If I knew what it was called (officially) I could search for it. There is a hose that exits from the middle side of the exhaust manifold. It runs across the front of the engine and connects to the air intake pipe. What is it for? What would happen if I removed it?

I ask because it is just about to rust thru and fall off the manifold.

It provides "warmed" air for the intake during cold starts. If you don't have mandatory smog or toher vehicle inspections in your neck of the woods you can just remove it. I never noticed any difference. In fact, I have found that on a lot of the rigs I have messed with, the vaccum control system is disfunctional and keeps the intake gate from the exhaust manifold open ALL the time providing heated intake air to a heated engine.

Got it. Makes sense now. Thanks!

I removed mine and have a K&N cone mounted to the factory intake boot of the carb via a PVC t-fitting to hook up the valve cover breather. If you drive in cold weather(not really cold here) I could see the need for it, but I don't have any problems without it. I do need to replace it for smog checks every two years along with the factory air box.