Triumph Repair: 1980 Spit Air pump, system hoses, haynes manual

Question
Jim, Bought this car recently and by all looks is stock except the air pump was disconnected and the evap system hoses were haywire. The car came home running like crap.  I reinstalled all the evap hoses as I changed the fluids, plugs, etc. and hooked the air pump back up as per Haynes manual.  The pump sounds really horrible (which I think is why he unhooked it).  But, with the air pump working, and the carb float chamber pipe UNHOOKED, the car runs great. I know I need the carb and ignition tuned, but can I do this without the air pump?  If I discard the air pump do I also discard the EVAP system as well?
Thanks,
Paul  

Answer
Paul,

First off, check with your local authorities to make sure that you don't need to keep ALL the emissions pieces in order to pass inspection.  Some states are exempting older cars, some states are as tough if not tougher than when the cars were new.

If you are allowed to modify your system, you might consider "retrofitting" the evaporative system to early '70s specs.  As the gas tank is sealed you do need some way to let vapors out safely, so there's reason to keep the carbon canister up front.  The early cars were much simpler, and properly tuned they did run ok in high compression (9:1) form.


Cheers,

Jim