Mirek

Hello, do I have any hope of keeping my C5 if I move to SoCal ?

Would it be possible to bring it to West Coast Corvettes (or someplace) in an effort to have them bring it into emissions compliance (?) or perhaps pull the motor, etc.... and just do a complete new emmissions complient build ?

Generally curious how “built Corvettes” can even get plated out there (?)

Thanks for any help. I moved to Manhattan from Michigan 12 years ago and the car has just been sitting in Michigan. Would hate to dump it now.

whalepirot

Maybe, but it largely must be stock If registered to a CA address. Al cars entering get inspected for compliance and further SMOG testing depends on location; rural areas only require testing upon sale; others every 2 years which likely will require a test-only shop, which are tougher. I juste went through this with a totally stock '87 Volvo turbo-4 which failed for having the wrong part number on the CAT! Actually, it is legal but I was lucky enough to get great support from MagnaFlow to show that it IS legal for this car but it took hours of my research for the test place to get a ruling from a referee.

Basically, Kalifornia is moving to get ALL cars off the roads, no matter how little they're driven! Many, many shops have left the state along with enthusiasts for the over-reach, over-regulation with no bearing on logic or reasonable thought. Another industry dying.

New cars are exempt for 5 years; older than 1976 are, too.

Might be cheaper to sell/rebuy a CA-compliant car, but I know your angst. Any such car might need a factory CA smog sticker under the hood. the rules are complex (see above).

they don't, typically, short of CARB approved parts and if front of the CAT(s).

Then, there the roving exhaust sniffers!

WCC JOE

MIREK - Please feel free to contact us regarding your project. We have a lot of experience converting cars to CA (overly) strict SMOG laws.

Service - 888-737-8388 x 237
Parts - 888-737-8388 x 222

calwldlife

wait.
use to be an out of state car with original equip
/non cal car had to be passed if the car had all the smog it came with.
now, all cars are ca compliant thru factory fed standards.
so why is there an issue?

strand rider

I am glad professional help is available for your needs , mosts post I read about bringing modified cars into the state end with a local sale and a lawful , and completely different car on the California end. Primarily because the old parts were tossed out, and then cost becomes the main issue , in the stories I read the cars are more like mine. I suppose, nothing special.

IT is because you are moving into an area with poor air quality, and lots of families with kids. Things have improved, before the air quality was improved , my eyes used to sting and turn red every time we would drive inland to visit the cousins, on some trips my eyes would water.

Like everything with cars, it is just a question of money. You can buy and run thousand horsepower cars all day long out here, just bring the money. It is the land that invented the hot rod, and car events are year round. However, ripping off the smog controls because that is as far as your understanding or budget allows, will go over about as well as building an outhouse instead of hooking up to the municipal waste system. IT won't pass inspection, and smells.

96GS#007

Depends how "built" it really is. From your sig, here are the things that would fail the visual but are easy enough to change...
After the above, it's then about the tune and Smog. Most people with headers have the rear O2 sensors tuned out (actually just the SES light is turned off). That will fail the OBD II check. However, if you go back to a stock C5 exhaust and update the tune you can easily address it while also passing visual.

The rest of "Smog" is really just dependent on how dirty the cam is that you're running. Sometimes a really good tune can get you there, other times you need to swap the cam.

Other than that, you should be good to go.

pkincy

In 03 I moved out of state. While gone I built a couple of cars into Nv then Az compliant shape. In 10 I moved back. I sold those cars to a friend in a more emissions friendly state. In Nv and Az the main deal is passing a sniffer test (Az) and an ALDL test (Nv). I was handy enough with the computer tuning to make both work without much challenge. In California you will likely get sent to a STAR emissions station simply because you own an older Corvette. They are really good at looking at the car for mods that are not CARB (Cal Air Resouce Board) approved. So first, no long tubes. Second all visible mods must have a CARB sticker and eo number.

I suppose you might find somebody that would take a chance and game the system for a couple of hundred bucks extra, but that comes with its own set of problems. I prefer to sleep well at night.

