waynekarnes

Pete, thanks for the vote of confidence ... sometimes i think i'm just tired and rambling on with my opinion ... end up deleting and not posting ... after re-reading the original post ... i think his dream z is already sold ... perhaps i'm a day late and a dollar short ??? personal note ... currently simmering ... the vette, the dune buggy, 72 baja bug, 88 fiero Gt ( pretty looking, well handling car. needs rear wheel bearing or cv joint... plans for it to be my son's car next feburary, when he's 17. keeps me from racking up the miles on it ). every spare nickel i get goes into the z car ... would have been bunches cheaper to have bought a finished product ... but i enjoy the elation and i guess the depression ( because it feels so good when i stop !!! ) as well, all that goes along with recreating art. sure gives me another reason to cuss out loud though with the avg price of med grade gasoline, in the santa clara ca. valley at $2.40/gal ... i'm thinking ... i oughta get the meyers manx on the road again ... 26 to 28 mpg around town is sounding pretty good ... who needs a heater, radio, a roof or wipers that work LOL ...

i did a search didn't find anything ... saw an earlier post ... prompted me to ask this ... i'm still screwing with upgrading to the jtr radiator, high flow alum pump, taurus fan, high flow theromostat and keeping the alt on the passenger side ( neighbor is retired machinist, finally broke down and enlisted his help ). the thermostat is a high flow 160 degree thermostat. i have an adjustable thermostat to turn the fan on ... so ... the question is ... what at what temp ( i can't spell temperature, hmmmm, that does look right though, don't it ??? ) should i set the the thermostat to turn the fan on ????

well, you could be like me ... find a place to park it and deal with it when life lets you get to it ... my 58 vette has been waiting since i bought it back in 1974 ... life ran over me like an out of control bull dozer and then backed up over me, when i asked, what the f was that. through it all, i've held on to the vette ... other 4/5 finished products have come and gone. rough guess, around 20 worth mentioning ( cars, not transportation ... transportation doesn't count as a car ... a car is art, transportation is a utility ). if you really are attached to the z, find a place to keep it ... drive it once a month, or just wash and wax it ... let it sit, back away from it ... give it 6 months, then see if you still want to sell it. i've been in some tight money situations ... 18 years ago, turned down 14,000 cash for the vette ( it's gutted and stripped to bare glass - parts are tagged and boxed ), it was never about money or look at me, it was always the car, the vette. a 58 vette. so, i have never been tempted to sell it. anyway ... i'm starting to ramble ... my opinion and advise ... let it simmer ... give it 6 months ... see what you think then. selling it ... will 3 grand make all that much difference ?? if you believe 3 grand will change your life ... then you best sell it ... if 3 grand isn't going to change your life right now ... wait the 6 months ... see how you're doing ... summers a better time to sell anyway ... does any of what i said make any sense at all ???

in the news ... Mustang Ranch owner charged with improper handling of asbestos

bastaad525 and all, everyone should visit the sema web site ... they have a section or link, that shows the various new laws and regulations from state to state, plus any pending legislation on the books. yes, you are correct, though the woman, liberman or whatever her name is, says that all pre 1975 vehicles are permanently smog exempt ... if you read it ... yes, they are permanently exempt from smog inspection at time of registration, or change of ownership. however, unless the parts are no longer available, all the smog equipment required for the year of the particular vehicle, must be in place and functional. from my dealings with the referee with my dune buggy, you may get a waiver ... in my efforts to add the short water pump, taurus fan, ect and keep the alt on the pass side, i've ended up removing the smog ( air injection pump ) and related hose, as they are in the way. my friend had advised me that if i remove anything ... don't toss it ... if the chp or local mounties, decide to run an under hood inspection, i may end up having to put all that stuff back on. again, check the sema web site ...

