I posted a little while back about my air pump on my 86 coupe. the sound from it doesn't seem to be getting any better so i have decided to go with an air pump eliminator kit since i don't have to worry about emissions tests here. the one question i have is what to do with the rubber hose that clamps to the air pump and is there anything else i should disconnect with it. also should i disconnect the tube going to the converter? Any input would be appreciated thanks.

 

On my 88 I removed all the pieces that are involved with the air pump system by an air pump eliminator bracket . There is a metal pipe from the air pump going to the diverter valve box that is located near the A/C compersor , remove it by undo a bolt that is holding it to the water pump if I remember corectly ! after this remove the diverter valve box by first take the cover by pulling it off then there are 2 plugs with wires just take them off and and remove all the pipes that are attached to the valves , there are 3 pipes one going to the catalic convertor , one to the left exhaust manifold and the other to the right exhaust manifold ! undo the clips and take them off , don`t worry the exhaust woun`t come out because there are one way valves fited with the manifolds ! the metal tube going to the cat convertor you can remove it aswell ! don`t forget to wrap the electrical conectors that was connected to the valves , just to keep them clean and corrotion don`t bulid up !

Good luck .

 

If you can justify the cost of an Eliminator pulley, that would be the way to go. You can also remove the AIR Pump and remove the 4 backplate bolts. Remove the back plate and locate those two carbon fiber fins inside. Those are what cause most of the noise. You can break them into peices with a large screwdriver and a hammer. Then shake them out of the pump. They will not fit through the rear opening if they are in one piece without having to press/pull the bearing ring out. While you have it apart, grease the exposed bearings and shoot some penetrating lubricant to the front bearings, behind the pulley. This will silence your pump and will not degrade or weaken it's structural integrity in any way. You will render it useless, but since you have not emissions to deal with, you will be fine. Bolt the back plate back on and spin it by hand. It should be pretty quite. You can even remove all the rest of the plumbing related to the AIR Pump and disconnect the 2 diverter valve connectors, leaving them aside, without causing any driveablity problems or throwing any trouble codes, weather you gut your stock pump or install an Eliminator pulley. This cleas up the engine bay more than it gives performance gains.
Also, removing the AIR line to the catalytic converter will free up some nice spark plug acess space on the passanger's side and make it a heck of a lot easier to get at the #2 and #4 spark plugs. You will need to plug the cat opening however with a metal plug.

 

thanks for the information. I will be starting as soon as the kit comes.

 

If you are good with a hacksaw and a tape measure you could build your own. Take a good long look at the one in the Ecklers or MAD catalog and you can see that it is a pretty simple piece.

My dad and I built 2 for $60-$70 each. I have put about 7K miles on mine and it works fine. Bought the aluminum bar stock, pulleys and bolts from McMaster-Carr and used 1/2" drive sockets for spacers (chrome=pretty ). If you have a decent metal shop near by this project could be easier.

Food for thought...

Dale

 

I just removed my smog pump and all associated hardware and made my own pulley system also. It cost about 35 dollars for everything. Wish I could post pictures. Good luck.

 

I gutted mine and replaced the front bearing. I ordered it from AC direct for $10 but it looked identical to the front alt bearing I paid $4 for.