1976-1980 Chevy trucks smog exempt in California S.B.1239

[68c10owner]

Originally Posted by slotard

There are some screwy rules for engine swaps too. If I want to 100% legally put a 6.0/4L80E in my truck I'd have to swap over all the emissions stuff from the donor truck including evap, cats in original location, etc. I imagine that when I get around to a swap even if I don't put ANY emissions stuff on it'll be cleaner than my truck when it left the factory.

The nice thing though is the later engines have less emissions or less complicated emissions. I have no trouble running the smog equipment required for the year of the engine. The only reason to not like the smog stuff is if you want to hot rod it or you have a truck like my 85 with california emissions and can only use parts for a 85-86 truck for smog and there is almost nothing available.

[mattcrp1]

I signed the petition last week, I sure hope this catches traction.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Originally Posted by 68c10owner

Not to mention that prior to 1966 the only smog equipment was a road draft tube.

And to be clear, just because we dont have to smog 75-older vehicles doesnt mean we cant get a ticket for removing the smog equipment. It is still required to stay on but unless a officer pulls you over and asks to see your engine, which happens, nobody enforces it.

Ridiculous, that just doesn't happen here. Even tho we have regulations which state OEM emissions controls have to be in place visually for inspection, but most inspection stations turn a blind eye as nobody actually enforces the rules outside of the inspection process. Only chain shops will be strict about it, and even then my truck passes every year with no cats on it. Forget the engine swap, I don't think they pop the hood.

Originally Posted by slotard

There are some screwy rules for engine swaps too. If I want to 100% legally put a 6.0/4L80E in my truck I'd have to swap over all the emissions stuff from the donor truck including evap, cats in original location, etc. I imagine that when I get around to a swap even if I don't put ANY emissions stuff on it'll be cleaner than my truck when it left the factory.

Well that not too bad, hanging an OEM tank on a square has been done. Heck after 2001 GM removed EGR. So run a line for EVAP and figure out how to fit everything under there, and you're good.

[68c10owner]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

Ridiculous, that just doesn't happen here. Even tho we have regulations which state OEM emissions controls have to be in place visually for inspection, but most inspection stations turn a blind eye as nobody actually enforces the rules outside of the inspection process. Only chain shops will be strict about it, and even then my truck passes every year with no cats on it. Forget the engine swap, I don't think they pop the hood.



Well that not too bad, hanging an OEM tank on a square has been done. Heck after 2001 GM removed EGR. So run a line for EVAP and figure out how to fit everything under there, and you're good.

Like I said its rarely if ever enforced.

As for the swap stuff, I dont beleive you have to swap the fuel tank. A 1987 efi tank should work for a legal swap.

[slotard]

At one point it was a 30 year rolling exemption, then the governator removed that in 2005. I've heard that it used to be that trucks (maybe >6k only?) were testing exempt as well, but don't know for sure.

And of course, as I said before, you're testing exempt. You can still get a smog ticket.

[midnight rambler]

I bought a 74 2 years ago quick trip to aaa and had it out in my name no smog test.

[slotard]

Right, you haven't had to smog a '74 since 2004. However, if you get pulled over and the cop is a dick, he can certainly ticket you if any emissions equipment is missing (wrong carb, wrong air cleaner, headers, missing air pump, etc).

[Firebirdjones]

I'd be interested to know, do they actually send these cops to classic car school? I'd bet half of them don't really know the ins and outs of these cars. I'd bet money they couldn't tell my if my firebird has the correct 1970 RAIII carb on it. Being a California (Van Nuys) car it has a certain casting number on it that is different from other 70 RAIII carbs. That whole deal really leaves a lot of open territory.

Hell most people don't even realize that GVW's on these old squares dictated what emissions equipment you got. My 79 1 ton 454 never had cat converters from the factory because the GVW was over the threshold, but it had a smog pump, that was it. Matter of fact the filler neck on both gas tanks are of the large variety for leaded fuel (if any here are old enough to remember leaded gas pumps with larger fill nozzles) and a tell tale sign of that is a fuel gauge in the truck that is blank....it doesn't say anything about "unleaded fuel only" like a truck does that came factory with cat converters.

Sorry, just rambling here about some small details that most of those cops likely wouldn't even know about. I could just see that whole mess being fun to deal with, lol.

[KQQL IT]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

I'd be interested to know, do they actually send these cops to classic car school? I'd bet half of them don't really know the ins and outs of these cars. I'd bet money they couldn't tell my if my firebird has the correct 1970 RAIII carb on it. Being a California (Van Nuys) car it has a certain casting number on it that is different from other 70 RAIII carbs. That whole deal really leaves a lot of open territory.

