[mhampson]

Hi!

Has anyone here rebuilt or otherwise disassembled their air pump? I have removed the back and am unsure what to do next. I think the front hub including the plastic fan comes off with a puller, but I am afraid to use a puller without knowing for sure, otherwise I might damage something. This air pump is remarkably similar to the one on my '68 Corvette, though. I wonder...

I'm hoping to completely disassemble it, replace the bearings (or just grease them), bead blast everything to clean it up, paint the bits that are supposed to be painted, reassemble, and then put it back on the car, but without the belt. Right now the internals are completely rusted together and the outside looks terrible.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Pete04222]

Question - Why are you completely rebuilding a smog pump with no intention of putting the belt on it? If you aren't ever going to hook up the belt then you don't need to replace the bearings. If you don't want to use the smog pump then I would just leave it out and remove all the brackets for it. That would clean up the engine bay a bit.

You are right about the pump being similar to the one on your Corvette. The pump on your Ferrari is a stock GM unit. Ferrari doesn't make smog pumps, they had to buy them from GM in order to have their cars pass California emissions. Go down to the local discount auto parts place and tell them you have a '79 Chevy. They will hand you a remanufactured smog pump for $50. I think the A1 Cardone part number is either 32-220 or 32-212. Bring in your old one to match it up.

 

[mhampson]

Well, uh, I don't know.

I guess I just wanted a "working" unit, even if it wasn't in service. Future resale value or something... :nuts: OK, I just like taking things apart!

I figured it was a US unit. Good news!

Incidentally, FYI everyone, I did fabricate a puller to attach to the three bolt holes that secure the pulley, and the hub and fan popped right off of the shaft. That permitted the "cylinder" inside to be pressed out of the housing, and the front bearing to be pressed out of the housing too (haven't done the last item yet). The problem now is how the vanes remove from inside the cylinder. Looks like the cylinder was assembled (pressed together anyway) with the vanes inside already, and I don't see a way to separate the cylinder halves non destructively. Oh, well.

Thanks for the tip!

Michael

 

[Stradale]

What is an air pump. That terminology is very foreign to me.

 

[mhampson]

An air pump is...

a belt driven "accessory" about the size and shape of an alternator, that injects clean air into the exhaust manifold(s), just where the hot exhaust gasses leave the head. The oxygen in the air reacts with the unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust stream and thus improves emissions. It is also known as a "smog pump". I don't know about foreign cars, but on American cars, this practice started in the late sixties.

Michael

 

[Stradale]

We only have Catalytic Converter and that's it.

 

[mhampson]

Smog Pumps

In the US, I think they stopped using smog pumps in the early 80's (82 maybe), as other methods for providing cleaner exhaust emissions were improved.

Michael