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Question about CA SMOG...


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I need some info. I am doing a 73 240Z V8 swap. I live in California...or Satins ******* when it comes to smog as i like to call it. The law that i see is that engine swaps can be done as long as the engine that is being put in is the same year or newer. That being the case, i have to say that i have a 73+ Chevy 350 block in there. Were there any Chevy's in 73 that didnt have emmisions? I thought that all that started hard core in 75. Is there a 350 block that didnt have all that crap that i can say i used for my engine? If not, what are others in CA doing? If i have to deal with emmisions, what kind of emmisions were used?

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Do some searching as this has been beaten to death. I think that there is even a sticky in the Non-Tech forum.

 

Basically, you need an engine from the same year or newer, and from the same family (so anything from a 1 ton truck and smaller). You have to keep all the emissions equipment that was factory installed on the donor engine, this includes fuel tank if using a newer (OBDII) engine.

 

Have a look at some of the older posts for more info.

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In a strange way you CA guys are lucky, at least you have a place to go and find out the rules. I called the Maryland MVA trying to get engine swap info and they basically told me they don't have any. Says they do no smog testing of cars more than 25 years old so they didn't care. They don't have any type of refferee stations or any definitive source of info.

 

They did tell me to check with the state police because they run the safety inspection process. If I try to sell the car it will need to be safety inspected, and part of that inspection is the car must have all of the smog equipment based upon the year of the vehicle. So I guess no matter what year of engine I put in all I will need is an air pump and a PCV valve, because I think that is all the 71 240's came with. The damn thing has a manual choke!

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It is against State and Federal law to tamper with' date=' or remove emissions equipment.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=100533[/quote']

 

Great info! Thanks. However, i have one more question that i can't seem to find an answer to. The engine that i have now didnt come from a car. It was a crate engine that my bro's boss got back in the early 70's or so. It didnt have any emissions anything on it. He said that when he got the engine, there was a note saying that it should be installed in a "'73 or older pre emission vehical." Which my Z is. When i looked for info, i came across this site and many many others like it:

 

http://www.high-performance-engines.com/ce03.html

 

"This engine is not intended for marine use, and should only be used in 1973 and earlier pre-emissions street vehicles or for off-highway use only."

All sites that sell crate engines that i have come across say this.

 

So, being that i got a crate engine originaly produced from the factory, without emissions equip. on it that was sold then used in california for its entire life...and its in a 1973 pre emissions vehical...i should be fine correct?

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California is a whole different animal. Unless it has a CARB/BAR certification (as you will see with many aftermarket parts), it is not legal. Remember, California had emissions requirements way ahead of the rest of the Country.

 

Do people with testing exempt vehicles remove emissions equipment? Hell yes they do. Do they get caught? Very rarely. Why not? Because without the Biennial testing, who will know. However, in CA, there are roadside test stations set up every so often, and any CHP officer (or other law enforcement), can write you a ticket for suspected emissions violations. It is basically a fixit ticket (like having a missing front plate, or busted tail light), but the only way to have it signed off is to take it to a BAR certified referee, and these guys know their stuff. Is that likely to happen? Not very, so make you own mind up.

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smog legal requires .... in california ... engine same age or newer than the vehicle. can't put truck engine in passenger car, can't put passenger car in truck. the smog equipment must match which ever is newer ...

 

as Tim suggested, as we don't have to test 74 and back at time of registration, you may do pretty much as you wish.

 

that said, if the cities are looking at adding smog checks to their drunk stops. the road blocks that stop drivers checking for drunks, will soon include smog inspections. they get federal money to do this ( for now anyway ). so far, i don't know of any city that is doing this, as the test requires a road side dyno ( yes, i have seen one on a trailer, the chp was flagging cars and waving em in, here in santa clara county ... may have been a test only to see how badly traffic got backed up. what percentage of cars failed, maybe a feasiblity study ???? ).

 

if you pop a 65 327 in your 72 240z, it will be fine, unless you get a peace officer with a hard on for you. yanks the hood, does a quick look see ... notices different engine ...

 

1st will check to see if you have receipt for engine ( stolen ??? ). checks year ... hmmm ... not legal in ca. engine older than chassis. may issue a fix it ticket, may impound the car ... depends on officer ... may tell you to pull it over have it towed home.

 

it is NOT legal to operate that car on any highway in the state of california, as it can't be registered that way ( older engine than chassis ).

 

 

 

as for your crate engine ... they have stamps on the boss up front ( GM engines do, anyway ) ... CS or something like that ... check here for a partial list of these codes http://www.minuit10.net/EngineCode/chevy/CE-CMJ.htm... these numbers indicate factory installed engines, crate engines ... or dealer installed replacement engines ...

 

go here and check the codes .... find out when the block was cast.

 

 

http://www.nastyz28.com/sbchevy/sblock.html

 

your crate engine will have casting markings on it, to indicate when and where it was made. the heads also have castings that show when they were made. the chp knows all this stuff, or they have a guy who does ...

 

if your block is legal, no issues as long as you have the smog that matches then engine or chassis ( car ), which ever is newer.

 

i think Tim has an on going post with the smog info for the state of california.

 

suggest a search using "smog california" as the keywords.

 

i know you were wondering about the crate thing as it may have never been assigned to a chassis

 

that's why you need to check the numbers on the block to see when it made. to beat a dead horse ... same or newer than your chassis ...

 

good luck with your swap ...

 

plenty of good advise here ... remember the search engine ... it's chocked full of info ... sometimes it's hard to wring it out of there, but it's usually there.

 

and always remember, i'm full of crap and my opinion doesn't count for anything :-)

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Gov Jesse Ventura (ex pro wrestler) finally killed the smog testing here in MN.

If that never happened I would have never been able to title a V8 Z.

Thanks to him I will never have to worry about it again.

God bless America the system does work.

Not ripping CA here. This state sucks way worse!

 

As Jim Morrison once put it ...." yea there trying to change the world out there in california.." hehe :)

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my 72 is a scarab kit car with the california smog legal sticker on the body near the door latch. ...

 

originally had a built 73 350 in it ... they scored a cylinder, sleeved it ( back in 76 or 77 ). sleeve came loose.

 

previous owner dropped in a 71 350. he claims 370 hp.

 

seat of the pants says, i don't think so ... although it did completely surprise a guy in the last year model z/28.

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U guys might want to keep these type of discussions to PMs. HAve you seen the thread about the guy on the bike running from the law, then bragging about on an internet forum, and getting busted......

HybridZ does not condone the infraction of any Federal, State or Local laws....... :toetap05::twak:

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U guys might want to keep these type of discussions to PMs. HAve you seen the thread about the guy on the bike running from the law' date=' then bragging about on an internet forum, and getting busted......

HybridZ does not condone the infraction of any Federal, State or Local laws....... :toetap05::twak:[/quote']

 

If an Admin wanted to remove the last couple of post so someone didnt get the wrong idea, i wouldnt be apposed.

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of course it wasn't intended for anyone to seriously attempt to get around the law.

 

many people have never seen the official metal sticker, plus they are embrossed and have their own S/N.

 

that aside ...

 

you are all correct, looking at it from a distance, the humor is a bit askew, and it could be taken the same as the guys on crotch rockets bragging about racing cops.

 

i did not see that until it was pointed out.

 

one can tell from the many discussions in the past, that we all are trying to build within the law, otherwise there wouldn't be such an extensive amount of time and research spent on the subject.

 

thanks

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