Owen Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 The smog Nazis are getting stronger around here. Met a guy the other day who got popped driving past one of those mobile exhaust gas sensors complete with CHP and everything. He got pulled over, they jacked up his car, then impounded it with a fine of $6,000! Not sure how old this car was but still...and 73 and older cars are expempt from smog checks, but not the mobile sniffers....great... So does anyone run a catalytic converter? I was thinking of getting one just for insurance. Beats getting pulled over at every block. How is the Random Technology Super High Flow cat? TPIS sells them for $200 I think. Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Wait, you mean that a car sold BEFORE cats were available needs a cat to drive around in that socialist state you live in? Jeesh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Whoa! Check the rules - cars that were NOT previously equipped with CATs do NOT need them no matter what state. The reason for this is the fire hazard they pose on cars that were not designed to package them. I suggest you speak to this guy and find out what year that car is - something smells here. $6K is three emissions devices bypassed or removed - it's usually $2K per device BTW an dit's a federal offense to remove catalytics (ahem). Anyway, what kind of car was this and what year, need more info. Considering how clueless th eCHP apparently is when it comes to exhaust noise it's quite possibel the guys who wrote the ticket were full of crap and he can get out of it - or his car was supposed to have cats due to it's age.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 I'm running a Random tech. high flow converter on my LT1 280ZX. I run a pair on my pro-street '78 Malibu. I noticed the difference on the BB Malibu but not the LT1 280 ZX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Simmer down guys... Owen's post didn't say what year the car was and why it was impounded. California does not require retrofitting smog equipmet. All vehicles in California are subject to drive by sniffers/inspections. The pollutant limits for a 73 and earlier Zs are very forgiving and they are based a percentage of the total, not pounds per mile. If you're engine (even a V8) is tuned and running correctly you really don't have anything to worry about. If you do get stopped at one of those inspections, ask to see the measured emissions and the standards they are comparing them to before agreeing to any visual or tailpipe inspection. My friend did just that for his 1967 Porsche and the inspectors found that his car was way within the standards for that year so they had to let him go without any visual or tailpipe check. [ August 27, 2001: Message edited by: johnc ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted August 28, 2001 Author Share Posted August 28, 2001 Yeah! Read more carefully! Just kidding. The older cars are only subject to the roadside stops, not the mandatory bi-yearly inspections. I think the $6000 inlcuded the fines, towing, and impounding. Story is, they brought a mobile sniffer/dyno and tested it on the spot! Seems the police aren't as stupid as they seem to be, my auto tech. teacher told me they are being trained even more, even on cracking down on smog stations that give out illegal certificates. I'm not worried about smog, I'm worried about my block being earlier than the car, which is a no-no. So I figure if I get a catalytic converter, I can at least hope to slide by the more educated members of the law. So where can I get a Random Tech cat for cheap? Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Having grown up in California I understand the smog issue... but this is a little out of hand... I thought the chassis dyno smogs were way out there... I can't wait to see what the lawyers do with this one... Enjoy the land of the fruits, nuts and tree huggers.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 I always wanted to go past one of those things in my turbo diesel Volvo while accelerating and producing a blue-white cloud of my car's finest. They would pull me over and I would politely inform them that the car is a diesel and they can kiss off... I hate the smog nazis. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Smogging is coming to diesals now - at least newer ones. I for one am grateful as the trash they put out is pretty bad and includes carcinogens. I once drove past a bus yard taking my mother to work near DC, the busses were all being cranked up to warm for the morning. I LITERALLY could NOT see and had to both slow down and turn on my lights - the sun was up! Seems the wind was blowing all of the fumes across the road form 50 or more busses. Yeah, Metro doesn't tune their crappy busses hardly at all it seems. Anyway, diesel rant aside - Owen what year, make, and model was the car? For those of you in Cali this is crucial and here in VA where they adopt much of the left coasts laws it's also of interest. We now have dyno emissions testing (sigh) but a good cat cleans up much. A 73 Z should have nothing to fear IMO and a cat CAN be a serious fire hazard so I'd say putting one on would be a mistake (IMO). Talk to the smog folks and get the straight scoop - not word of mouth from someone angry about getting caughtfined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Owen, You're OK with the older block in the car. The law says the vehicle has to comply with the emissions requirements in force for the latter of: 1) chassis or, 2) engine. Your car needs to comply with the emission requirements of the chassis if the engine is older. Unfortunately, the folks who swap in LS1s also need cats and fuel evaporative systems. Older is better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Owen, I had to read John's post twice before considering that he is actually correct. In a pre '74 car that is not subject to the biannual smog inspection, the roadside sniffer test emission % will most likely be akin to that of your chassis allowale emmissions. What does this mean? Nothing really--just have a tuned V8 andyou should not put out any more emissions than an older Z straight six. I would only do the cat if I totally felt the V8 could not be tuned properly--otherwise, a roadside sniffer test should be no problem. The fact that you have a V8 in the car won't change anything if they do a visual inspection on it anyway. I'll say it again: I hate smog nazis. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest super280z Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 AARRGG!!! i dont care how big a fine i can get im going to be obstinate until i do and then some more. i seriously hate those things! they serve no purpose to me and they cost money for me to put one on my car! can you say rip-off?? die smog nazi's!!! well maybe just get sick and dont go back to work. [ August 28, 2001: Message edited by: Super280z ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 29, 2001 Share Posted August 29, 2001 But catalytic converters do do something. They convert hydrocarbon emissions to hydrogen and water with no horsepower penalty. That's a good thing for everyone. Unfortunately you have to have the engine control systems in place to keep the air/fuel ratio near stoichiometric. Without those controls the catalytic converter will overheat and fail because most folks run their engines slightly rich. When a cat fails, the internal substrate usually collapses and now you have a big plug in your exhaust system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted August 29, 2001 Author Share Posted August 29, 2001 Good point, so I should at least run closed loop with an O2 sensor? Last thing I need under my car is a fire! Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest super280z Posted August 29, 2001 Share Posted August 29, 2001 quote: Originally posted by johnc: When a cat fails, the internal substrate usually collapses and now you have a big plug in your exhaust system. exactly. then you're left to get under your truck in the freezing cold at 12:30 am with a hacksaw until you open it up, just so you can get back across town. all the while listening to a horrid N/A open exhaust of a beastly 4 cyllinder, hoping that a cop dosen't pull you over and give you a ticket. all this just because of someone's "great idea to clean up the air." yeah, you could say i really dont like cats... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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