Q-how do you take an OBD1 vehicle and make it pre-OBD?

[Joshooha]

I picked up a ramcharger last week. It has a 360 with a 4 barrel. The guy before me had decided it would be neat to just start unplugging vacuum Lines and removing emissions equipment. Now I understand that it won't pass inspection. But what exactly do I need to do to say "screw it" and make it run correctly without EGR, evap, and thermostatic air control? I know I need PCV, a vacuum advance for the distributor and a vac line for the brake booster. You think I would be better off just Getting an aftermarket intake and carb? What steps would you take to convert it over to in my words "old school"?

 

[kastein]

If it had a carb in the first place it certainly wasn't OBD1. Eliminate all the crap that he screwed up, make your setup run right, call it a day. The stuff you listed is about all you truly need, block the rest of the vacuum ports off with proper vacuum caps and you're set.

e: unless it is an E-carb, then rip that crap off and put a real carb or a TBI swap on it. E-carb is the devil, I hate carbs and I'll still take a carb over it.

If you go TBI swap, you need the parts off a TBI GM 350 or whatever, just search "amc 360 tbi swap" on google and some articles will come up. Pile of junkyard parts is about all it takes. I don't think the TBI computer will care if it's running a Mopar 360 instead of an AMC 360 instead of a GM 350, they are really dumb and I don't think they even have a crank position sensor to worry about. As far as TBI is concerned, a mid 300 cubes 90 degree V8 is a mid 300 cubes 90 degree V8.

 

[Joshooha]

He had bolted on a shitty holly. But I successfully managed to set it on fire. So it's toast. I'll get a new carb and get rid of that ratty ass intake. I have the heads off it now anyway (sent them to the machine shop). Thanks for the quick reply! I was at least headed the right direction.

 

[kastein]

If you live in a smog state they are going to be nazis about the hoses, but otherwise as long as you pass a sniffer test you are almost certainly good to go. That shouldn't be difficult with a vehicle that originally came with a carb or e-carb.

 

[bjoehandley]

I think Chrysler had a a TBI set up on their V-8's for a while too, should be late 80's-early 90's IIRC and was available on at least the 318 if not the 360 as well.

 

[Talyn]

Is this a Magnum 360 or a LA 360?

 

[bjoehandley]

The Magnum is a multipoint EFI system........makes for a nice swap though.

 

[Joshooha]

I did some vin decoding and it turns out the guy didn't lie at least. It was in fact a 360 with a 4 barrel from factory. I did get an entire under hood wiring harness from a tbi truck, just to have some spare pieces. I'm gonna stick with carburation to keep it simple. I did pick up a new intake for it. No EGR and all that bull crap. Once I get it back together I'll see what I got.

 

[5-90]

I picked up a ramcharger last week. It has a 360 with a 4 barrel. The guy before me had decided it would be neat to just start unplugging vacuum Lines and removing emissions equipment. Now I understand that it won't pass inspection. But what exactly do I need to do to say "screw it" and make it run correctly without EGR, evap, and thermostatic air control? I know I need PCV, a vacuum advance for the distributor and a vac line for the brake booster. You think I would be better off just Getting an aftermarket intake and carb? What steps would you take to convert it over to in my words "old school"?

What year is it? And, if you're subject to regular emissions inspections, the short answer is "You can't." You can move to a later control system under smog regs, but not an earlier one (ditto engine swaps, most times. It has to have been an option for that vehicle, and you can go with that year or later, but you can't go earlier on the controls.)

Also, know that EGR, EVAP, TAC, and that sort of thing weren't just OBD - many pre-OBD vehicles still had them (RENIX had EGR, EVAP, and TAC. And MPFI...)

Your best solution is to just pull everything and reconstruct, using the OEM vacuum diagram on the VECI label underhood.

 

[Joshooha]

It's an '88. I live in NC, but when you inspect it yourself it really doesn't matter if it "doesn't" pass. Right now I'm waiting on getting the cylinder heads back from the shop. I'll be reassembling next week.

 

[5-90]

An 88XJ is "pre-OBD" - it's RENIX.

 

[kastein]

How did you read enough of the thread to determine it was an 88 without realizing it's a Ramcharger?

 

[5-90]

Then I missed a clue - since it wasn't in "Other Tech" where it would belong (if it's a Ramcharger.)