Been looking for an article I saw on how to disable/remove the basket of snakes that M/B put on the valve cover of my 83 300D I'm referring to the white vacuum switches and the small vacuum hoses under the black box on the valve cover. How can I completely disable this and what will be the effect?

I'm trouble shooting a hard downshift issue on my 300D and it is pointing to that area. The door locks, shut off switch, climate control, vacuum reservoir system all hold vacuum fine, and I'm getting a steady 21-23" of vacuum at the main vacuum line, so.......

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 102K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 238K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 211K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 246K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 384K (diesel commuter)