about a year ago, i was talking with my friend from the california bureua of automotive repair ( CBAR ) ... he was telling me that the guys over at california air resources bureua (CARB ) were all bent out of shape about exempting the older cars from smog test at time of registration renewal ... please note, 99% of the guys at CBAR are car guys, most own some sort of a hot rod ... my friend owns a restored 64 mustang, a hot rod 64 vette coupe, and a 30 ford hot rod. the cbar guys are not real fond of the carb guys. carb people were the main push behind eliminating the rolling exemption ( used to be, car 25 yrs old ... exempt from smog inspection ). now is a law, 1974 and older exempt from inspection at time of tag renewal. he was telling me, how they want to set up inspection stations, and portable sniffers ... show that they are right, the old cars are gross polluters, get em off the road. now, the inspections stations are to verify the amount of smog produced by the older cars. PLUS ... it gives em a chance to see how many of the older cars have had their smog equipment TAMPERED with ... remember, in california .. these cars are not exempt from being required to have smog equipment, just not required to be tested at time of registration. he suggested to me, that CARB wants the chp to ticket owners for tampering. if enough tickets are written, they can show that the owners of the older cars are not to be trusted, that they are tampering and are actually producing more smog than 1st thought. this way, they may tilt the scales to get the exemption removed. they are pushing for rules that all cars in california produced after 1954 be inspected and then tested on a dyno. i don't think that the dyno thing will happen, but they are pushing hard to have fix it tickets issued for the removal of smog equipment ... if they can get the vehicle listed as a gross polluter, plus nail you for tampering, there is no cost limit as to repairs and you must take your vehicle to a special smog test center once a year to verify that it passes. my friend was telling me, initially the chp balked at the whole thing ... but the feds have put up money for drunk driver roadside inspections, there is supposedly fed money tied into the clean air act as well ... so ... it's a source of revenue for these cities ... combine a drunk driver and smog inspection ... you already have the cars stopped ... " hmmm, pull your vehicle over there for an under the hood and sniffer inspection ... " he told me back then that carb had already bought a few roadside trailers with dynos in em ... portable inspection stations ... see you can use that drunk fed money for safety programs ... clean, safe cars ... anyway, if you are in california, keep that smog equipment ... write your legislators and government employees, let em know how you feel about this attack and back door way of getting around the current law exempting your older car from a smog test ... and yes, my scarab kit built 240z does have a CARB engine swap approved, smog sticker on it. see my photo album if you want to see what one looks like.

think they said cost 3 million to produce that commercial ... said it cost more to produce than the income it generated ... it has also been nominated for the commercial hall of fame, and is one of the most popular commericals of all times. i believe it won a clioe

Damn ! hmmm ... thought that you welded ... i am sure that Alex has corrected me on that, probably several times ;-] wishful thinking on my part ??? vocational offers a course, think it's 6 months ... $300 ... i was thinking of signing Skylyn up for it ... he turned 16 on the 20th ... 6'2" 235 lbs. get him to be my welder ... blame him when my hare brain ideas don't work.

LOL was hoping to talk you into the 185 amp !!!! if i needed to do anything heavy, i'd just drive up to Fremont ... besides Davy Z is up there, i know how he loves to weld ... that way i know it'd be done right !!! i'm still looking for a deal on a solar/battery back up welding helmet.

