None of my car's (or truck) has the original engine in them. And speaking
strictly in California, to my knowledge, there is no record of the engine
number on any registration I have, just the vehicle (or commission) number.
Way back when, when there was NO such thing as "smog" laws and everything
was right with the world, ooops, sorry I digress, anyway my old (actually
new then) 72 Spitfire engine went. Tried rebuilding it, crankshaft shop
reground it wrong (wouldn't turn in the block, long story ) so I ended up
replacing the motor with a narrow bearing 1296 (IT had a big bearing 1296,
but this was a fairly new engine at the time and I couldn't find one at the
wreckers). So, being a fairly law abiding citizen (at the time :-}) I went
down to my local DMV and walked up to the information counter and inquired
about what was required to do when one changes the engine in ones vehicle.
The reply was, "Don't worry about it". My first of many lessons about law
and reality. In truth, with pre smog (that means 73 and earlier) as long
as you have a legitimate receipt for the engine, you have nothing to worry
about, put in whatever engine you want. No one is going to stop you and
ask if thats the original engine or not and it would only *maybe* come up
as a legal question as to engine numbers, if the car was stolen. Even the
gas or repair station that works on the car only cares about what year and
possibly what type of engine so as to provide the correct parts for repair.
With later 74 (at this point) and on vehicles if you change the engine, to
comply with current smog laws you can only put in an engine of the same or
later years complete with all smog equipment. You then have to take it to
an official referee station to have it verified and have a sticker affixed
with all pertinent smog information for the smog station to use when
checking the car. That was pre Smog check II and I haven't checked for any
changes (I don't really need to now) so I don't know if any changes have
been made since then -
Barry Schwartz (San Diego)
bschwart@pacbell.net
72 V6 Spitfire (daily driver)
70 GT6+ (When I don't drive the Spit)
70 Spit (Currently undergoing a frame off)
73 Ford Courier (parts hauler)
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