johnc Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Looks like the CA BAR is up to its old tricks again. Just saw and checked out a BAR Smog Survey roadside checkpoint on Lambert Rd. in La Habra, CA this morning. I stopped and talked with the CHP officer that was stationed there and he said they were "surveying" all bi-annual exempt vehicles that went past the checkpoint. They had a 1970 Chevrolet Carprice and a 1973 Toyota something in line when I stopped. No chassis dyno but it appeared they were doing a tailpipe check and a visual. The officer said that if anything was not right they would order a full inspection that had to be completed within two weeks. FYI... the location they chose was a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood and both drivers that I saw were Hispanic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Sunofabitch!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtcookson Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 12 gauge shot gun + deer slugs + smog equipment = happy people, no more smog tests i know that i could never live in california with all those smog laws... i'd probably start a mass civil war because of it. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 My vehicle is so anti-smog control that green peace is protesting outside my garage. Everytime they get too loud I just rev up the motor some more. I got no EGR, and no Cats. Maybe someday, after I get a ticket for it, I'll put it in. But where I live in Southern Illinois, they don't test nothin. And in Missouri any car over 25 is emissions excempt. Not sure about Indian though. Illinois has a law regarding mufflers. One can not install an exhaust system or modify an existing exhaust system that was not designed and manufactured at the factory for use on that vehicle. Particularly for the purpose of making it more loud. How am I suposed to find a nissan factory exhaust to fit my 350ci motor? I'm hoping that the cop who finally pulls me over will notice the difference between a true hobby car, and some punk with a coffee can muffler to impress himself. (Cause it sure don't impress anyone I know.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtcookson Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 i used to live in indiana, no smog testing at all (except for in a few counties somewhere around there). i loved not having any testing... don't have any here in kansas either. hopefully it stays that way... if not i may have to hire a hitman to take out the politician that tries putting it in. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyrus Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 How is that legal? I do not think that they can force you to open your hood. You must give consent unless they have probable cause... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 In California (and other states/counties that are under EPA controls) you, the vehicle owner, give implied consent to allow inspection of your vehicle. Its all part of the regulatory powers Congress granted the EPA and the local air quality management districts around the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 From BARs website: The California Department of Consumer Affairs/Bureau of Automotive Repair (DCA/BAR) and California Highway Patrol (CHP) conduct the state’s roadside vehicle emissions survey. The survey's purpose is to provide a "real world" profile of emissions from California’s cars and trucks. The data is used to help measure California's Smog Check program by determining statewide emissions levels and monitoring those levels over time. In addition, the survey is necessary to demonstrate to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that California's Smog Check program meets federal emissions reduction requirements for ozone-forming pollution generated by motor vehicles. The study also evaluates various emissions testing procedures. California motorists have been participating in state-operated roadside emissions surveys since 1972. The study is conducted in phases by four teams, who together visit over 300 locations around the state every year. The sites are chosen by first randomly selecting ZIP codes and then determining sites that are safe for conducting the tests. At each site, one lane of traffic is coned off for testing equipment. A CHP officer directs randomly-selected vehicles to that lane. Motorists whose vehicles are selected for testing are greeted by a BAR representative who provides them with information about the survey's purpose and answers any questions they might have. Although participation in the survey is not mandatory; it is critical to the success of the survey. The BAR representative will do everything possible to accommodate motorists who are selected for the survey. The emissions survey tests vehicles on a treadmill-like device called a dynamometer that is now being used to conduct Smog Check inspections in the state’s smoggiest regions. By simulating driving conditions, dynamometers provide the most accurate emissions readings for hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Vehicles are tested solely for the purpose of gathering data. They do not "pass" or "fail" the roadside emissions tests, so these tests add no additional repair requirements for drivers of high-polluting vehicles. The procedure usually lasts less than 10 minutes. At the conclusion of each test, the driver receives a Vehicle Inspection Report (VIR) detailing the results. The report may not be substituted for a vehicle's official Smog Check. In some locations, vehicles may also pass by a Remote Sensing Device (RSD), which uses infrared technology to measure vehicle emissions. The data gathered from the RSDs at these sites is also used only for research purposes. As for the bolded text....RIIIIGHT, I bet they will just let you happily drive away!