[TR] Identifying Spitfire Cylinder head # TKC 2748( Now another Head and Block)

Randall tr3driver at ca.rr.com
Fri Apr 23 15:29:38 MDT 2010


> Maybe there was an exclusion for "Furin" cars.  Mt 75 Vette I bought
> new had that equipment.

As I (vaguely) recall, there were a few cars that initially got temporary
exemptions.  But the whole thing was, as I think someone already mentioned,
based on actual tailpipe emissions.  There was no requirement for a catalyst
as such, it was up to the car makers to meet the tailpipe requirements in
whatever fashion they could.  Ditto for air injection (smog pumps), EGR and
so on.

And as pointed out, the tailpipe standards were different for different
vehicle classes.

Leaded fuel continued to be readily available on the west coast until well
into the 80's.  Like many others, I bashed out the restriction so I could
burn cheaper leaded fuel, then eventually had to replace the fill pipe once
the restriction became part of the biannual smog check.  

Oddly enough, the leaded fuel never did poison my cat so bad that it
wouldn't pass the test ... when the car finally did flunk years later, we
discovered that there were no pellets left in the converter at all!  The
screens had rotted away and the pellets must've rolled out the tailpipe (or
were laying in the muffler).

-- Randall 


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