Date:         Fri, 03 Nov 1995 13:00:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@PO2.GI.COM>
Subject:      RE: unknown engine thingie


>> Found one of these on a '74 bug engine in COlorado. It's a connection
>> for an EGR valve.
      <snip>
>> To my (limited) knowledge, '74 bug engines were the only year to have 
this.
>
> I used to work on a friend's '73 type 181 <"Thing"> It had EGR, but was
> also a CA car.


Hmmmm.... back in Colorado, I saw several '73 bugs (and one Thing) that
didn't have this. Only the '74 did...

BTW, upon arriving in CA, I was astonished to find a '70 and '71 bus that
had been RETROFITTED with a plate with hose connection under the carb,
and an aftermarket EGR valve that mounted on a long tube that went to
a hole drilled in a heat riser tube!!

Evidently some years ago, the CA Minions of Gummint in their wisdom,
passed a law requiring these gadgets. After allowing the buses in and
certifying that their emissions were OK when new, they changed the
rules later in the game (in the late '80s I believe). Any Californicators
out there know if Bugs required this too?

Oddest thing is, a few years after doing so, the law was evidently
repealed, or expired or whatever. Now it's legal to take the damned
thing off, remove the carb plate, and patch the hole in the heat riser.

I'm so grateful to the Minions of Gummint here, for forcing me to buy
that stuff and stick it on, only to say "Oh... never mind" later. Just
think of the horrors they saved all of us from for those several years.
(Think REALLY hard).

Back on subject-- Those '74 bugs (And, I guess, '73 CA bugs?) required
a special muffler, too, that had the EGR valve connection. At least mine
did, before I yanked the silly thing off.

 -Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com   '71 VW Transporter w/no more retrofit
                               '80 VW V6anagon, probably a CA felony