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 Vehicles are tested solely for the purpose of gathering data. They do not "pass" or "fail" the roadside emissions tests, so these tests add no additional repair requirements for drivers of high-polluting vehicles. The procedure usually lasts less than 10 minutes. That "might" be true for the BAR folks, but the CHP officer standing there can order whatever he wants and the one I talked to was very interested in the results of the tests. I didn't see any dyno equipment but they did have two 3' x 4' blue boxes up against the curb. Maybe those were the dyno cells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2126 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Just a word to the wise.......I don't think it's wise to be posting the condition or non-condition of your smog equipment on any website. What do you all think.......do you think maybe big brother is out there watching us all??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Smog equipment I wouldn't worry about. There is so much low hanging fruit that the feds simply don't need to go to such labor intensive extremes. Stories of street kills, performance mods and posting videos of smokey burnouts are another matter. These things can come back to haunt you should you ever get in an accident where someone gets hurt. Remember the drag racing murder trial in San Deigo a couple of years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Back on topic, I KNEW that high flow catalytic converter on my 240Z may come in handy one day! Not like I drive the thing tho... I just bought a 1991 300ZX twin turbo, passed smog with numbers weigh UNDER average! The first thing I noticed when I test drove it that the exhaust note was not coming from the tailpipes, but from a hole in the cat! Looks like the tailpipe readings weren't the only thing "under average" at the smog check place....or should I say "below average". Oh well, helped me! And hopefully it will help me if I ever get stopped and get the tail pipe sniffed. One below average person is all it takes to let me slide by. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Remember the drag racing murder trial in San Deigo a couple of years ago?No, do tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 to bad there isnt a website that tells where they are at.i have my car registered in the mountains.but if they opened my hood i would be screwed.one day about 4 years ago i called in sick and went to chiropractor .i drove my van that day.i found those guys doing roadside testing here in central ca.since i have a smog license i stopped to get a little info from the boss.the state of california sent those guys up here from riverside(400 miles away) and was putting them up in motels.your tax dollars at work.this was a weekday during normal working hours.since i registered my car in the mountains i got a jury duty summons up there though.i will have to drive 60 miles for jury duty.will have to take my motorcycle.problem with this is if chp officer wants to get technical he can write up an old (75 down) car for missing smog gear even though it doesnt have to have bi-annual smog inspection.IF you are nice to him and your hot rod isnt smoking or running rich(you tuned with wide band o2 right?) he might let you go.if his wife wouldnt put out last night your screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 thanks for the clarification waynekarnes - you answered a question I've been wondering for ages. So basically, just because those of us with pre '75 cars dont need to test, we basically still need to be able to PASS a smog test... should they ever decide to test us on the spot like this. I never could understand how these sniffer-checkpoints were legal... how do you fine the owner of a vehicle that does not ever need to be smogged? Doesn't make sense to me. I have yet to ever see one of these checkpoints for myself, anyways. So... are we allowed to print up that page that Tim240z quoted and wave that at the CHP officers if we don't want to participate?? If it's not mandatory.... So help me god if I ever get nailed at one of the checkpoints I'm moving out of CA... that will be the last straw for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy280 Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Man, I am all for cleaning up the air and everything, but this is not the way to do it. WE shouldn't be penalized like this. All this stupid red-tape, backdoor legislation, taxpayer dollars down the drain just for supposedly "cleaning up the air". What they should be doing is spending all that time/money/effort/resources in getting hydrogen gas-stations going (like I've said before), instead of punishing car-hobbyists like ourselves. They could just mandate that all cars must burn hydrogen by 20XX, and then slowly roll in the hydrogen stations and roll out the gasoline stations, while discounting the cost of upgrading to different, hydrogen-setup carbs/injection. If our cars burnt hydrogen instead of gasoline (yes, I said BURNT hydrogen, not "fuel cells"), just think of the advantages. No air-quality crisis (at least not in regards to cars). Much less of an oil crisis, less reliance on foreign resources. Saves us money b/c we don't have to pay for smog tests. Saves manufacturers money b/c they don't have to manufacture, test, etc, expensive smog devices on their new cars. Saves us these damn roadside headaches, and we would be free to hotrod to our hearts content. Oh well, it'll probably never happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 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 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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