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  • California Smog Swap Questions

    So I'm here in the PDR of California and have to worry about smog. The new car is stock and will stay so, no smog worries there. The Riv is exempt.

    We MIGHT pickup another car or truck as a hauler/people carrier/camping rig. I have some questions about the restrictions on modifications (thinking practically, not necessarily letter of the law).
    1. What kind of emission equipment do you have to have if you want to put a say a 95 LT1 into a 95 Suburban?

    2. Do they care if you swap a transmission (i.e. a 4L80E for a 4L60E) and have to mess with the computer?

    3. If you get an 80's diesel car (Merc, GM Olds, etc) is it smog legal to swap a gas burner in there without a full battery of emission equipment but keeping the "normal" stuff like charcoal canister, cats and EGR?

    Thanks,
    Central TEXAS Sleeper
    USAF Physicist

    ROA# 9790

  • #2
    Legally the rules are strict, but the testing stations are all independent contractors, so if it is clean enough or if the tester is motivated enough it passes. It's getting tougher and tougher to find easily enthused testers.
    My hobby is needing a hobby.

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    • #3
      you can have my p0420 code from 1996, it is very helpful.

      Previously boxer3main
      the death rate and fairy tales cannot kill the nature left behind.

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      • #4
        California smog folks are a breed unto themselves. We (the EPA) couldn't work with them and I doubt many others can, either. Chad may have a better handle on the specific rules - what you can slide by and what you can't. Notice that when I retired I didn't choose California!

        Dan

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        • #5
          It used to be, everyone knew someone who knew someone who'd "do" the smog for a hundred bucks...seeing those guys with the toy collections they'd amass, and in some cases playing fast and loose with the screwing customers the same way they screwed with the smog laws...it could give you a wish to stay away from the whole mess and just live with the rules. So, the new definition of "friendly" smog guy (here at least) is someone who knows his stuff first, and then is willing to help with advice on how to be compliant while doing the modifications you already know make sense.

          Crap, I met a smog guy at a cruise a few weeks ago who was promising all kinds of help to hot rodders, under a little questioning it turned out he didn't know some of the rules. Huh? No help, there.

          When something like an engine change is in the works, you wind up going to what's called a "referee" station, and they'll know all the rules and have the info and sort it out if it can be done, and give you a sticker with a serial number on it so you can go to regular stations after that. I've never been to one. I've heard they are easy to work with, and also that they are horrible/impossible to work with, so I guess take your pick. It's where you'd wind up with an LT1-in-a-'95 Suburban anyhow. (Advice: just get a newer one with an LS.)

          Diesels over a certain age do not have to see a smog station, ever. We got a '95 Cummins partly for that reason. You can get a diesel car then once you've got it registered and know you're safe, do whatever you wish with the engine.
          ...

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          • #6
            We don't have to deal with smog where I live in AZ, but the folks who live in Tucson and Phoenix do. But if we build a car, and want to sell it where the buyers are, it has to pass. So I tend to treat the laws as if they are actual laws, and abide by them.

            That means I save all my engine swap and modification efforts for vehicles that are exempt. If I want to make something go fast or work nice, I start with a vehicle that is old, like mid 60s or older.

            The late models are left alone.

            Think about it.
            My fabulous web page

            "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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            • #7
              The short time Metro Detroit had emission testing I was a tester. Not passing a car based off a visual inspection is bullshit.

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              • #8
                But the laws are written such that it has to pass a visual inspection. And there's a reason for that...

                My fabulous web page

                "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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                • #9
                  I was glad to see it go. I could hand you a waver just as easy as running the test itself. It was a waste of everyone's time.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by squirrel View Post
                    But the laws are written such that it has to pass a visual inspection. And there's a reason for that...
                    None of the mechanics I worked with liked running the tests. The pay wasn't there and it defeated the purpose of why we came to work.

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                    • #11
                      What does "visual inspection". mean anyway?

                      That the legal equipment is there?

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                      • #12
                        Yup. as an example, you won't see the effects of an AIR pump or EGR valve in a test, most likely. But they are required to be on the car if it was built with them, and removing them is a violation of a federal law.
                        Last edited by squirrel; September 1, 2015, 10:01 AM.
                        My fabulous web page

                        "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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                        • #13
                          While I'm not sure I'm really going to do anything for a while on a vehicle in limbo, I'm just trying to get the lay of the land since I like to kill time thinking about projects. I do want to obey the law though being a Buick fan, the availability of CARB approved modifications for V6's is pretty small.

                          The LT1 into a Suburban was just an example of a car engine into a truck and a change of vehicle category. Do I get to use the truck's standards or would I have to get everything from the donor.

                          The trans question is probably the most likely to occur soon since my new neighbor has a 95 Sierra Z-71 with a dieing 4L60E for $500. Considering the likelihood of a junkyard vehicle having a blown 4L60E, and the rapid year to year changes making the early 4L60E's year specific I'm considering a 4L80E swap or the work needed to put a latter and more plentiful 4L60E in. Both of these make me think that I'll need to mess with the computer and/or a stand alone to make it work.

                          The last question is I seriously desire to one day own a V12. The idea there is could you take an 80's Merc 350SEL or B-body with an original diesel engine and put a Merc V12 in there with the basics of an emissions system (cats, engine EGR if equipped, charcoal canister, PCV) and have it be passingly legal. I've seen some craigslist listings extolling the smog exemptions of 80's G-body diesels and wanted to confirm. This also applies to my LSR project and if I started with a diesel VIN I could drive it on the street and not be all Freiberger with no registration, smog or anything else tooling around.

                          Thanks,
                          Central TEXAS Sleeper
                          USAF Physicist

                          ROA# 9790

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Well if it's older than '75 you don't have to worry about any car.

                            W/ the Suburban example, they'd probably let you but make you adhere to the engine donor requirements. The other way around, a truck engine in a car, probably a no-go, period.

                            The 4L80E, if you couldn't slip that in un-noticed, maybe the stand-alone could be buried. I don't know what kind of feed back might come out of those transmissions that they're looking for, and I'm thinking of an example like a manual trans skip-shift where a simple resistor in the right place will cover it's removal. An area where a really informed guy could help.

                            If your V12 car were anything older than '75 again you're fine...then the cutoff year for an original diesel having to smog is late-'90s I believe.
                            ...

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                            • #15
                              I have a BAR exemption on my 77 D100 swapped to a 71 360. I had to go see the refferee and the inspection was thorough. Numbers on engine and reference books on equipment. Smog in CA was.by year of engine for installations done in 1983 or prior. My truck.is grandfathered in under that provision, and approved by BAR ref. Still subject to biannual inspection. It is very inconvenient to have to go in for smog inspection and then have to explain the BAR doorjamb placard and equipment exemption.

                              I would suggest contacting BAR and getting the current requirements firsthand.

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