Vernamul

I have recently brought a 96 c4 and was looking to see if there's any benefit from deleting it's emissions controls and if so I would appreciate it if was steered in the right direction. I am mechanical inclined but this is my 1st vette.

PatternDayTrader

No benefits. Plenty of downside.

vette196

No upside other than cosmetic for the engine compartment

mrodoc

I deleted mine about 1 1/2 yrs ago during an LE2 build. I know there are no performance gains, but it's so much easier to work on the engine, plus it looks a lot better not looking like it's on life support. All kidding aside, what is the downside. I've seen no adverse effcects.

PatternDayTrader

You will find out if you ever have to pass an emissions test or when you go to sell your car.

vette196

my '96 is almost a 25 year old car, so no emissions in NJ once it hits the quarter century mark. Get a 2 year inspection and put on hi-flow cats for a possible visual inspection

pacoW

I live in a county in PA that does not check emissions and have a '96. But I do have to have to pass an annual state inspection. All emissions equipment that came with the car must be there to pass & they look under the hood. The techs don't care if it works or not but it has to be there and the check engine light has to be off. At 25yrs (3 more yrs) I can apply for antique plates and once granted no more annual inspection.

MatthewMiller

Vernamul, if your car is otherwise all stock, there's not a significant advantage to removing all this. People tend to remove the AIR system if they put headers on their cars, because most long-tubes don't have the fittings for the air hoses. And if you're racing and your class allows it, you can remove some weight off the nose. But otherwise, it's not hurting performance at all.

The EGR, same deal: the factory calibrations are set with EGR function in mind, and I doubt it's actually functioning at wide open throttle anyway (the engine management goes into "closed loop" function at that point). So it isn't hurting anything. If you put in a more performance-oriented cam that had more overlap than stock, you could get rid of it. Believe it or not, the LT4 cars didn't have EGR from the factory for this very reason.

If you get rid of either of these systems, you can easily enough stop the OBD2 from testing them. That will prevent any CELs or problems with an emissions test that scans the PCM for trouble codes. Of course, if your state has a visual inspection for emissions equipment, you won't pass that with the AIR system not in the car. Finally, if you want to sell your car someday and that equipment has been removed, people in states with visual inspections won't be able to buy it.

Vernamul

Thanks @MatthewMiller, yes my car is all stock at the moment however I am going to upgrade and update a few things on the car. I have a shop looking over right now for inspection to see what the car needs to make it run and drive nicely. From what I hear is if the a.i.r and the egr arnt hurting anything don't f#ck with it. the car has roughly 110,000 miles on it but is still in decent condition.

Joe C

. I might add that even though owners are not subject to STATE inspections, (i'm thinking) it is still in violation of FEDERAL law to remove emission equipment as originally installed by the manufacturer, no matter how old the car. does anyone enforce it - most likely not, but who really knows? resale, and future owners - that could open up a real can of worms. unless there's some absolute reason, I cant see any benefit to removing it. not sure why folks are opposed emission equipment anyway - it really doesn't affect performance all that much today. if it does, probably nothing you can feel by the seat of your pants dyno. just my 2-cents

dizwiz24

No cons/downsides, just pros/upsides