Do they test your emissions in your state inspection? (Page 4/5)
mrfiero APR 12, 05:52 PM
Colorado doesn't have an inspection, but we do have emissions testing every 2 years (at least in the Denver metro area). On newer cars they just plug into the computer to make sure that the I/M readiness monitors are "OK", but the Fiero still needs to go through with the old tailpipe sniffer. I cringe and pray for my clutch every time!
boysatt APR 15, 03:47 PM
I'm in Nevada and even through we do emission testing on all vehicles 1967 and newer, the classic registration gets you exempt. I smogged a Fiero only once and it was a pain, as these smog guys had never looked at one and were confused. But otherwise no inspections except smog if you are not exempt. The just sniff the car while running it at 2k rpm for 3 minutes and look to see if the evap and egr lines are still attacked according to the sticker.

I sold a 86 GT to a guy in CA 3 years ago, what a nightmare that was. Sold the car to the guy and he drove it to CA, took him like a week to find a station that would even look at it and then that was a 4 hour process, he said, as they had to double check absolutely everything. He called me and said the egr valve wasn't working right, so I took the one off my other daily driver and fixed that for him and the Cat was wrong. Apparently CA does not allow aftermarket replacement federal converters on cars registered in the state. So if the OEM one had been replaced while the car was registered in any other state and then sold to CA, it won't fly. You need to then pay to have a Converter that meets current CA emission standards installed... UGH.... The cat on the car I sold was installed 2 years prior after my old one crapped out the tail pipe, and had maybe 2000 miles on it, so I ordered a CA one and had him drive the car back to vegas and I swapped it out in my shop. I paid for everything as CA has a law saying the seller has to pay for any and all emission repairs. So it was either fix it or take the car back. So after a bunch of messing around and a $300 cat it passed all the CA emission tests with flying colors.

I would never live in that state, what a joke.

I also purchased a Fiero out of Northern CA a few years ago that turned into a nightmare. It had been parked for 11 years after the owner fell ill. I tried to title it in NV and they told me it was flagged with issues in CA that i had to fix first. CA had cancelled the title and registration so to NV it was a invalid title. I called CA DMV and in 2009 the owner had been cited 3 times for illegal modifications because of a engine swap, and fines for expired registration and failure to have it inspected. So they apparently cancelled the title till the car was fixed to meet their laws, and had almost 7k in registration fines tacked onto it. They said I needed to fix it and bring the car back to CA, have it inspected by a state run station, had to pass visual and current smog, before they'd issue a CA title to me that I could then take to NV. Needless to say, I didn't do any of that. I ended up paying $400 to a tow yard to do a lein sale and get me paperwork to get a Nevada tile, which voided all the CA issues.
Kitskaboodle APR 15, 08:50 PM
Forgot to mention two more things about cats in Ca.
1) You must buy a CARB compliant cat. It has to fit your vehicle specifically.
2) All muffler shops are required to look up abs verify your aftermarket cat oe number in their book before they can weld/bolt it on to your car. Otherwise, they are not allowed to install it.

As an fyi, I have learned from experience that it’s a good idea to keep a copy of your receipt/paperwork in the glovebox of where you bought the cat. The smog rep will have an easier time verifying your number. (especially in my case since my car is low and it’s hard for them to check the oe number with their flat “under the car” mirror.
Kit

[This message has been edited by Kitskaboodle (edited 04-15-2023).]

TheDigitalAlchemist APR 16, 12:22 AM

quote
Originally posted by mrfiero:

I cringe and pray for my clutch every time!



cyrus88 APR 16, 02:06 AM

quote
Originally posted by boysatt:

. . . Apparently CA does not allow aftermarket replacement federal converters on cars registered in the state. So if the OEM one had been replaced while the car was registered in any other state and then sold to CA, it won't fly.



Not true at all if you are trying to register a car for the first time from out of state. The person you sold it to was misinformed by his chosen smog inspection place. A friend of mine recently inherited a 78 corvette from Colorado and had no problems with getting it to pass inspection with Federal Cat.

Incidentally, my smog legal LT-1 has aftermarket federal CATs, though they were installed a long time ago, and no problems passing inspection.

