ElanMike

I have shorty headers on the car and the smog shop is saying they have to fail it. IS this right? How do i get around this. I only went with short as they were supposed to be OK for in CA.
Help please?

C54TIM

Only if the headers are not Carb certified. Check with the manufacture of the headers. I had short headers on my car, they were Carb Certified. I put the sticker on the sill plate under the wipers. I had no problem passing smog.
If they fail you it opens a big can of worms.
Best of luck to ya,
Tim

ElanMike

My smog was aborted! And, the shop didn't charge me a penny, luckily. I'm planning to buy a set of smog certified headers and then sell the old ones to someone outdie of CA. It's probably the expensive solution, but I don;t now how to find a smog shop that will pass me.
The headers i had were advertised as 50-state legal, but did not have CARB cert. I phoned the dealer who then sent me to the manufacturer. They said they are legal, but won't pass SMOG. I then argued the point to no avail. When asked what i should, they kindly told me I was screwed. Nice, especially from a manufacturer actually located in CA. :banghead:

SDVette

Sorry to hear of your hassle with this.

The old days of the 'wink wink' smog check are long gone. They have really cracked down on that stuff.

I had an old van that failed the visual inspection because someone had removed the 'vacuum amplifier'. The measured emisions were below the limit, but they failed it on a visual inspection only. I was able to go to a junkyard and get a vacuum amplifier, then run the lines so it looked like it was doing something, and pass. That's our taxpayer dollars hard at work!

allanlaw

I guess their argument is that California is not one of the 50 states. I've heard people say this before, but for political reasons. Seriously, this is b.s., and they really should get taken to the woodshed for such obvious misstatements in their advertising. Maybe you should whisper "California Business & Professions Code Section 17200" in their ear and see what happens. :smash:

tpocock

You should look up any aftermarket part to make sure that it has a CARB#, at:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermk...es/amquery.php

There are many parts that are "50 state smog legal" but do not have CARB#'s and therefore will fail a smog check in California.


[Modified by tpocock, 2:32 PM 9/9/2003]

wwashing

Those guys must be pretty Corvette savy to notice that set of shorty headers where not stock.

Unlucky you for taking it to such a place.

:(

larrysb

Maybe you can file a complaint with CARB and the California Attorney General's office for false advertisement, which is what it is if they claimed the headers to be legal in all 50 states.

No CARB EO means not legal in California, advertising otherwise is deceptive trade practice and I garantee you CARB and the State will come down hard on a California business that is doing that.

MTV

I have been considering an FLP long tube Headers System with cats and cross over. After reading this thread, I emailed FLP to find out if the headers were CARB certified and they said they weere not, no long tube header was CARB certified, but their Cats were CARB certified. What does this mean?
:confused:

WALLstAL

You should try another shop and have them do a pre inspection first. I know of several guys with L/T Headers that have not had a problem with the visual.

SFVetteman

B&B and JBA are the only two shorty headers that have an EO#. JBA are about half the price of B&B but I know of one C5 owner that returned them because they didn't line up right, so fitment might be a problem :banghead:

SFVetteman

In order for headers, LT or shorty, to become CARB certified the manufacturer must submit them for testing which takes time and costs money. Currently, most manufacturers don't think the CA market is worth it. In addition, in the years when C5's had pup cats they might have to incorporate them into the design to be legal.

The difference in OEM and high flow converters is not how well they do their job as both do it equaly well. The difference lies in how long they will last as the high flow converters have fewer pellets for less restriction to get the job done. However, it is technically illegal to replace converters unless the originals are bad.

SNW Vette

Hi,
Bassani has a long tube for single cat cars that they are testing to get an EO. The current guess is that they will have the test done in December. Andy at A&A is selling these headers now. In CA, single cat cars are ’97-‘99 C5’s and ’02 and later Z06’s.

If your shorty’s are B&B’s and you failed the smog test because you don’t have the original documentation, call Mike at B&B ask them to help you out.
Good luck,
Steve
:seeya

larrysb

Yup. I agree completely.

However, it's just completely wrong for someone to advertize a product as being legal in California when it does not carry an EO# that makes it so.

BLUTHUNDER

Go to another SMOG shop..Mine passed with RK longtubes ;)


Good Luck !

:cheers:

Jeff

daveydc5

Try SLP. I know all of their F-body headers have a CARB number.

Lancer033

Yet another reason not to live in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia