MosesX605

There are lots of tips and pretty pictures out there to remove the rats nest for the '81 to '85 model cars, but nothing has really been documented for the earlier (and superior ) SA22C models.

Being an adventurous type with a disdain for trees everywhere, I figured that I didn't need any of that emissions garbage, especially since I have long since removed my thermal reactor, air pump and ACV in favor of a RB short primary header.

So I finally got tired of looking at the jumble of garbage that sits on top of my engine, especially since it didn't do anything except mess up my idle and clutter up the joint. So off it went!

Here's a pic of my engine bay before I removed all the rats nest stuff:



And after the nest was given the old heave-ho:



As you can see, it looks a whole lot better. I've also installed a Home Depot cold air intake, as per the Carl/Pratch tutorial, which seems to help with heat soak during long Solo II events. As an added bonus, there are less things to break and otherwise go wrong with your carb. Essentially all you have to do is remove the two 12mm bolts that hold the two (or three in the case of California) solenoids to the engine, disconnect all the vacuum lines and an electrical connector for the coasting valve and pull the whole mess out.

Once you've done that, you will notice that there was a ground on one of the 12mm bolts, make sure you reattach that ground, because if you leave it out, you will have a very messed up idle and no power. Now here's a vacuum diagram for the '79 model year:



I've circled the nipples on the manifold that you will need to use if you want to retain your vacuum advance, as well as the nipple needed to plumb in your new PCV valve to replace the old ventilation and check valve. Here's a closeup of the new vacuum lines, and below it, an extreme closeup of the manifold attachments for the vacuum advance and the PCV valve:





If you want to retain your vacuum advance, run two long lengths of vacuum hose from the two nipples circled on the diagram to the vacuum pots on the distributor. If you don't care about vacuum advance, just cap the nipples on the manifold and leave the vacuum pots open to the atmosphere.

I don't have to remind you to cap the unused nipples, lest you have a huge vacuum leak to spoil all the smooth idles to come.

Now, to plumb in the PCV valve, here is what I did. I believe that I have done this correctly, but if any of you see any errors, let me know. Jon has posted a quick little reference in another thread on what you need to do to plumb in a PCV valve, and I shamlessly cribbed from that quick walkthough.

You need to use 5/16th emissions/fuel hose and plumb the PCV valve into the nipple on the oil filler neck. I used a PCV from a '90 Dodge Caravan 3.0L. The smooth end of the valve should be plumbed into thefiller neck and the threaded end should be plumbed into the manifold. Next, locate the nipple on the intermediate housing, which is directly below the nipple on the oil filler neck. Run a line from there to the large nipple on the back drivers side of the airbox. Finally, you will need to reconnect the charcoal canister, which is integrated into the lid of the airbox. You will need a 5/16ths tee, so you can run a line from the airbox lid to that tee, which will then go to the carb vent and the fuel tank vent line, which is on the firewall. You will have to clamp the end of the rubber line to the vent line on the firewall, as it is a very loose fit. All the other connections seem pretty tight, but to be on the safe side, clamp those as well. (I have yet to do this, as I ran out of clamps. )

I belive that covers it. There isn't much to the rats nest on the '79 models, but there are still some pitfalls to overcome, and I hope that this post helps all you SA enthusiasts out.