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Spitfire Emission Controls

FlyingCat

Jedi Hopeful
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In my quest to get my 1980 Spitfire (Federal) running again, today's challenge is the emission controls. I found a few of the original emission controls with my car – a broken air rail, some brackets, and the EGR elbow, and that's pretty much it. Using Haynes and SpitBits, I've been able to figure out what went where on my engine, though how some of it connects is at times a bit vague (like where, exactly, does the air pump go).

After talking with the Department of Environmental Quality officials where I live, pretty much all the state is concerned with as far as emissions go is that I have a catalytic converter and that my tail pipe emissions are within range, which they probably should be as long as my carburetor is set correctly – or so says they. They don't look under the hood at all. My plan so far is to run a Weber carburetor with a manual choke.

So at this time I'm not worrying about replacing all the emissions stuff. And that's probably a good thing, because most of this stuff is not available, and what is is really expensive.

So here are my questions:

1) Is there any of this I truly need? For instance, do I really need an anti-run on valve? (And if so, where, and how, would that sucker go?)

2) Is there anything on the engine that I need to make sure is not "leaking" because some of this isn't there? For instance, do I need to plug the holes where the air rail attaches to the cylinder head? I'm assuming I need to clean those holes out.

3) Finally, there is an air canister in the back with the fuel tank. The hose for that heads to the front where, I'm guessing, it met up with the canisters there. Did it? And if I don't have any canisters up front, where does the hose from the one in the back now go? (Presently it only goes about half way to the engine.)

Thanks!

Emission Controls.jpg
 

STeve 1958

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I believe that the hose to the canister is just for vapors. I ran without a canister for years. I used a PVC valve (EGR valve here) from another modern car, and made it work.
Plugging the holes works too.
 

dklawson

Yoda
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PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) and EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) are not the same thing.

PCV sucks the oil fumes out of the crankcase then mixes them with the incoming charge so they can be burned.
EGR taps into the engine's exhaust and mixes some of that with the incoming charge to create a more complete burn of the exhaust gasses and lower nitrous oxide levels.

You may be able to adapt a modern car's PCV valve to the Spitfire (was one fitted to these late models?). The EGR (item 10 in the Moss image above) is unique to the Spitfire and screws into the exhaust manifold. I have only seen a couple that had been removed from an existing installation without becoming destroyed by the removal process.
 
OP
FlyingCat

FlyingCat

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The same day after I posted this, I got all these questions answered by a local, and very talkative (and knowledgeable) mechanic. The truth is out there... or a close facsimile
 
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