Question on the effects of removing the vaccum lines

[iron]

I've been reading this site for the past week or so, and I've noticed the
overwhelming recommendation to pull the vacuum lines and do away with the emissions gear. Now I do live in an state that doesn't test for emissions so I could get away with it, and more hp is always good but I do have a couple questions about it.

1) What effect does this modification have on the gas mileage? If I remember correctly from working on my 78 mercury, the emissions gear on the 400 cid made it run leaner w/less hp and made it slightly more fuel efficient (as if that phrase can be really used in conjunction w/a 400 cid engine-12 mpg in town)

2) Again from working on the same car, ford retarded the timing from uh I think it was 8 btdc to 13 btdc. So if you pulled the emissions gear you had to change where you timed the engine or it ran like sh*t. I haven't seen any mention of changing the timing on the honda engine, just retuning the carb. Is it that simple or is it handled by the ecu or something? I don't have alot of experience with vehicles that have brain boxes.

I appologize if I've missed the answer in an earlier post, I did search for the info but I have by no means read everything here.

[SteveDX89]

1) You will notice a slight increase in gas mileage. I don't want to overestimate so I'll say 1 or 2 mpg. Your results might vary.

2) No adjustment to the timing is needed. Just adjustment of the carb.

[accordlxi2.0]

welcome aboard, i say once you pull the A,B,C, port off and cover those line's.
you'll notice a difference.
if you advance the timing and use premium fuel, you'll notice a lil' difference.
what i did was 1/2 of vac. removal, and a few other things . . . . . .

[pixiesfan78]

i think overall it is worth it the only complaint i have is with a lag on the take off but im not sure what causes this so its probably not the vac line removal so much as a carb or exaust problem with me i hope. it deffinittley gave a great improvement on hoarsepower and as far as lost gas milage it was not enough for me to even notice hell it may even be better.

[A20A1]

There is no real brain box
With Air jet contorller (ABC) you'll have a leaner mixture...

--- --- --- --- --- ---

not really exhaust... weak stock fuel pump

[A20A1]

Timing is the same because it uses direct manifold vacuum stock, it does not rely on other piggy back electrical or mechanical means of advance.

you may gain some ignition advance since you are elliminating some of the potential vacuum leaks and you get a stronger vacuum signal, but thats about it.

[DeathRat]

Not to hi-jack this thread.....But what about "Cold Starts" in the winter? Up here it snows & gets to -40 quite often. Anyone tried this & still tried driving the car through the winter months?

[pixiesfan78]

its all good as long as you keep the thermal manifold heater and coolant line to the manifold.

[pixiesfan78]

also to gain some advance get a lude dizzy.this helped my car run smoother and pull a little better on the highend. a20a1 i do intend to get a better fuel pump and fuel pressure reg. but i some how dont think this is causing the lag someone else sugested that my timing may be retarded. or the valves may need to be adjusted.but i really think the problem lies in the carb.any ideas of what passages may be blocked in the carb to cause a hesitation?

[A20A1]

You can also keep the choke fully functional and still remove the rest of the vacuum lines.

[SteveDX89]

Not to hi-jack this thread.....But what about "Cold Starts" in the winter? Up here it snows & gets to -40 quite often. Anyone tried this & still tried driving the car through the winter months?

As A20A1 said, you can keep the choke. Don't remove it at those temps. I removed it and it only got down into the 30's here and it was a bit of a bear to start.