Any of you guys had trouble with smog testing in the Bay Area?
I am thinking of long tubes & cold air intake.
I know the visual won't pass, but do they look under the car?

 

I dont have LT..but from what Ive heard its a crap shoot...depends allot on where you get it tested

 

First, read this thread ....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=2093119

Second, LTs are a crap shoot .... some smog techs will let them go if you pass the actual smog test .... others will fail you.

The BAR is cracking down on shops here in Cali .... the word is they are issuing fines by taking "illegal" cars into smog shops and seeing if the tech passes the car or not ..... if they "pass" the car ... they get whacked.

Go here and scroll to page 9. Note that shops can, and do, lose their license for seriously breaking the rules, and even minor violations result in fines (starting on page 10). Note that while a $500.00 or $1,000.00 fine might not sound that bad to you .... first, these guys aren't exacly making 6 figure salaries, and second .... you know that shop is gonna be WAY more unwilling to let stuff go in the future ....

http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARResource...C-summer08.pdf

Your decision ......

 

lol I wonder if you could bribe the guys, if it fails, flash a c note

 

Won't work ... even the state isn't that dumb ..... the way it works is the computer that is hooked to your car is what reports the results to the DMV ... if your car fails that's what is reported ... the smog technician can't change that. The ONLY way a bribe would work is to get past the "visual" .... once your car is hooked to the computer .... you're screwed if the car is outside the legal smog limits.

 

ya agreed, if the computer is tuned correctly, shouldn't throw any flags from pcm, but if he uses the mirror or under the hood.. tape a c note in the engine bay

 

What if you put on CARB legal headers (SLP makes a set and we are not talking shorties, these are 50 state legal mid length headers) I would assume at first glance with a mirror the guy (not knowing really what he is looking for) would fail you. Now if you whip out a sheet saying they are legal, wouldn't that allow you to pass? If thats the case, what wouldn't get a person to either make a photocopy of this documentation or even better, by a set for security to allow them to pass in such a superstrict state as california. hmmmmmm just something to ponder.

 

You obviously don't understand. It doesn't matter if the manufacturer of a piece of equipment calls it 50 state legal or not. If it does not have a CARB Exemption Order (EO) number, it is not legal. The shop may blow off the visual, but if they look, and your headers are not the 2 or 3 shortie models that actually have an EO number, you fail. The CARB doesn't care what the manufacturer claims, if they don't go through CARB's BS certification, they're not legal.

My brother went through this BS with his Honda. No exempt header, fail the test.

Update- Just looked through the CARB database http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermk...rmktdevice.php

The only C5 headers I saw were JBA, B & B, and Pacesetter. SLP has nothing for vettes past 1995.

 

1. Get past visual (see steps 5 - 6)
2. Have a fresh working pair of Cats.
3. Have a good tune
4. get a shop that will Pre-test your car 1st
5. Bring lots of $
6. Pray
7. Live in a non-participating county.
http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/Applicat...ZipLookup.aspx

 

I don't live in CA, but pretty soon, the rest of the US will be applying CA emissions standards to emissions testing.

IMHO there are too many people out there spending too much time and money trying to get around emissions laws. If you are building a track-only all-out racer that will never be registered to run on public roads and is trailered out to track events that is one thing. Why do so many people insist on putting LT headers, tunes and remove cats from their Vettes, run them on the street and then come on here trying to get "advice" on how/why they can't do this and pass emissions testing Just leave it stock or use CARB approved mods and call it a day.

 

actually I understood you perfectly....sorry if I didn't phrase it better. This is exactly where I was coming from. What if you have a legal CARB approved header and they do the visual and fail you because they are not trained well enough to know what is legal and what is not. Furthermore, who is to say what brand name header you have. If you have the documentation stating what you have on your car how do you prove that is what it is. Are they actually going to jack your car up to find that engraved CARB number on the header or would they just look at the paperwork. I don't think mirrors would cut it as: 1) they are going to produce everything backwards making the number difficult to read and possibility of writing it down incorrect and 2) You would have to position that mirror perfectly to find the plate if the plate showing the CARB number is in plain view. This may not be the case though.

 

I agree but also disagree. I believe that CATs should be mandatory on all vehicles on the road. I believe that you should be able to alter your car to your hearts content as long as you adhere and pass whatever your states requirements, emission and inspection laws are. This is basically the way things are right now. They should leave it alone at this. If the EPA gets it there way you will not be able to alter a thing on your car! Not even be able to change out your air intake. They want everything to be CARB or EPA approved. That's really great, and guess what, for every item that is CARB or EPA approved, they get a chunk of change from the manufacture. This benefits them great even if the item does absolutely nothing for the environment vs the aftermarket non-approved CARB unit. The thing with the EPA is they set the rules and honestly those rules are not 100% legit. Thy shouldn't be able to say a LT header is not CARB approved because it moves the cat converters a little. It should be that as long as you meet or exceed the numbers when getting an inspection, it shouldn't matter what you have done as long as you go by your states requirements and final passable numbers. If any new laws are going to be written in stone, they are going to have to crack down and apply them to everybody. The truckers emit more emissions then 30 cars on the road. The reason: they are exempt and don't follow the same rules. (The EPA knows and understands they could never ever crack down on the truckers, as we would hurt our trade and commerce so bad, that they themselves would face being shut down). In addition to this, too many states have people in high places that will prevent this law from ever being passed. Most of the southern states and states like New Hampshire are perfect examples. Live free or die and the political leaders in these states believe in that. This is why the EPA has for years been trying to crack down and just can't.

Way too much money and politics to overlook when it comes to cars and emissions. This battle will be with us for a long time to come and people will always be finding ways to get around it, no matter what they do to their cars....from mild to wild.

 

Not likely to happen.

Most of the states around here are already dropping certain testing. Most would prefer it go away completely, as it's clearly obvious what a ridiculous waste of state budget $ is dumped into it.

But, in the event the envirowacko's get their wish..all that will happen to the "hardcore" driving their "racecars" on the street is the same as what happens every day now in CA....they will simply cease to register them. Problem solved.

It's not like you can't drive around for years before getting popped for non-registration.

 

yep I completely agree.....and I know from some people back where I lived in Massachusetts. This is one law that you barely get a slap on the wrist. I know people that have 3 offenses or more for driving unregistered, uninsured, motor vehicles. Shoot some of these same people are driving around on suspended licenses too! and you know what happens when they go to court, NOTHING. They get told ok you have 30 days to get your affairs in order. I have no faith in the court systems at all anymore.

 

Not in Cali .... (CA Vehicle Code 22651) if the vehicle is driven with an expired registration, and the expiration was more than 6 months ago, you not only get cited, your vehicle is towed and impounded until you show the impound proof of ownership, proof of current registration, and a current driver's license AND pay all outstanding tow/impound fees (and they won't take a check or credit card).

Towing agencies around here charge over $200 for the tow, and I've heard of private impound yards charging as much as $100 per day .... it doesn't take long for the fees alone to become pretty outrageous. The CHP are probably the most "eagle eyed" and hard nosed about this as most of the CHP budget comes from registration fees.

You don't drive a car with expired registration in California.