Was the A.I.R. system deleted for Canada?

[Greg L.]

I was wondering if Canadian cars did or did not have this emission system. The car in question is my 69 L36,auto. I assume it was originaly sold in Canada because whats left of the tank sticker makes reference to a "Canadian Warranty Bklt". Thanks.

[Michael W.]

No.

Canadian specs are no different than US.

[Joe L.]

Re: No.

Mike and Greg------

I agree. ALL 1968-69 Corvettes were originally equipped with AIR regardless of where originally delivered.

[Dick W.]

Re: No.

After much research into the subject while revising the TIM & JG it was determined that, as Joe says, the same standards applied to Canadian export cars as to US cars

[Joe L.]

Re: No.

Dick, et al------

Also, there are several things that need to be considered if one believes that there were any 68-69 Corvettes originally built without AIR:

1) for 300 hp, L-46, and L-36, there would have to have been a different fuel line assembly from the pump to the carb for cars manufactured without AIR. The configuration of the fuel line used was designed to conform to the AIR pump and bracket installation. Absent the pump and bracket, the fuel line and GF-432 filter would be just "hanging out there". There's NO WAY the factory would have done something like this. So, either there were other pre-fabricated line assemblies for engines without AIR (and 2 different ones would have been necessary; one for cars with small blocks and one for cars with L-36). I've never seen such a fuel line, I can find no record that any such fuel line was ever produced and I seriously doubt that GM would have had their fuel line vendor produce lines for the small number of "export" cars which might, THEORETICALLY, have been built without AIR. Otherwise, there would have to have been a custom-fabricated fuel line assembly produced at St. Louis. This is possible, but highly doubtful;

2) All of the engine codes that we know about would have been delivered from Flint or Tonawanda with the AIR pump bracket installed and with exhaust manifolds with AIR fittings. If there had been engines without brackets and with non-AIR fitting manifolds delivered from the engine plants they would have to have had different suffix codes. There's no record of any other suffix codes. Otherwise, the brackets would have to have been removed from the engines at St. Louis and the manifold fittings plugged (VERY non-PRODUCTION-like) or replaced with non-AIR fitting manifolds at St. Louis (very unlikley, in my opinion);

3) The carburetors used for 1968-69 were all designed for use with and calibrated for AIR. It's hard for me to believe that Chevrolet Engineering would have approved the use of an AIR-calibrated carburetor for a non-AIR installation. So, there would have to have been non-AIR carburetors (presumably, with different part numbers and different suffix codes) for these non-AIR cars. The only such carburetors that existed were carburetors for 1968 and 1969 passenger cars with automatic transmissions. I think that the chances that such a carburetor would have been approved for use on a Corvette, especially one with a manual transmission, is "zilch";

4) The distributors used for 1968-69 were designed for use with AIR systems and had their vacuum and centrifugal advance characteristics designed for that usage. Also, they were installed on the engine at the engine plants. So, once again, there would have to have been different engine suffix codes for engines with these non-AIR distributors. Or, the distributors would have to have been replaced at St. Louis (as was done for TI distributors for some model years). We know what the part numbers were for the TI distributors installed at St. Louis, but I know of no part number for non-AIR distributors installed at St. Louis. I can find no record of any such distributors, and I strongly doubt that any such distributors were ever made. A THEORETICALLY otherwise suitable passenger car distributor could not have been used since Corvette distributors were the only generally available ones with tach drive;

Certainly, AIR-delete was not part of any "export" standard build or there would be some record of it. While it is theoretically possible that a non-AIR 68-69 could have been produced through some sort of "special order" or "COPO" process for EXPORT cars (to Canada or wherever else), personally, I strongly doubt that such an installation would ever have been approved by Chevrolet Engineering. They just didn't have the components available to do it in a manner consistent with PRODUCTION standards, and I seriously doubt that they would have approved it to be done in some "hashed up sort of installation" akin to what "bubbas" might do after taking delivery of a car to "get rid of that dang smog pump". EVERY SINGLE ONE of the cars that I have examined which were represented as "original 1968-69 AIR-delete" cars had configurations completely inconsistent with PRODUCTION build standards and, in my opinion, had obviously been modified after they left St. Louis.

[Dick W.]

Re: No.

Joe, while we did not go into the detail that you have quoted, we used a lot of the same data to come up with our conclusion. Your depth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me. I have collected reference material for 35-40 years, I guess due to my prior dealership parts counter experience, but have never been able to find all the detailed data that you have.

A great big THANKS for the effort that you expend to help your fellow enthusiasts.

[Richard L.]

Definitely Agree...

I don't know where this hobby, or certainly where this board would be, without Joe Lucia...

Appreciate all the Help You Give, Joe...

Rick

[Greg L.]

Re: No.

Thanks guys. I suspected that it had A.I.R. at one time but now I know...I guess Bubba struck again. Thanks for your info Joe and for once again going the extra mile to explain how it was. I really appreciate it.

[John H.]

Re: No.

There was an RPO KD1 "Less Air Injection" option (distributor replacement, plugs for the exhaust manifolds, caps for vacuum signal ports, etc.) for first-generation Camaros destined for overseas markets (not Canada), but that option was never released for any Corvettes.