I am currently in the process of throwing on a new intake manifold and carburetor on my 1983 Camaro Z28 and i know i need to replace alot of my vacuum lines and EGR valves but i know you can remove them for a slight power upgrade i was wondering which ones i can remove and which i can remove and which i have to leave for the car to run

 

Removing vacuum lines or the EGR won't give you any power upgrade. It may clean up the engine for appearances, but that's it. And if you remove some of the wrong things, you could hurt engine performance. Some of that stuff is related to your emissions, so watch what you do if your car still gets tested.

 

moved your post to the 3rd gen section. guys here should be able to help. welcome to the forum corbin, enjoy.

 

Exhaust gas recirculation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
really because this wikipedia page and most muscle car enthusiasts ive talked to say it does because your not recycling engine exhaust back into your engine.

 

The egr helps to atomize the fuel better at high rpm keeping the emissions down. It doesn't really do anything until your up around 4000-4500 rpm. Cam69 and craby are 2 of the smartest guys I know, I wouldn't second guess anything they say.

Also if you live where there's emissions testing your car will never pass without it. Meaning no egr no licence plate .

 

I'm running my1986 iroc 305ci with a q-jet with stock exhaust manifolds and a Holley contender intake and 1inch spacer and I'm pretty happy with the looks but all my vaccum lines look disgusting and look crowded but I just leave them on to pass smog and because I'm afraid if I start taking stuff off I'll just regret it haha.

 

you can always do a "wire tuck" on the vac lines. just extend them so you can hide them behind things. probably wouldnt be a bad idea since there probably 27 years old.

 

This is the mental trap that many seem to fall into: EGR = emissions = Bad!
If that's what you're coming away with, then go back and read that article again. Read the "EGR in spark-ignited engines" portion twice if you have to, and pay close attention to the bullet points. And if you want, do more online searches about the function of the EGR. Yes, as strange as it may sound, keeping the EGR in place will give your engine lower combustion chamber temperatures. Heat is your engine's enemy, but not the heat from the EGR.