would doubt you would get any better than low 16s - high 15s in the 1/4 mile. Anything faster is going to involve tearing the engine apart - higher compression pistons, stronger bottom end, getting the heads to flow, a better camshaft, etc.

By this time you'll have enough money in it to buy a new car.

Not trying to be cruel, just making sure you realize what you're getting into.

The '82 GP is the same chassis as the Monte Carlo right?
Some Monte's came with small block chevy V-8s. It was the 305 or 307, either way, Chevy guys were not overjoyed with them. Many Monte owners swapped in the 350 since it is dimensionally the same. Monte motor and trans mounts should bolt directly into your car. Aftermarket for the Chevy small block is unlimited. Just something to think about.