Bill,
I just picked up a '78 T/A a couple of weeks ago. It's pretty much bone stock, with the cat and other emissions gear in place. I live close to you, in the Alexandria City limits. I wasn't sure where I was going to keep the car the majority of the time, so when I registered it, I got the 2 year tags, and indicated it's garaged in Fauquier County. There's no emissions testing of any type down there. So, every once in a while, I'll tuck the car away down there for a week or two.
I'd be more than happy to run 5.0-style dual cats, but that's not legal according to the state standards, so I plan to run true duals, and desmog the motor (I'll retain all of the original parts in case). For my own sake I know I'll never drive some smoke belching POS, because if for no other reason a poor running car ticks me off. I'd much rather be given a set of standards that had to be met, regardless of how you went about it. As some of the posters to this thread indicated, they can pass the spec, even though the way they did it isn't totally legit.
I suppose my "garaging" the car out of county may not be in keeping with the spirit of the law, but it does meet the letter of the law. Just my .02.
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