Jeff Loh <asp125@concentric.net> inquires:
>Do any of you left-coasters know if there are hassles bringing a 49-state
>car into CA? Especially one that's been modified (later engine, stock
>otherwise). What are the pitfalls or potential costs: emissions, retrofits
>etc?? Reply privately if not of general interest to the list. Any BTDTs? I
>am out of state, but might bring my cars with me.
>Thanks -Jeff 78 911 w/ 85 motronic (A/SP)
I did a bunch of info gathering when i was considering building a killer
DSP or CSP Volkswagen in case i had to go out of state to find a good
candidate, so here's what i've learned.......
First of all, some cars meet the more stringent California Emissions Standards
even though they weren't sold new in California; first look under the hood
and there's supposed to be a sticker indicating that it either meets California
or Federal emissions standards. If it meets Calif standards you'll just have
the car smog tested just as if it were sold here. Then go buy a lottery ticket
while your luck is running high :-)
However, if it only meets the Federal Standards, read on:
There's going to be a one-time non-California equipped "Smog Impact Fee"
of $300.00 right off the bat, plus the regular cost of a standard smog test
and certificate. Then every two years after that you'll have the car smog
tested/certified just like the rest of us Californians.
Your situation my be hampered with the newer engine being in the
older car, in this case the testing facility uses the testing specs for
whichever is *newer* so in your case it's the engine. If the tester
knows that the car has had an "engine swap" they'll send you to
a special AQMD Referee Station where state technicians scrutinize
the hell out of the installation, and they're actually pretty sharp
and know exactly what belongs where. Your engine will have to
have all the related emissions equipment that came on the donor car,
not the recipient car, and they nitpick right down to the little crap
like a vacuum fitting with too small of a bleed-off orifice (happened
to my pal with a 16v transplanted in his Rabbit!) Sheesh !! If
the donor car had a fuel injection vent line running the full length
of the car to the tank, they'll require it on the old chassis even
if the old chassis didn't use this type of venting system. You do
not have to add California-specific smog equipment to a 49 state
car, but the 49 state equipment must be intact and working.
As long as everything is there and in proper working order they'll pass
you and apply a little sticker telling future smog testing stations what
values to use when testing your car. It's initially a pain in the butt
(not to mention costly) but from then on it's tested every two years
normally just like the rest of us with '74 and newer vehicles.
I don't know if you'd be able (or willing) to leave out the fact that
the engine is newer and try to get it through the testing procedure
as if the engine were original. If the car fails a smog test (even the
"visual" portion of the test) it's sent to the Referee Station for a closer
look, and if it's declared a "gross polluter" the car has to be corrected
then tested every year for the next three years (kinda like a probation)
then reverts back to it's standard two-year testing after that. The techs
may not spot the fact that the engine is swapped if everything looks
right, but if you get caught you could play stupid and implore that they
help you by advising how to correct it. If you get on their good side
they're pretty cool and would be willing to help you since you're "trying
to do the right thing and conform". Whatever you do, make sure the
car has everything and it's in good working order. Tune the car up, set
the timing dead-on to factory settings, and leave the car idling or running
while waiting for the test cause a warm engine runs cleaner than a cold one.
>From the time i leave home until the car is up on the rollers being tested,
i don't shut that engine off :-)
Here's some pages with tons of good information:
http://www.smogcheck.org/
http://www.smogcheck.org/moving.htm <------- especially this one
http://www.smogcheck.org/000077.htm
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/newtoca/newtoca.htm
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/faq/faq3.htm#2540
Randy
So Calif
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