Duty Cycle - The number of minutes out of a 10-minute time period an arc welding machine can be operated at maximum rated output. An example would be 60% duty cycle at 300 amps. This would mean that at 300 amps the welding machine can be used for 6 minutes and then must be allowed to cool with the fan motor running for 4 minutes. (Some manufacturers rate machines on a 5 minute cycle). below is the copy of the welder you were looking at ... .6 X 10 = 6 6 minutes of weld time, 4 minutes of cooling ... the welder below .15 X 10 = 1.5 1.5 minutes of welding, 8.5 minutes of cooling. granted, most of us aren't building bridges, and maybe a minute and a half might be long enough for most things, but i'd like a longer cycle. this welder isn't a true MIG ( not to get persnickity ), it is a wire fed self fluxed arc welder. < Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) - An arc welding process which melts and joins metals by heating them with an arc between a continuous, consumable electrode wire and the work. Shielding is obtained from a flux contained within the electrode core. > true MIG used a gas to help keep the metal clean (Shielding Gas - Protective gas used to prevent atmospheric contamination of the weld pool. as one welds ). the flux welder leaves a residue on the finished product. the flux is usually cleaned off, before any painting or other work is done on the finished product. this is okay is building a frame, as you can hit it with a spinning wire brush/wheel. but if doing any body work, you aren't going to want to use a flux welder. the amperage is a bit low, for anything other than light duty welding ( without making several passes ), you need around 125 to 135 minimum. i'm thinking, though the 125 amp hobart i bought will do the job, i'm wishing i'd bought the 185, but the budget dictated otherwise. oh, you can't weld aluminum with a flux core only welder, you will need the shielding gas. most of the no name arc/mig welders use a cheaply wound and insulated power supplies that tend to over heat and not maintain a steady linear current, instead you end end up with spikes up and down, which will tend to mess your welds up. a 220 volt welder would be cheaper PG&E ( power company ) to operate, run cooler, and may last longer, most 220V have a longer duty cycle for the same amperage ... but ... most 220v are less portable ( the power supplies are usually larger and heavier ) and for what most of us would be doing, the 110 volt is fine. plus, a cold gun is nice ( most of the newer name brand machines have it ), no arc until you touch your product. tweco products are easy to find, so that's a plus. so the disposables are easily replaced. but, should there be an issue with the machine, where is the nearest authorized repair shop and, is it covered under warranty ?? there are spools that the wire is fed from, need to know how these spools are moved ( belts, direct motor, gears ), how smooth do they move ? how adjustable are the tensioners ? is the cable to the gun lined ??? remember the wire feeds through that cable, before it comes out the gun ... will the wire jam or stick in the cable ? any way, i don't think this is a good machine for the automotive hobbiest. for basic light duty welding, doing repairs on the kid's wagon, maybe doing some art work, making candle sticks, fire place pokers and such, it's probably a great machine. again, because of the flux only wire, the low amperage , unknown power supply, and only two adjustments on the current, for what ever my opinion is worth, i'd pass on this for what we do in our hobbies. Each system comes with: 6 ft. Tweco® Mig welding gun, 4 ft. ground cable w/clamp, 4 ft. power input cord, welding nozzle & tip, spool of flux core welding wire and instruction manual. Mig Welder 115V. Firepower® FP90 Gasless (FCAW) >

he has his z back together again ??? a friend ( Andy ) used to ride bikes with him, told me, D pulled the engine and the z was sitting ... i had seen pix that were supposed to be of bigger and better ... never heard any more about it ... Andy's riding on the other side now, slid into a post at over an estimated 120 mph, extended swing arm may have broken. i don't know anyone else that knows Darius. has anyone seen his z recently ?

Hot Rod magazine while some how managing to over look our "rolling down the driveway race ", they have an article on making 499 horses with an LS 2 on pump gas ... LS 2 i'd imagine, would be heaps cheaper than the LS7 ... of course i think, an iron block with all the stuff i need to put back on my z, would probably be beneficial rolling down the driveway ... but for moving under its own power, that LS 2 would be sweet. hot rod said that the dyno people had to rig up all kinds of stuff to get the LS2 to cooperate ... throttle by wire ... computer hook ups, ect. imagine though, 364 cu inches, 499 horses, on pump gas, idles like the engine in grandpa's station wagon. cruising with the air on, smooth and docile, no one suspects a thing, until you put your foot into it ... 499 horses in a 240z ... that's over 3 times the stock horsepower of the L24 had a friend, back in the 70's ... 435 hp/350 in a vega gt kam back wagon. just revving it up, he'd pop the windshield out. that was with stiffeners. what would 499 do to a 240z ?

if this is a club sanctioned event ... they'd have to be Z cars ... if this isn't a sanctioned event, then i can race most of my museum collection ... i can bring 4 cars to the race ... east coast vs. west coast for time ??? oh, and the push back up the driveway, will that be timed as well ??

how do i get in on that "rolling the car down the driveway race" is this a timed event, or will we meet some place ... and do i have to have my new JTR radiator, taurus fan, howard aluminum high flow pump, and that damn alternator mounted on the passenger side all in place .. or can i compete as is ??? i have driven both V8 and turbo L28 ... both have their fun factors ... i liked barking at the big dogs with the L28 ... most races are on a roll anyway, the turbo is already spooling ... big fun to trounce a mustang or camaro. but, the V8, once in place, the V8 is very reliable, doesn't have to work as hard to get the same results, will probably get better gas mileage ... personally, i'd like to have both ... you should hold out until someone wrecks a new Z06 and grab the LS7 ... that way you'll have a few more weeks to think about it ... now, about that rolling down the driveway race ...

