on my '79 its got one of those heat exchanger things, do i need it?? and if i dont, how do i do it right??? theres alot of hoses comin off it. i know my **** about cars, but, what the ****?

 

hey,
the heat exchange unit is just an early form of a catalitic converter,
the series 1 didnt have the cat they had the heat exchange unit. i think the cat came on series2, but i could be wrong there.
it can unbolt straight off and custom exhust can be put on, aslong as u have a cat on em.

 

The heat exchanger is necessary if you still have the thermal reactor.

djmickyo is on the right track but his terminology is wrong. The heat exchanger doesn't do any emissions reduction in and of itself, but it does preheat the air that is injected into the thermal reactor. the thermal reactor is what does the work of reducing emissions.

the heat exhchanger does make a handy presilencer, if you install a header, but it's rather restrictive.