Twistedpixels

So when are we all going to band together and fight the state on these stupid laws and not voting in retards to public office?

pkincy

Well, I have been in California a bit over 30 years and traveled here on business often before that. The smog/pollution has gotten demonstrably better. So I will keep my cats on and do my part to keep the pollution down.

96GS#007

I agree in principle. What needs to change is the "how". My opinion is that if a car passes the smog test, then what CAI or throttle body or headers I have on it are irrelevant. Getting a CARB certification for a part is in general just another money grab by the state.

pkincy

But most testing now is moving away from emissions sniffing and is moving to ALDL testing and that is incredibly easy to spoof. And if it is easy many will do it.

whalepirot

Ditto but latter flight descent into the LA basin is very graphic due to the odor of that 'clean' air.

Deleting cats and smog pumps does virtually nothing to improve power output.

Having just prevailed in a battle with the over-regulation bureaucracy, despite a stock, unmodified car, it is overreach. Specifically one column in the ARB database showed it legal,; another did not, but the former ruled when a referee was consulted after initial 'failure'. Data entry errors have caused failures, too. SMOG places, like any mechanic, vary in efficacy and knowledge, but they have absolute power over whether your car can be street driven. So, I spent many hours, some with MagnaFlow's intelligent support, to prove it IS legal (the car 'sniffed' near zero on ALL tests); that the SMOG guy was ignorant of the law.

Good luck changing SAC! The only possible way is via SEMA's lobbying efforts. Why is a hobby or collector car, driven minimal miles annually, treated the same as a daily commuter car?

Why is effective, intelligent traffic control missing from our deteriorating roadways? Politics has the supposedly dedicated $$ going elsewhere while forcing the fictionally-green battery (research the actual eco-impact of those batteries) cars upon us, as we sit iding at red lights. Their solution is not better traffic flow, but imposing engine shutoff/restarts!

NV smog testing in two counties require 1968 and later cars to be tested, so you might feel better?

Mirek

I am not trying to game the system and money is not a big deal. Thanks for the responses !

ss4luck

Leave it plated out of state, i just moved back to CA for my fiances family and left my DD and the Z plated in MI

danzio56

Very well said, and if you think that it's tough for car enthusiasts just try bringing a firearm in from out of state. Many lifelong Kali's are beating a path out of this dreadful state. It's a shame too. Such a beautiful place completely ruined by idiotic politicians who simply have no other desire than to promote their twisted ideology and increase their voter ranks on the backs of the hard-working middle class. My wife and I have a combined 127 years of life here in Southern California and have had enough and will soon be part of the exodus.

Sorry for the rant. I hope I didn't ruin anyone's lunch.

Well do I feel stupid. I went on my rant forgetting I was in the SOCAL section. So you boys all already know this. Again, my apologies.

Mirek

Pretty positive thanks man, if I can get all my electrical demons resolved. Looks like I may just put myself in WCC’s hands at this point.

TACTrZO6

Commiefornia is a funny place. I will leave it at that

Mirek

After some digging It appears I can drop in a GM “E-Rod” LS3 crate engine. https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19257234.html

They are built for this exact purpose in-fact, and come with cats, etc.....I see the AFR heads for the LS3 are also CARB certified and their are even some shorty headers CARB as well so perhaps this may be easier than anticipated !

whalepirot

Make sure that is specifically true to the exact car, model year, etc. of your C5.

I called Edelbrock to see if their eForce blowers would still be legal on a certain eRod equipped C4. Though promised, they never called back. Reading the thread from a member who did this on a C4, plus the PITA I just slogged thru on smogging a 30 year old Volvo (blew ultra clean) I know CARB is driven by the exact letter of what is in print (even IF there is a typo), real world nothwithstanding.

Quickly, the new, legal CAT I'd installed failed, until, with aid from Magnaflow, I directed the SMOG shop to a different page in the certification documentation! He trhen calloed a referre to verify. Minutia powers bureaucracies.

Mirek

Minutia powers bureaucracies indeed ! What a plate of spaghetti.....I did notice that they incude a specific myi/myo for the E-rod motors which of course 2000 falls outside of.