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any one listen to public radio ... Car Talk with Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers .. ??? last sunday, a caller asked .. what does turn into a skid mean ??? caller said, if one does that ... one will end up in a spin ... basically the jest of the reply was ... steer which ever way the rear of the car wants to go, regain control of the car ... BUT >>>> they also suggested ....when it starts to snow, finding a large EMPTY parking lot and practicing your stops and starts ... spin the tires pulling out ... see whether the car pulls left or right ... hit the brakes hard, lock up the wheels, again ... does it pull left or right ... again stressing a large EMPTY parking lot ... do a little slolam racing, at a safe speed, maybe under 15, 20 mph ... swear a bit ... see how the car handles ... where it drifts, how long it takes to stop, where you lose control ... better to learn in a parking lot than on the road the 1st time one loses control ... they also added ... too bad, that there are so few empty parking lots to do that in now. if more people were to do this, there'd be less cars upside down in a ditch on the 1st day it snows ... they also backed that statement up, saying ... of course if the morons slowed down, most of em wouldn't be on their roofs ... ... again doing donuts was kid stuff ... a slap on the wrists and get the F out of here would have been my response ( if i were an officer of the court ) ... again who knows whether the school had issues with idiots in their parking lots and asked to ticket all fools. my thoughts : maybe in areas where it snows, the city oughta open up a large lot and at one's own risk, have people, especially inexperienced drivers and those from areas where they don't get snow, get out there in their cars and do some slipping and sliding ... experienced officers giving drivers pointers ... maybe a handout ... a 20 minute orientation ... and then off to the parking lot ... hit the slush, ice and snow ... a 10 buck fee ??? parents send the kids off to snow preparation day ??? a discount on insurance for a days course at 50 bucks a head ??? if you live in a snow state ... contact your local police chief, see if the department might go for it ... your friend that got the ticket, have him contact the judge, see what the judge thinks of it ... your friend may have been screwing around, but may have also been testing the handling of his car in the ice and snow ... better to stress the training aspect and police involvement in improving local driver's abilities, than trying to say your friend was "practicing" .... a thought ....

Anyone who can come to a stop on a steep incline in a stick-shift car--then drive away smoothly without rolling the car backward into the one sitting behind him--can drive. A person who can't do that probably shouldn't be behind the wheel.

Tim, i know how you feel. the 1st few posts i made, went unanswered, for about a month, i felt a bit rejected. then i got 6 or 7 replies. i find the search engine a bit difficult to use, but other people laugh and say its me, they are probably right. if you can figure it out, do a search on 280zx and see what comes up. hopefully, Dave will get back to you. that zx he built is sure sweet. Ross up in Canada had a V8 zx ( was stolen a while back, don't remember if he got it back ), his was real nice too. as you have, i'm sure noticed, there are quite a few members in the hybridz family that share your continent. drop by the non tech message area, post a message asking who lives near you, well, within 500 miles wayne

color my face red !!! you are correct ... saw the calvin ... but which one of you looks more like calvin >>> and what have you been peeing on ;-0 i see that kid peeing on more stuff on people's back windows ... he must have a hugh bladder to go with that devil may care attitiude

