Netters,
Having worked on them for over a decade I feel this is one of the small things
I can competently comment on! HaHa!
Auto air pumps, or smog pumps as they are commonly called originated as a
temporary fix by the auto manufacturers to meet increasing demands from the EPA
to lower the percentage of exhaust emissions exiting from the exhaust pipes of
automobiles and light trucks. The EPA quickly caught on to this trick of
increasing the O2 content of the exhaust to fool the emissions machines, so
then since they already had the pumps on the cars at the assembly line, they
used them to increase catalytic convertor efficiency by providing more air to
the cat making it get hotter, hence work better. Later cats did not need such
assistance, so to save weight (sound familiar) and reduce the complexity of the
belt drives they were dropped. The early pumps (late 70s) would emit quite a
good flow, and should be appropriate for the average homebuilt vacuum system,
depending on the length of the lines. Most have a port that bolts to one side
of the pump which is the discharge port where air is pumped out. Neck this down
alittle and it should be sufficient to provide more than enough pressure if you
are going to blow through. You might even have to regulate it. By tapping the
intake port and adding a filter before the instruments on the other end, it
should be able to be adapted to providing vacuum, leaving the other end to just
discharge into the engine area.
Colin Rainey KR2(td)
[email protected]
Sanford, Florida
FLY SAFE!!!!