[This message has been edited by cyrus88 (edited 04-16-2023).]

82-T/A [At Work] APR 16, 08:12 AM

quote
Originally posted by boysatt:

I'm in Nevada and even through we do emission testing on all vehicles 1967 and newer, the classic registration gets you exempt. I smogged a Fiero only once and it was a pain, as these smog guys had never looked at one and were confused. But otherwise no inspections except smog if you are not exempt. The just sniff the car while running it at 2k rpm for 3 minutes and look to see if the evap and egr lines are still attacked according to the sticker.




1967?! Seriously? The first emissions equipment didn't show up on cars until 1974... what are they trying to identify, if it's in good tune or not? I don't get what they would be looking for on a car from 1967? It's like they chose the years that the car companies started to really get serious about performance... 1967-1970 before the forced compression drop in 1971 (from the insurance companies because cars were too powerful).

The CA stuff sounds horrible... I can't even imagine.

In Florida, we found a 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz parked in a field on a lot that my friend bought. We got it running (425 cubic inch BB V8), cut the roof off of it, and without any safety or emissions inspections, we had it registered and insured the very next day... with a brand new plate and stickers in hand.

Here's a video of me cutting the roof off... this video was taken over 20 years ago... it had to be pulled off a VHS.




There you go... this is what young 20s 82-T/A looks like, haha. But anyway, we drove it around like this for almost 3 years. Eventually it was stolen, haha...
boysatt APR 16, 11:07 AM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
1967?! Seriously? The first emissions equipment didn't show up on cars until 1974... what are they trying to identify, if it's in good tune or not? I don't get what they would be looking for on a car from 1967? It's like they chose the years that the car companies started to really get serious about performance... 1967-1970 before the forced compression drop in 1971 (from the insurance companies because cars were too powerful).





I know, right. My buddy had to put cats on his 1967 Mercury so it would pass emissions, it was quite annoying since it was a pre emission car but needed to pass the sniff test. This emission stuff is getting out of hand. I have to jump through hoops to get my diesel renewed every year because it was deleted long before I purchased it, damn thing passes the sniff test with flying colors but not the visual.
boysatt APR 16, 11:09 AM

quote
Originally posted by cyrus88:


Not true at all if you are trying to register a car for the first time from out of state. The person you sold it to was misinformed by his chosen smog inspection place. A friend of mine recently inherited a 78 corvette from Colorado and had no problems with getting it to pass inspection with Federal Cat.

Incidentally, my smog legal LT-1 has aftermarket federal CATs, though they were installed a long time ago, and no problems passing inspection.




Then the inspection stations don't know the law, plus trying to find a station that would do the fiero was tough in the first place. Just what I was told, but I would never live in that state so, ya. I have no idea.
MarkS APR 17, 09:02 AM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
1967?! Seriously? The first emissions equipment didn't show up on cars until 1974... what are they trying to identify, if it's in good tune or not? I don't get what they would be looking for on a car from 1967? It's like they chose the years that the car companies started to really get serious about performance... 1967-1970 before the forced compression drop in 1971 (from the insurance companies because cars were too powerful).





In 67, AIR pumps started to show up on cars followed in 68 with the "Controlled Combustion System" (CCS). Both considered emissions equipment. In NJ anyway, anything 66 or older didn't get the sniff test which started in NJ about mid seventies I believe; 67 and up, yep sniff test. I had to retard the timing in my 68 GTO's to get through. In those days, they would fail on CO & hydrocarbons but not NOx. When they were sniffing Fieros in NJ later on, mine were failing on NOx- that was the tough part.
Raydar APR 17, 01:57 PM
One thing I forgot about...
The first time I had to get my (former rental car) 2010 G6 smogged, they did all the usual OBD2 stuff, and then called for a sniffer test on top of that. Apparently (my own speculation) because it had been registered out-of-state, before I bought it. The tester said the sniffer test was "random", but I had been getting OBD2 cars smogged, all along, and this was the first time that had ever happened.
Kind of like "random" drug testing, I guess.

I'm thankful that I now live in a county where I don't have to deal with such foolishness.
No way in hell I'd ever live in California. This stuff is just one reason.