EGR delete on 74' 350

[Ghost85]

I have a 350 out of a 74' pickup, that I'll be putting into my Monte Carlo soon. It's a 2 barrel setup currently on the motor, of course I want to put a 4 barrel carb and an intake. I'm just wondering since these motors were slightly neutered to begin with, would getting an intake with no EGR make any difference, or should I keep the EGR system?

[Beagle]

egr and a carburetor, retarded cam timing built in to plastic timing chains, and exhaust crossover intake manifolds remind me of why I hated the 70's.

[Barry Donovan]

swap the cam to be sure.
..then keep egr out of it.

[squirrel]

If you get rid of EGR, you might need to recurve the distributor. And it won't pass some emissions inspections....which is a problem some places, and not other places. I don't know what kind of place you're in.

[Scott Liggett]

I have a 350 out of a 74' pickup, that I'll be putting into my Monte Carlo soon. It's a 2 barrel setup currently on the motor, of course I want to put a 4 barrel carb and an intake. I'm just wondering since these motors were slightly neutered to begin with, would getting an intake with no EGR make any difference, or should I keep the EGR system?

Lose it. I just did the same thing on a 73 Monte 350.

EGR was frozen solid, so I just cut it off just below the round thing. I had to in order to fit the edelbrock carb. Then I went to a non egr edelbrock.

[Ghost85]

If you get rid of EGR, you might need to recurve the distributor. And it won't pass some emissions inspections....which is a problem some places, and not other places. I don't know what kind of place you're in.

In MA 96' and above have to worry about emissions. Just safety for anything older.

Lose it. I just did the same thing on a 73 Monte 350.

EGR was frozen solid, so I just cut it off just below the round thing. I had to in order to fit the edelbrock carb. Then I went to a non egr edelbrock.

No issues with it I assume, as that's pretty much what I was looking at for carb and intake, were the Edelbrock's.

[Scott Liggett]

No issues. The exhaust cross over is for heating up the carb in winter. The EGR sucks that crap out and reburns it. Lose the A.I.R. pump too.

Edelbrock's EGR intake requires an adapter that turns the EGR out of the way when using their own carb. Stupid. Since you don't worry about emissions testing, I'd go with the non egr intake. They are cheaper too.

[squirrel]

In MA 96' and above have to worry about emissions. Just safety for anything older.

that's funny...in AZ you'd have to get it emissions tested (if you live in Phx or Tucson), but no safety inspection. We certainly have our priorities straight

[Deaf Bob]

EGR= Exhast Gas Recirculation...
Think about it... Contaminated air into the combustion chamber instead of clean power making oxygen...
My big gripe with that... After I put a Performer intake and a plug from Edelbrock, I didnt clean the carbon out of the head very well where it used to cross under the intake, it built up so much, it put pressure on the push rod, keeping it from getting oil easily, thus making the cam go flat on that lobe... Sooo. That port crusty? Clean it out good and block it with the supplied insert..

[skullbucket]

Get rid of it and don't worry about it anymore.
Make sure you up the timing for a real power increase and make sure the advance is all in around 2800RPM.

[DanStokes]

The guys have pretty much covered this. Remember that the ERG was part of a SYSTEM - cam, distributor curve, carb cal, even compression ratio was doctored to make this work. To undo this it'll come out best if you undo ALL of it. I'm guessing you could leave the CR alone but for sure do the rest. Besides, THAT'S Hot Rodding!

BTW - the EGR is there to lower the combustion chamber temp and therefore lower NoX emissions. If you bypass it the engine may be more prone to knocking and may even require premium fuel. Believe it or not, EGR also generally improves fuel economy so expect some decrease there (may not be a big deal for the Monte). A couple of other reasons to optimize the distributor.

[squirrel]

EGR is vacuum operated, so it stays closed at WOT...it doesn't steal power. As Dan mentioned, it allows you to run more timing, which can help mileage.

There really isn't much that it hurts....but just the idea of running exhaust back into the intake seems to piss of a lot of guys

[Scott Liggett]

Squirell is a fan of not messing with what GM engineered. Except for 6-71 blowers.

[squirrel]

I love messing with what they engineered. But I like to understand it, first.

[anotheridiot]

The guys have pretty much covered this. Remember that the ERG was part of a SYSTEM - cam, distributor curve, carb cal, even compression ratio was doctored to make this work. To undo this it'll come out best if you undo ALL of it. I'm guessing you could leave the CR alone but for sure do the rest. Besides, THAT'S Hot Rodding!

BTW - the EGR is there to lower the combustion chamber temp and therefore lower NoX emissions. If you bypass it the engine may be more prone to knocking and may even require premium fuel. Believe it or not, EGR also generally improves fuel economy so expect some decrease there (may not be a big deal for the Monte). A couple of other reasons to optimize the distributor.

yeah, think of the current setups. When you are coasting on the highway, and it seems like you are barely giving the vehicle any gas, its because the EGR is working and the car is running on less fuel. The biggest problem with the system is it carbons up and stays open all the time which robs power, so like anything, if it is not maintained, its gonna hurt performance. If you are building something you plan to drive alot, I really dont see much in the reasoning for hacking it off unless you just hate emissions. If you keep the EGR system and add an overdrive tranny, like a 700R4 or 4160, its gonna save some fill ups.