Another "what's this?" question...

[MaineShark]

Below the master cylinder, almost at the bottom of the car, is a vertical cylinder with a bunch of vacuum lines attached. What's it do?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[wwilkins]

It's a fuel vapor cannister and it keeps the emissions people happy. There is charcoal in it and a small filter usually on the bottom. And yes it's also a PITA to remove.

Bill

 

[Tom73]

Joe,
As Bill stated, that is the vapor canister. It absorbs the gas fumes from the tank and carb then feeds them back to the carb when the engine is running. If it is not working you will get a strong gas smell in the garage It is also one of the few emission items that does not cost any power. Is all good, no bad

tom...

 

[MaineShark]

Really? I thought the charcoal cannister was a separate line, for some reason. It seems that half of the vacuum lines in the car attach to this thing...

Joe

 

[mapman]

Really? I thought the charcoal cannister was a separate line, for some reason. It seems that half of the vacuum lines in the car attach to this thing...

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True! Many are vacuum control lines hooked to thermal vacuum switches that control when the canister fumes are allowed to flow back into the engine. This is for driveability with cold engines, etc. A wonder it works at all.

Seems like Bubba, or his cousin Rub Goldberg was working at GM for a while.

 

[MaineShark]

I wonder how hard it is to re-locate this thing? I want that space for something else, possibly...

Joe

 

[TomOB]

I can imagine it would be extremely hard to relocate in stock form. You said yourself half the vaccuum lines go there and wwilkins said its a PITA to remove. Maybe you can look up more modern canisters that rely more on electronics like a thermocouple or something and doesnt require all those hoses. Maybe thyve shrunk in the years too.

 

[mapman]

Not much room to relocate things under the hood unless you want to do away with the heater, AC, radiator tank overflow, windshield washer tank, or cruise control.

You can free up some space if you go to fixed lights or popups driven by electric motors. This space is far to the front, and would require extending the gas tank fume line (driver's side) and the carb to canister lines. May be less expensive to purchase a C5! LOL.

 

[MaineShark]

Actually, I was just looking at it, and I could move it vertically and a little bit aft (behind the alarm key switch) with simple adjustments to the hose lengths by a few inches.

That would clear the side vent, which is what I was interested in.

Joe