EL CAMINO

Yeppers.


Since this is not technically in conflict - here's a link.
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/late-shifting-th350-69937.html

P.S. listen to your pop. He appears to know his schnizzle. hahahhahaha

The ECM in the older carb'ed GM cars didn't do a whole lot - in fact, it caused me more headaches than it probably helped prevent in the '87 Formula I had - but getting rid of it is more of a PITA than it's worth. It does take measurements from things such as the O2 sensor and engine coolant temp sensor, and thus it will tweak the fuel mixture when it senses it's in closed-loop mode and if it's running too rich or lean, so it will help things out as far as your fuel economy and your drivability is concerned. However, it's a terribly crude computer setup, really, and unless you've got smog inspections (I'm assuming not, if you're getting rid of the other smog bits), then you could probably just unhook the majority of its components, rig things up for manual control, and probably get by just fine.

The thing is ... WHY? No real gain to be had from doing so, in and of itself, unless you're just clearing things out (visually and physically), and simplifying it all to make room for a lot of mods like better heads/cam/intake/carb/exhaust/etc.

Personally, unless you've got some hardcore building in mind, I'd just leave most of the smog stuff on there and work around it.