Yes, to nitpick- - - - -you'll fit in well with the other guys here who do that, but be advised, some of them have years of experience at it. You'll have to do a lot of catching up!
About the only time vapors get vented to the outside is when the engine is so worn out that the PCV system can't handle the volume of the blowby and the air cleaner or wherever the fresh air is introduced into the system gets flooded with oil. The most common fresh air inlet during the 70's and later was a port in the side of the air cleaner housing with a small auxiliary filter installed, rather than going to the clean side of the main air filter. I've seen filter housings with 1/4 inch or more of liquid oil standing in the bottom.
The roadside smog checks were pretty comprehensive- - - -a visual check for the equipment installation, and an exhaust probe to monitor for excessive emissions at engine idle. Drivers of vehicles that didn't pass got a "fix it" ticket and the vehicle couldn't be re-licensed until compliance was proved and a followup inspection was passed. The whole idea was aimed at getting older vehicles off the road. That program didn't last long- - - - -it was just too expensive to operate hundreds of mobile test stations. The program eventually morphed into an annual inspection that was required before the license plates could be renewed. Selected shops were certified by the state as "official inspection stations". If I go into much detail about how a shop got qualified for that program, the PC Patrol will promptly rap my knuckles for getting into political commentary. Let's just say that my low budget shop couldn't afford to participate, and that had nothing to do with buying equipment!
Fun and games! Installing those kits was not very profitable, as the state put a cap on how much labor time we could charge for, but it did make for a lot of busy work, and it generated a few major repair jobs from people who had real emission problems that needed repair.
Jerry
