California emissions
- Thread starter Slo Poke
- Start date
Shouldn't be a problem. I bought my car from Texas and it had the same mods as you. Obviously, like you said cats will need to be installed.
With cats it should pass the sniffer, but stuff like JLT will not pass the visual because it does not have a E.O. number. Every mod has to have one to be "legal" in CA. It sucks!
If you take your car to place that gives a hard time with visuals then find another. I have never been hit with visual inspections.
The Bassani catted X is techincally illegal, as the law says you are not supposed to replace your cats. But if they dont look itdoesnt matter. The K&N intake is legal, I am not sure about any others. The laws are pretty dumb, but what can you do. I run a magnaflow catted X and havent had a problem.
If I'm not mistaken, anything past the cats is legal and doesn't require an EO number. But the intake, etc will need EO numbers to pass the visual. And like Bullitt said...changing cats is illegal unless they were damaged or failed.
you are right, catbacks are not illegal, but then they try to bust you on sound. I am not trying to discourage you from modding your car, just letting you know the rules here. Look at my sig, pretty much everything but the catted X, and the supporting stuff for the whipple is CA legal with a E.O. #, oh and cooling type stuff does not need a the E.O. #.
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put some cats back on and your stock intake. you will pass.
Good advice. The intake is the only thing they might give you trouble about. Also keep in mind if you have purchased your car within one year they will want you to pay taxes on it again here which is total BS.corpsedub said:
jmproductions said:
WHAT??? Sales tax? Or some other tax?
Never heard of that.jmproductions said:
Venomous01 said:
Yep. Difference in sales tax between what you paid and what cali charges.
Basically, there's no sales tax in OR. So people were hopping across the state line to do major purchases. The state of cali found out, and now makes you ante up on that sales tax for everything they can. Car registration is something they can control.
:lol1:
Bullitt4110 said:
The smog shop or the local constables?
I once had a 79 Fox that had a 84 GT drivetrain in it, which was gutted and set up for strip duty. However the original owner actually went to the smog ref and got a stamped ref tag on the car.
When I got it I had to remove the exhaust he had in order to smog it.
I put the stock headers and H-pipe on it, but NO MUFFLERS!
It sounded ugly but it passed smog!
Like everyone else said, put the stock H-pipe and air intake back on and whatever else VISIBLE that does not have a C.A.R.B. # for it.
But watch out with HOPING they dont say anything to you about any of these mods.
I once took one of my trucks down to the smog shop and went through the whole process: visual, dyno w/sniffer.
And when the guy handed me the bill he didnt even say it failed, he just gave me the bill. (failed for not having the heat stove from the exhaust mainfold 87 toyota p/u)
So beware because here in California they electronically send the results to the DMV. You dont want the hassle that comes with failing.
But watch out with HOPING they dont say anything to you about any of these mods.
I once took one of my trucks down to the smog shop and went through the whole process: visual, dyno w/sniffer.
And when the guy handed me the bill he didnt even say it failed, he just gave me the bill. (failed for not having the heat stove from the exhaust mainfold 87 toyota p/u)
So beware because here in California they electronically send the results to the DMV. You dont want the hassle that comes with failing.
The local constables. I have gotten pulled over loud exhaust. But for smog reasons catbacks dont matter.nrmustang said:
JSHTROD said:
I can believe that. Actually all states are trying to do something about that sort of thing.
Full Disclosure:
I moved to CA and DID NOT take my Cobra because it will not pass emissions in CA. (I had lived here before) I left it garaged in Detroit. Not only would I have to pay a hefty registration fee, but in CA the emissions process is more strict than any other state. The sniffers are hooked directly into the DMV's online system, which means that as soon as a car passes or fails the data is sent directly to the DMV and then to the police. That means that as soon as you fail emissions and leave the DMV the cops have your license plate number and can pull you over for breaking the law.
Some people claim they have "Pay to Pass" relationships with local smog queens, but I seriously doubt it since the system went online. That would be so blatantly illegal I find it hard to believe it would be worth the risk of a couple hundred bucks. Of course, there are probably people reading this that have done exactly that lol...
One last thing, its only illegal to remove your cats in CA if they were working properly. It's obviously not illegal if you told the tester that you replaced them because they weren't working properly. Dozens of people have to do that every day when their car fails emissions...
PS. You will need EGR to pass in CA too...
I moved to CA and DID NOT take my Cobra because it will not pass emissions in CA. (I had lived here before) I left it garaged in Detroit. Not only would I have to pay a hefty registration fee, but in CA the emissions process is more strict than any other state. The sniffers are hooked directly into the DMV's online system, which means that as soon as a car passes or fails the data is sent directly to the DMV and then to the police. That means that as soon as you fail emissions and leave the DMV the cops have your license plate number and can pull you over for breaking the law.
Some people claim they have "Pay to Pass" relationships with local smog queens, but I seriously doubt it since the system went online. That would be so blatantly illegal I find it hard to believe it would be worth the risk of a couple hundred bucks. Of course, there are probably people reading this that have done exactly that lol...
One last thing, its only illegal to remove your cats in CA if they were working properly. It's obviously not illegal if you told the tester that you replaced them because they weren't working properly. Dozens of people have to do that every day when their car fails emissions...
PS. You will need EGR to pass in CA too...
^^kinda. you can always do a 30$ pre-test, if your car fails, they tell you why, you pay the 30$, fix the problem, then go back to the same shop and if you feel the problem is fixed, pay another 10$ to get the full test (which is 40$). if youre still curious, anne up another 30$ to make sure.
and yeah, "pay to pass" hookups are everywhere, though theyre getting harder to find. its not very hard, the sniffer is usually just layed next to the tailpipe so what it does pick up is very minimal compared to if it was in the tailpipe.
most times you can find a hole-in-the-wall smog shop that will either be very loose with mods or wont know what theyre looking at to know the difference. biggest thing is vacuum line placement and all egr stuff in place. they might check to see if cats are still in place, but last two times ive smogged a car, they just asked and i told them it was just a catback exhaust.
and yeah, "pay to pass" hookups are everywhere, though theyre getting harder to find. its not very hard, the sniffer is usually just layed next to the tailpipe so what it does pick up is very minimal compared to if it was in the tailpipe.
most times you can find a hole-in-the-wall smog shop that will either be very loose with mods or wont know what theyre looking at to know the difference. biggest thing is vacuum line placement and all egr stuff in place. they might check to see if cats are still in place, but last two times ive smogged a car, they just asked and i told them it was just a catback exhaust.
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