I recently went to get my car inspected, I dont have to have emissions here in NC but I still fails the "Thermostatic Air Control" part of the test. The guy told me that the air cleaner on my car should have a metal tube that goes down around the bottom of the engine and just sucks air up in to the air cleaner to make the engine burn the hot air off the engine first. He told me that it would not be a Open Element type air cleaner, cause it has to be able to close the snorkel I guess, and suck the air through the tube (termostatic air control tube). My current Air Cleaner is definitely not original and I have never seen the original, mine is a Open Element type that looks allot better and probably lets the engine have more air also. Anyway looking on Classic Industries website all I see is open element type air cleaners. What is original on a 69 firebird? and also where could I find a air cleaner that I can use just to pass inspection? I guess any snorkel type air cleaner that has thermostatic air control (silly tube) on it would work. I am also going to try to just take it somewhere else and see if it passes like it has before, but this is a probably not a bad idea.
Wow, never heard that one...besides burning the hot air is less efficient than burning the cool air! here in Texas you dont need it, mine was removed...I gave my air cleaner away a year ago(use K&N filter now), but still have the part that is the 'heat riser', that bolts to head and the ducting up to the air cleaner attaches to , in case you need it... if so let me know .. bsefeldt@mhinc.com
The system you are talking about is usually referred to as the pre-heater. It's a shroud on the left-side exhaust manifold and a tube up to the the fitting on the bottom of the air cleaner snorkel. This fitting sits below a vacuum-actuated, thermally controlled valve. It's basically the standard set-up.
The original aircleaner is a single snorkel with a chrome lid. (I believe.) Daniel Dykstra has done ALL the research on this.
Weird Classic Industries does not sell a reproduction of the original Air Cleaner. I guess no one uses them, I just need to find a whole snorkel type air cleaner with the pre-heater on there, that will fit my 4 barrel carb. This is just to pass inspection, it could look like a POS for all I would care.
Jeff, I have the pre heat shroud , the heat riser if you need it...$5.00 plus shipping...maybe someone has the air cleaner box...I know excactly what it looks like but had it sent to a guy in Canada last year! You might keep an eye on EBay for it too, have seen some there... But it could be that FirebirdBill has that too!
Pictures of what the guy is talking about: Preheater shroud- http://www.dykstra.cc/1969Firebird/10-16-03/IM001376.JPG Where was Bjorn when I was searching for four months for a correct 1969 preheater shroud that no one repro's???
I'd be surprised if you couldn't just go to a different testing facility and pass with no problems...sounds like the guy you got had a little extra knowledge that he was proud of.
But, I'm an originality buff so if you want my opinion ( you don't ) you should put it all back to original because it looks so much better
Dan , sorry about that! I just found it going thru my storage to put a few other things up for sale at a swap meet... (and unfortunately for Jeff I now sold it the day before yesterday....) I think his best bet is find the pieces at a local junk yard or take the 'hit' and buy them off EBay...
You know, it doesn't have to be an air cleaner off a Firebird only to work, one off a GP or GTO will do the same job. Hit your local salvage yards & try to find one there.
Bjorn: I have an interesting point--just for trivia's sake--that I would like to make. As a certified TX State Motor Vehicle Inpsector (license #: 13885889) I can attest that, by TX state motor code, you do need a preheater, and by law, the inspector can reject your car. If your inspector isn't aware of this fact, s/he doesn't know TX inspection law that well.
When I inspected cars in the late 80's and early 90's, there were 2 inspection standards. The safety inspection that had a statewide code, and the emission inspection that--encompassed Dallas and Tarrrent counties. I don't know whether or not the whole state has fallen into I don't recall Huston's county's name, but Huston's county was also an emission county; therefore, all emission equipment must be in place and "appear" to be in working order.
As a result, so if the guy wanted to be an [censored], he could fail you because your car has its emission equipment missing.
