Quote:
Originally Posted by INJUNTOM
BTW, I've had a smog license since 1993, so I know a couple things about this.
And let's not forget that they do roadside checkpoints looking for this stuff with a hefty fine to the owner of the vehicle and possibly the last person to have smogged it if caught.
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I also know a few guys who are gold shield certified on smog among other things and everything you are saying is 100% correct. Doesn't mean people don't deliberately try and skirt the rules or that there isn't the occasional tech out there who will take a few c-notes to pass a grossly failing car, but it definitely isn't the norm and you should not rely on it. No legitimate shop is going to risk their expensive license, the hefty fines and dyno equipment they had to buy just to help some dude off the street. And if you're driving like an idiot or get a cop having a bad day and he pulls you over and makes you pop your hood, it's a world of hurt and fines if they catch you cheating.
You can theoretically put almost any Pontiac v8 in any car that came with one you want that is smogged here, they won't check for VIN numbers or block stamp codes (and even if they did 99% won't know how to read them anyways). But that emissions sticker on the core support must match everything in the engine 100% or you fail visual. Make it pass visual (easy), make it pass the pressurizer, and make it pass the dyno sniffer. There is a lot of leeway for a Pontiac 400 and 455 and I made my 400 pass with like 1/3 the max allowed NOx, 0.0 HC emissions, and almost no CO2 emissions as well. Very doable, but once you start yanking off things like EGR valves or having a carb\intake with no CARB number on them, you won't pass easily if at all even if you can make it past visual.