Shane-
You ask about exhausts, smog and legality on your TR6...
Look out, Nick's at the keyboard and here comes his OPINION...
First, the blanket statement...
Shane, you can put any exhaust you want on your car, up to and
including a straight pipe if you want to. (Of course you will get tickets for
the noise, but your smog legality will be impeccable !
There is absolutely nothing in the Cal smog regs which governs
the type of exhaust system you install from the exhaust manifold back on your
TR6 (cat back for you later car types, and you know who you are). So put on
whatever you think will appease the sound police in your area, and will
appeal to your ears, it doesn't matter
(legally speaking).
In regards to the warning you see posted on exhaust headers for sale " not
legal in Calif for pollution controlled etc etc ", this is posted by the
sellers because they can not govern what vehicle the
owner is actually gonna put the part on. If your car does not have
an air pump/air injection, most any manifold will be ok. (For the street, I
would recommend a 6>3>2 setup as this will give better power in the lower rev
ranges as opposed to the 6>1, or 6>2 setup used for high rpm power). If your
car does have air injection, the
BAR (Bureau of Automotive Repair) can supply a list of
"approved" headers. There will probably be no headers listed for a TR6 with
air injection. All is not lost yet, as I have been able to "build" my own
legal headers by taking a non-legal set of headers and brazing on the
fittings for the air injection and plumbing them from scratch. After you have
the system together, you can go to a referee station and have the system that
you have built, inspected by the authorities and with any luck they will pass
it. (I have done this myself without any glitches)
You do not say where you currently reside, but it sounds like you are about
to get your first experience with the Calif smog system.
If you are military (San Diego based ? ), I do not know what exemptions are
allowed, but if you are just moving here, be advised that there is an
additional "fee" when you regeister your out of state car for the first time
in Calif, due to the difference between Calif and federal smog systems (up to
$300 extra).
Finally, just because your car is stock at this time, it may fail the smog
test anyhow.
Significant leaks in the exhaust system = you fail
Slightly out of tune = you fail
Tuned to actually run = you fail
Specs must be "right on" and my personal experience is that the car must run
so lean on the smog machine that it is hard to drive.
Be prepared to pay the inspector to "tune" your car up so that it will pass
specs.
Ok, now the disclaimers...No I am not an attorney
No I am not a smog inspector
No I do not work for the BAR
No I am not telling you this is legal
Yes this is my OPINION
Absolutely Exhausted
Nick in Nor Cal
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