Also, in TX, it's a criminal act to certify vehicles that don't comply with TX code. There is, however, a clause that's called inspector's liberty, whereby the inspector has certain liberties in judgement calls. (The inspector's liberty is also a check and balance so that an inspector isn't charged for a crime that is merely an honest mistake.)
At inspection school, this gray area of the law is discussed. The point of the anual inspection isn't to condemn cars. Rather it's to ensure public safety and to reduce emissions.
(There are safety issues that can fall into this realm too, but I'll stay on emission equipment.) We speficically discussed open elements and no air pumps. Even though TX code requires all emission equipment in emission counties, on pre-cat vehilces, the inspector's liberty applied to open breathers and no air pumps.
You see, there are factor to consider when an inspector makes a judgment call. Most of these modifications were made long before it became items of inspection, almost becoming a grandfather clause.
(Keep in mind that it's ALMOST a grandfather clause. It's not a grandfather because state laws cannot superceed federal laws. Federal law mandated that these cars were to be produced with preheaters. Therefore, TX cannot waive the law. But that also means that they are required to be nit-picks and #%&@can every car that has an open element.)
Another point is how feasible is it to make the car comply--that includes safety equipment too. The thing is that if it's not practicle to fix, the inspector has the liberty to pass the vehicle. If you have a car that's worth $500, and has $1,500 damage in the area where the side marker light resides, it's not pratical to fix. Therefore, the inspector has the liberty to pass the car without the side marker.
On the other hand, post cat cars become a different story. If parts, new or used are readilly available, it's a criminal act to pass the car, reminding us that it's a no brainer that the customer simply slips on the correct air breather for inspection.
Back to the pre-cat cars: The DPS officer pointed out that, of course, we also have the liberty to fail any or all of these vehicles, and no one from the DPS will critisize us for not passing the vehicles. The point is that if we choose to use our inspector's liberty as a way to nit-pick, it isn't good customer relations, so don't expect repeat business from that customer.
I haven't a clue as to how NC inspection works. It would seem that there would also be some inspector's liberty, so you might try another inspector.
I don't know how MD inspection law works either. I know that MD is the biggest [censored] in America when it comes to inspection, but the car is only safety inspected upon registration. After that, it can be a death trap, and everthing is a-ok.
Comeing from a more leinant safety inspection state to an [censored] inspection state, I had the car go though a legitimat state inspection. I thought: I know this car from head to toe, and the only thing that it can be failed for is the erratic operating speedo--something in the culster makes the speedo needle wobble about 7 mph variance. Also, I didn't have a preheater comeing off the header. Other than that, there was absolutly nothing that could be failed on the car.
Sure enough, when I checked on the car, the guy mentioned the erratic speedo. He said that despite the good-looks factor, he had his doubts that the car would pass as-is. He said that, mechanically, the car was imaculate in every aspect, and it exceeded the mechanical quality of many cars that were less than a year old. Because the car was of such quality, he said that he let the speedo "slide."
Amervo, yes I`m well aware of the a**holes, I used to run my dads dealership (83-90) and we had a DPS trooper whom I called "Mr Smiles" ( because he never cracked one!)that came regularly to our shop, issued stickers ,etc.... but the last 7 yrs I have taken my (over those yrs,3 classics)cars to 3 different inspection stations, never heard any complaint....maybe I`m lucky? But I always hear from them that 25 and older cars are excempt from 'emissions' tests....therefor we only pay the $12.50 , rather than the $45.00 (which now is in effect in Harris county also, I think they only check wipers, lights ,brakes, make sure you have a windshield, I`m not even sure they check turnsignals , since in those days 'handsignals' were allowed--- Houston is mostly in Harris county, but other neighboring counties are involved too) none of my cars have had 'snorkels' , all have had K&N type filters w the round flat air cleaner, open all around....
Maybe they just dont know? but as long as my car passes ( and I guess Ill go back to same insp. station , then I`ll have 'precedent' of 2,3 yrs?), I will keep it that way...if for some reason it wouldnt pass, I guess I`d go to a junk yard , get one for inspections only....just like Jeff needs to do...
