I am the 3rd owner of a genuine '68 RS/SS 350 matching numbers car and I have the original sales invoice from a Chevy Dealer in Maine. The problem is, the final assembly plant was Ohio and this vehicle has an A.I.R. pump installed. I have been under the impression that the A.I.R. pump was installed only for California.

Is it possible that the A.I.R. was original out of Ohio or was this an phoney "add-on" ? The sales invoice does not list the A.I.R. as an option.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

I don't know about the Camaro, but in 68 I purchased a new 327 Corvette and it came with the A.I.R. pump. This was in NY state.

 

Im not sure if this is 100% true, but back in the 80's when they started to do smog checks here in Ca. I was told by the BAR that if it had an open element air cleaner it needed the AIR but if it had the enclosed air cleaner with the hot air pipe from the EX manifold it didnt need the AIR. My 69 Firebird has a SBC in it and all I did to smog it was to install the enclosed air filter and it passed every time with out the AIR system

 

I have been trying to figure out if this A.I.R. pump came only on LOS Camaros or not. After 25 years in storage in Arizona, I am rebuilding my 68' SS350, but I removed the smog pump eons ago. Now I need to get it registered in TX soon and according to the TX DOT site, the original a.i.r. pump must be in place "if so originally equiped".

I can't believe every 68' Camaro registered in a pollution checking state still has this pump in place - and I am surprised to hear that the NOR (Ohio) cars also have these.

So I am wondering how folks are getting around this - or maybe it isn't checked? Or maybe there's an alternative that's acceptable.

Maybe some TX folks can tell me how closely they check for this stuff - especially on slightly modified cars (mostly original but with headers, elec. ignition, ...)

 

If my memory serves me right, the AIR pump first came out in 68 models, and was quite a bit different from what is used now. The cars had no cats and the extra air was pumped in the exhaust to dilute the fumes, which made them pass the EPA test but spewed out the same amount of pollutants. Most people took the belt off as these pumps wasted power and were prone to breaking down and making farthing sounds. If you still have the stock exhaust manifolds you may want to look where the AIR plumbing was attached, if there are no plugs, it probably had no pump.

 

A complete explanation of emissions control system and its applications can be found @ www.camaros.org the Camaro Research Group website. Click on CRG Reports and then Emissions Equipment.

 

We're in the process of restoring a 67 RS cnvrt, and the block states that the engine had A.I.R. on it. I figured that meant it was a CA car. Interesting to learn other states were putting it on as well. The engine was built in Sept of '66.