Hell most people don't even realize that GVW's on these old squares dictated what emissions equipment you got. My 79 1 ton 454 never had cat converters from the factory because the GVW was over the threshold, but it had a smog pump, that was it. Matter of fact the filler neck on both gas tanks are of the large variety for leaded fuel (if any here are old enough to remember leaded gas pumps with larger fill nozzles) and a tell tale sign of that is a fuel gauge in the truck that is blank....it doesn't say anything about "unleaded fuel only" like a truck does that came factory with cat converters.

Sorry, just rambling here about some small details that most of those cops likely wouldn't even know about. I could just see that whole mess being fun to deal with, lol.

Another board I used to frequent, dude said he got a ticket for no catylitic converter on his 68 chevelle.

Car is probably much older than the nice occifer.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Another board I used to frequent, dude said he got a ticket for no catylitic converter on his 68 chevelle.

Car is probably much older than the nice occifer.

LOL, that's hilarious.

[slotard]

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

I'd be interested to know, do they actually send these cops to classic car school? I'd bet half of them don't really know the ins and outs of these cars. I'd bet money they couldn't tell my if my firebird has the correct 1970 RAIII carb on it. Being a California (Van Nuys) car it has a certain casting number on it that is different from other 70 RAIII carbs. That whole deal really leaves a lot of open territory.

Hell most people don't even realize that GVW's on these old squares dictated what emissions equipment you got. My 79 1 ton 454 never had cat converters from the factory because the GVW was over the threshold, but it had a smog pump, that was it. Matter of fact the filler neck on both gas tanks are of the large variety for leaded fuel (if any here are old enough to remember leaded gas pumps with larger fill nozzles) and a tell tale sign of that is a fuel gauge in the truck that is blank....it doesn't say anything about "unleaded fuel only" like a truck does that came factory with cat converters.

Sorry, just rambling here about some small details that most of those cops likely wouldn't even know about. I could just see that whole mess being fun to deal with, lol.

They'd ticket you, and you'd need to go to a smog ref (who should know what he's doing). It's a ****ty situation even if you have nothing wrong.

[Firebirdjones]

Yep that's what I mean, it opens a can of worms. They shouldn't have people running around ticketing others in the first place when they don't know a damn thing they are talking about. Plus, how many times are various cops going to keep pulling you over and saying the same thing, writing tickets? What a total inconvenience.

What I would do, and I wonder why others haven't tried this...
In the case of my pickup truck, after registering the truck I'd go straight to a smog ref and get a written signed sworn statement with a stamp of approval that this is how the truck is built from the factory (no cats) and carry that around in the truck at all times. If a cop wants to squawk about it, show him the papers. End of story and no BS.
Technically speaking that's really how that whole mess should be handled in the first place so people aren't inconvenience, unnecessary money isn't spent, etc....

[MalibuSSwagon]

We had a similar issue here, but with salvage inspections. The DMV had state troopers inspecting repairs on rebuilt cars in order to get a reconstructed title. Of course these cops don't know the first thing about what they are looking at, my buddy said the trooper signed off on one of his cars when it was across the parking lot. It's no longer like that since someone got hurt in an accident with a improperly rebuilt car and sued the state over it, now they have inspectors that obsess over a scratch on your rebuilt automobile. But that I can understand.....the smog thing however, I still cannot believe. A 5.3L is going to be far cleaner than a 1976 smogger 350, of course since there's been 40 years in engine technology advancements since then, the new ones don't even need EGR. But the real issue is that California just wants to obsolete old cars out of existence, don't forgot their vehicle retirement programs where they crushed old cars that were still operable by the hundreds...what a waste...

[El Dorado Jim]

I hadn't heard about the bill, hope it passes..

[slotard]

In California, there's no regular inspection of any sort for '75 and older. If you want to do an engine swap, the engine can't be any older than the vehicle, and must be from the same vehicle type (can't put a truck engine in a car). You also need to use all the emissions equipment on the new engine. In theory this applies to '75 and older as well, but most people just figure they won't get caught (and very few people do).

If I put a 6.0 in my C20, which I think had a smog pump as the only piece of emissions equipment, I'd need to use the cats that came with it, the intake (not just manifold) that came with it, and so on. In order to change anything, it has to be parts approved by the state. Even though a 6.0 with a big cam and no cats is probably way cleaner than my current 350, it wouldn't be legal (but odds of getting caught are low).

Yes, the e-Rod swaps are smog legal as long as you use all the emissions stuff that comes with them. My impression is that evap is built into the ecu on most modern vehicles, so you need to get that working in those cases, but the e-Rod doesn't have anything for that which makes it easier.