Made mistake bought modded Terminator

[cleon238]

Hey everyone I just bought a terminator a few days ago and it was probably a mistake. I should’ve done more research but I didn’t and purchased a cobra with a tune and a ported supercharger. I live in California and I need to get it smogged as it was out of state. It has a non legal MAF as well as the ported super and smaller pulley. It does have stock cats but is there anyway I can get it back to stock or anywhere I can find a stock tune to at least get it to pass smog? I feel like a wasted a lot of money and at this point I think my only option is to sell the car

 

[01yellercobra]

Did the seller include the hand held device? If so that should have the stock tune on it.

The JLT itself is CARB legal. Executive Order D-761 JLT Performance

I know there are some Cobra guys around you. Check for facebook groups if you're on there. But I'm sure one of them has a stock MAF, injectors, and pulley you can borrow. And if you don't care about the Steggy plague you could just pull it off and clean off any residue. It's not like they can see inside the blower.

Or if you have friends that live out of state you might start by offering them some beer.

 

[2003RedfireVert]

Man, Kalifornia is gay.

 

[gimmie11s]

Sell to me for a deeply discounted price.

Yes, im also in CA.

 

[Rb0891]

Hey everyone I just bought a terminator a few days ago and it was probably a mistake. I should’ve done more research but I didn’t and purchased a cobra with a tune and a ported supercharger. I live in California and I need to get it smogged as it was out of state. It has a non legal MAF as well as the ported super and smaller pulley. It does have stock cats but is there anyway I can get it back to stock or anywhere I can find a stock tune to at least get it to pass smog? I feel like a wasted a lot of money and at this point I think my only option is to sell the car

Moving would be an option.

 

[13COBRA]

Moving would be an option.

Probably the best option.

 

[PC03GT]

You're probably going to need a new inlet elbow.

 

[03cobra#694]

Probably the best option.

and expensive I'm sure.

 

[robvas]

Title it in some other state

 

[03' White Snake]

Like Bob said, If you have the handheld, load a stock tune. Put a stock looking intake, injectors and MAF on it. Leave the pulley alone. Get a stock pulley cover if you want. Stay out of boost and it will be ok to drive that way. Do your test and swap it all back.

 

[cleon238]

Sell to me for a deeply discounted price.

Yes, im also in CA.

What would be deeply discounted to you?

 

[cleon238]

I

 

[cleon238]

Like Bob said, If you have the handheld, load a stock tune. Put a stock looking intake, injectors and MAF on it. Leave the pulley alone. Get a stock pulley cover if you want. Stay out of boost and it will be ok to drive that way. Do your test and swap it all back

By any chance if I didn’t have the handheld is there anything I can do? The dealer I bought it from didn’t give me anything

 

[cleon238]

Title it in some other state

Does this actually work? I keep hearing it but do you think that doing something like this would be considered tax evasion? If not do you know what state would work?

 

[01yellercobra]

By any chance if I didn’t have the handheld is there anything I can do? The dealer I bought it from didn’t give me anything

You can have it flashed back to stock by a dealer. But you'll need a way to save the current tune. Or just plan on getting it retuned afterwards.

Does this actually work? I keep hearing it but do you think that doing something like this would be considered tax evasion? If not do you know what state would work?

It works. I know more than one person that has their car registered elsewhere.

 

[03' White Snake]

By any chance if I didn’t have the handheld is there anything I can do? The dealer I bought it from didn’t give me anything

You can check if there is a "chip" installed in the backside of the computer. If there is, you can just unplug it and that should revert back to a stock tune. Piggy back chips are the old school way of tunes. If your car is using this, after you pass your emissions test, I would suggest having it retuned with a handheld anyway.

It is very simple to check for the chip. Pull the plastic trim in the passenger side foot area. You will need to undo 2 screws or so. 1 is ground, Remove the plastic white piece. Then the computer will pull out of the body of the car. Check if a chip is plugged into the top side of the computer. If not, reinstall it all the way it was in there.

Use this for reference.

 

[gimmie11s]

Title it in some other state

This is the way.

 

[gimmie11s]

What would be deeply discounted to you?

If this car is NOT a convertible and still in decent condition overall -- PM me.

 

[gimmie11s]

Does this actually work? I keep hearing it but do you think that doing something like this would be considered tax evasion? If not do you know what state would work?

IDK about tax evasion, im not a lawyer, don't listen to anything I have to say

BUT

You will likely get harassed/ticketed by CHP and whatever local PD is near you for your out of state plates.

 

[03Sssnake]

You can check if there is a "chip" installed in the backside of the computer. If there is, you can just unplug it and that should revert back to a stock tune. Piggy back chips are the old school way of tunes. If your car is using this, after you pass your emissions test, I would suggest having it retuned with a handheld anyway.

It is very simple to check for the chip. Pull the plastic trim in the passenger side foot area. You will need to undo 2 screws or so. 1 is ground, Remove the plastic white piece. Then the computer will pull out of the body of the car. Check if a chip is plugged into the top side of the computer. If not, reinstall it all the way it was in there.

Use this for reference.

Bingo, handhelds were just starting to become a thing when these cars were new. I actually installed the chip onto that ECU port back in the day. Jesus I can’t believe it’s almost been 22 years, bought mine new in winter of 2002…