on most private properties, the cops have no say so, unless the owner complains. however, many parking lots have signs stating ALL local and state vehicle regulations enforced, meaning that any and all police can ticket a driver for any violation. as far as california goes, all state college campuses are regulated by ALL the california vehicle codes and regulations, they are considered state property. this also applies to most of the county junior college campuses as well. being as your friend was on state owned property (?) or at least state regulated property, he was subject to state law. as far as the J.P.O. was concerned, i'm sure he felt, parking lot or the middle of the intersection of a downtown street, all the same to him, his dick got big and your friend got a ticket for being stupid on the J.P.O.'s watch. remember, check for signs advising that all laws are enforced. they may just be a plaque glued on the asphalt, like those right to pass may be revoked at anytime, plates one finds in mall parking lots. plus, get in and get out, don't stay and make a day of it. back in 73, my younger brother's 2 dr 55 chevy, could pull the left front off the ground a good 3 inches and get daylight under the right. about 11pm, across the street from the texaco, where we worked, a bunch of us were messing with the fuel injection on my buddy's 60 impala ( 13 sec 1/4 mi car ), there was a supermarket, typical anchor market with several mom and pop businesses, all closed but the liquor store. my brother, rather than walk 1/2 a block takes his 55. he buys 6 bottles of pepsi, gets in the 55, backs out of the stall, puts it in 1st and nails it, smoke and sparks. heads across the big empty parking lot, grabs 2nd, so much smoke we can't see the liquor store anymore. suddenly, lights and sirens, unmarked los gatos cop car. my brother shuts it down. we watch him get out of the 55, cop and my brother meet walking towards each other about by the 55's back bumper. cop slaps black ticket book down on trunk of the 55. words are exchanged, cop pointing at the ground behind the 55, pointing at all the smoke still drifting in the air. stern finger waving by the cop at my brother. my brother points at a house across the orchard, next to the parking lot. cop continues shaking his finger, picks up black book, walks back to his car, throws his book through the open driver's window, more finger wagging, finally gets in his cop car, turns off the flashing lights, drops it in drive and does a "man am i pissed about something" burn out of a U turn headed for the street, down the road he went. my brother, motors back to the texaco. ask him what happened. my brother says cop wanted to write him for exhibition of speed. my brother reminded him was private property, no signs, no way. cop says we have complaints about YOU from the property owner, so i can write you a ticket. my brother pointed at the house in the orchard, told the cop, really ??? see that house ??? that's Art Downing's house, he owns this shopping center. we just changed the oil in his truck about 20 minutes ago, he was asking me how more power i think the new cam made, and joking with me about how long i thought the new mickey thompson indy 500's were gonna last me .... shall we go see what he has to say, i'm sure he's still awake ! private property vs. public ... rookie cop vs. seasoned cop ... getting caught vs. getting away with it ... might be a chicken S ticket, but your friend made a decision to do what he did, he got caught, J.P.O has a hard on for these kind of things, his pet peeve, instead of a warning, wrote a ticket. i agree, wasn't in the middle of town on a busy street, was a deserted parking lot, cop could have written unsafe driving, or something else, judge could have reduced it to an infraction, instead of treating it the same as if the crime had been commited in the middle of the county fair with school children everywhere. what you may not know, is the college may have an issue with kids using the parking lot for just what your friend did, they've told their J.P.O.s to bust everyone they catch being stupid in the parking lots. the judge is also aware of this, makes an example of your friend. word gets out, soon people know it's gonna cost you big time to be stupid in the college parking lot. personally, i get no thrill out of tearing up a good machine doing donuts. how much rubber one lays or smoke one makes, means no traction and a waste of horsepower, that could be better used for acceleration, but to each their own ( bro's 55, posi, ladder bars, ect, running N-50/15's, just big horsepower and 4:56 gears ). still, your friend played the game and lost. on the score board, cop one, friend zero. that said, i think, if as you say, empty lot, no one around, the judge should have reduced it to a one point ticket, said no traffic school, and fined your friend's butt. again, as i said earlier ... the college has probably had its fill of people screwing around in the parking lots, hitting trash cans, lamp posts, driving across lawns and wants it stopped. my 89 cents, wayne

i don't think that adding the toyota calipers would be an upgrade on a 280zx. check out Dave's V8 280zx ... no mention of brake mods. i've seen this car, and have spoken with Dave in person on several occasions as well as e mails. his craftsmanship and eye for detail, performance and safety are first rate. this 280zx looks as if the nissan factory built it. if there was a need for a brake upgrade, i am sure he would have done it. though, since the article was written he may have upgraded the brakes. i know he has sold this beautiful zx and is now modifying a front engine porsche. Dave is very approachable, and his head is stuffed full of great information, i am sure he wouldn't mind if you dropped him a quick question or two. http://home.earthlink.net/~dvgreimann/index.html you may find these sites helpful http://www.fonebooth.com/brakes_zcar.html http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/768663 http://www.angelfire.com/extreme/280zxt/ http://www.vanisledatsun.com/links.php http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/links/morelinks.htm good luck with your quest, wayne

earlier, couldn't open the pix ... oooooooohhhh, i like ... i can only drool a bit and second what DavyZ said ... an excellent starting point ... that's gonna look bit-chin even in primer

i think 99% of the 240z cars started rusting on the boat ride from japan. the salt and slush, the bad water drainage, leaky weatherstripping, didn't help things either. what you want is one that is at least 80% rust free ... fenders and such are repairable ... need to watch out for frame rails and major rust in the basic shell, again, think of the body as an egg shell with doors, front fenders, hatch ect. hanging off the shell. as long as the shell is safe or can be made safe all is fine. do your hunting in the south ... a friend of mine in ga. has a nice 73 turbo for sale, has normal rust bubbles ... structure is sound ... before i bought the 88 fiero Gt for my son, we talked about me buying it, he was looking for a 300zx twin turbo ... he'd drive out here, buy a TT and drive that back. not a sales plug, just expressing a thought ... if you can't go west, go south. good luck with the hunt ... you'll be happy that you started with a good shell, spend that extra money on fun stuff, not fixing rust ... here's what's on craiglist in the san jose bay area today ... Front Mounted Intercooler - $500 (dublin / pleasanton / livermore) Jan-23 1977 datsun 1/4 glass 1 pair - $30 (san jose east) Jan-23 1977 datsun 280z tail lights - $30 (san jose east) Jan-23 1977 datsun 280z rear bumper - $20 (san jose east) Jan-23 1977datsun doors - $30 (san jose east) Jan-23 Datsun 240Z *pictures* - $5900 (Cotati) Jan-22 NISSAN 240Z - $800 (gilroy, south county) pic Jan-21 73 Datsun 240z - FOR SALE - $5500 (redwood city) pic Jan-21 SOLD--Datsun 510 240z 260z 280z 280zx Toyota AE86 GTS *RIMS* - $120 (Daly City) pic Jan-21 1973 datsun 240z - $1000 (san jose east) Jan-21 Datsun 240Z/260/280Z 4 speed tranny. Good working - $50 (fremont / union city) Jan-20 72 240Z White/Red - $2750 (san jose west) pic Jan-20 2 early Datsun 240Z hubcaps (san jose south) pic Jan-20 JDM RS-Watanabe RS-8 Wheels W/Tires **RARE** - $1100 (san jose downtown) pic Jan-20 datsun nissan 240z rear bumper complete good condition - $125 (oakland piedmont / montclair) pic Jan-20 1973 Datsun 240Z for SALE! Great Condition! - $3000 (fremont / union city) Jan-20 1972 euro racing spec TRIUMPG STAG 4 seat convertible - $6000 (north beach / telegraph hill) pic Jan-19 240z datsun 240 z air cleaner, see pics - $20 (pittsburg / antioch) Jan-19 1998 mazada B3000 truck for trade or sale (pittsburg / antioch) Jan-19 Wanted: Datsun 240z 260z 280z - $1000 (santa cruz) pic Jan-18 1973 DATSUN 240Z INTAKE & EXHAUST - $250 (west portal / forest hill) Jan-17 Nissan 240Z manual transmission - $400 (sunnyvale) Jan-17 71 datsun 240z seats and more - $175 (santa cruz) Jan-17 Datsun 240Z 14x6 0 offset oem slotted mags rims PICS<------- - $200 (daly city) pic Jan-16 240sx for sell/trade - $3000 Jan-16 1973 Datsun 240z ---no eng/trans--- - $1000 (sunnyvale) Jan-15 WTB datsun nissan l28 2.8 liter strait 6 or ld28 and passenger door Jan-15 1971 Datsun 240Z see pic - $5000 (sunnyvale) pic Jan-14 240Z 280Z fender Datsun Nissan - $80 (concord / pleasant hill / martinez) Jan-14 Datsun Nissan 240z, 280Z dashboard - $60 (concord / pleasant hill / martinez)

back then, 55 and newer ... were under smog controls. though 1968 and older foreign cars and cars under a certain cubic inch were exempt. that particular officer and his partner were out of control ... it was okay to harrass high school kids in hot rods ( that was one wicked 55, full metal body, full interior, pull the front wheels 3 inches off the ground, through 1st gear on pump gas ) and poor people in beaters, guys on harleys. if you got enough tickets, a judge might just suggest you would be forgiven if you joined the military ( vietnam )... happened to one of my cousins. dad stopped and questioned those two cops, they offered to inspect his car, well truck, a 56 chevy big window, running a 64 vette 327 and a hydramatic. i had heard that those cops hassled some wealthy guy, driving a 429 cobra. he'd made his fortune yet stayed in the middle class working man's neighborhood. supposedly, cobra pulled out of neighborhood, onto los gatos almaden rd. cop pulled him over, treated cobra driver the same as he had my brother ... 2 weeks later, both cops were gone. heard this from mechanic i worked with at the texaco station, 1/4 mile from home, on that same street. i knew the cobra, but no idea if mechanic's story that was true.

what John says is correct. the bill says, exempt from testing at time of registration, or change of ownership. the car is not exempt from having any required smog equipment, smog equipment for the year of the engine and the car. in california, it is illegal to swap an engine that is older than the vehicle it is going into. if one swaps a 1992 engine into a 1972 z car, that z car ( to be technically legal ) it must have all the original smog equipment for the 1972, plus what ever equipment the 1992 engine would have, the 92 eq. will surplant the 72 eq. if the 92 engine required a cat and single exhaust, that will be required on the 72. one can not swap a truck engine into a passenger car, nor a passenger car engine into a truck ( legally anyway ). google search AB 2683 Existing law exempted from those requirements, until January 1, 2003, any motor vehicle manufactured prior to the 1974 model-year, and after that date, any motor vehicle that is 30 or more model-years old. This bill would instead, commencing April 1, 2005, exempt from the smog check requirements, and the smog check compliance requirements, any motor vehicle manufactured prior to the 1976 model-year. < snip > Section 44011 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 44011. (a) All motor vehicles powered by internal combustion engines that are registered within an area designated for program coverage shall be required biennially to obtain a certificate of compliance or noncompliance, except for all of the following: (1) Every motorcycle, and every diesel-powered vehicle, until the department, pursuant to Section 44012, implements test procedures applicable to motorcycles or to diesel-powered vehicles, or both. (2) Any motor vehicle that has been issued a certificate of compliance or noncompliance or a repair cost waiver upon a change of ownership or initial registration in this state during the preceding six months. (3) Any motor vehicle manufactured prior to the 1976 model-year. so, yes, an officer of the court, may pull you over and ask to peek under your hood. should the officer, believe that the engine is modified, smog eq. modified or removed, officer may issue a ticket for tampering. ( mind you, there is no $$$ limit on repair costs, if the court agrees with the officer, that there has been tampering ) ... this will be a fix it ticket ... however, i have been told, that a ticket for tampering will require a visit to the judge, to verify that all has been untampered. so, a visit to the authorized smog test center, then if they fail the vehicle, you may bring it back into compliance, retest, or schedule an appointment with the state referee. the referee will inspect the vehicle, advise you what you need to comply or give you an exemption sticker ( sticker is not likely ). the other option, now this is fun, the vehicle is tested by the smog center and fails, you see the referee and it is decided that the vehicle is a GROSS polluter requires it to be brought into compliance... now, once labeled a gross polluter, a smog test is required once a year, no matter the year of the vehicle. fortunately, most officers, believe, as most people do, that all pre 1976 vehicles are smog exempt, don't require any smog reducing equipment, and will most likely never bother you about it. that said, all it takes is one jerk with a badge in your neighborhood, that hates cars, and that jerk can force you to off road only use or park your ride. 1974, my brother's 500 hp 55 chevy 2 door hard top, got pulled over on the way to high school, a safety inspection, every morning, monday through friday, plus an underhood smog compliance inspection, check for pcv, the dist retard device on the radiator hose, approved air cleaner in place. once a month, they would have a smog test trailer, for the random smog test, fully equipped to perform a complete smog test, motor cops, flagging cars over to the trailer, on los gatos almaden road. the 55 made 3 trips to the trailer. passed all the tests, everytime. never once was a ticket issued. this went on for 5 months, stopped when officer's beat was changed. our parent's had no money for a lawyer, officer offered to inspect our dad's car as well.