CA Smog Check

easyasone2three

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
130
Location
Riverside, CA
Not really tech but here is the story on my C5. I put AR long tube headers on it last year and had it dyno tuned. Car runs great, headers and tune made a big difference, but the headers are not legal here. Big no no. This month I am due for my first smog cert check which comes up every other year here for registration on cars made after 75.

First place I go to I am a little worried about the guy noticing the headers and making a note about "visual failure" while hooked up to the computer. That type of failure notice goes directly into the DMV computer system in Sacramento and would call attention to the headers anywhere else that I would go to later.

The guy tries to stick his head under the car for a look and on a C5 there is only 5 inches. Then he pops the hood, looks around under there and then heads directly for the boss. I'm thinking "ok, here we go" cause I know they are pretty strict and face a big fine and loss of license for not going by -the-book. I hear the guy tell the boss............. "well it looks all stock". Whooooo, big relief cause I had been picturing myself laying on the garage floor all weekend removing headers and putting the manifolds back on only to have to reverse the nightmare the next weekend after it passed. So, they start the test run and...............the frikkin' dyno machine breaks down, WTF!!! Sorry sir.

So I got in the car and headed up the block to the next test station. I am in the waiting area while the guy puts the car on the rollers, hooks it all up and then pops the hood to have a look. Guy immediately gets this puzzled look on his face and starts heading over to me and again I think "here we go" he spotted those nasty criminal headers that have caused this entire nation so much trouble and I won't be able to license my car. When he gets to me he says.........Ugh, sir........how do you turn off the traction control?

I know that most people here stay away from the long tubes cause of fear of not passing smog but neither of these places even noticed them in the least.

Oh shit, what an afternoon. Car passed with flying colors and I'm good for two more years. VROOOOM!
 
My girl friend- darlene- took her 95 Thunderbird to get smogged last year. I told her to wear the lowest cut top she had.
The guy took one look at the engine and said it would not pass. She looked at him real sad like gave a little bounce then asked; "Oh, is there nothing you can do?".

He passed the POS.
smiley-ugly-lol-bashing-sign.gif


What top were you wearing?:huh:
 
We had testing in my county for about 5 years. It was a joke. They put my Tahoe on the rollers, the tailpipe sniffer fell out and they never noticed (guy was running my car through the test). So the sniffer was sniffing the air in the building. I passed with a warning that my car was "borderline" on emissions and that I better get a tuneup before coming back:huh2:

It was such a load of crap that they finally quit doing it (after wasting taxpayer money)
 
We had testing in my county for about 5 years. It was a joke. They put my Tahoe on the rollers, the tailpipe sniffer fell out and they never noticed (guy was running my car through the test). So the sniffer was sniffing the air in the building. I passed with a warning that my car was "borderline" on emissions and that I better get a tuneup before coming back:huh2:

It was such a load of crap that they finally quit doing it (after wasting taxpayer money)


Yes, I felt like a 54 year old man who still has to do the Hokey-Pokey on command.

I do have to admit, though, that all this crap that we have to go through here has helped the smog situation a great deal from where it was 30 years ago. I have seen that first hand for myself. It's like jury duty or the draft, PIA but necessary.
 
I'm thinking to get American Racing LT headers (GTO fitment for my C3 with an LS). It should wake up my high(ish) compression LS motor even more.:thumbs:
 
Yes, I felt like a 54 year old man who still has to do the Hokey-Pokey on command.

I do have to admit, though, that all this crap that we have to go through here has helped the smog situation a great deal from where it was 30 years ago. I have seen that first hand for myself. It's like jury duty or the draft, PIA but necessary.

At *just* 33, I remember growing up in the inland empire (where smog from the LA basin would get trapped behind the hills and mountains and just sit there), and be all but physically unable to go outside some days because it was simply too painful to breathe deeply. I have no problem with smog laws in so far as they are truly about bringing down average real pollution. Where it gets a bit strange is the visual component of the test. I think the law should be that if you have a car of Year-Make-Model x, so long as you pass the criteria for said model, what you have in the car is irrelevent. When doing my swap, I actually had to take OFF a more recent version of a PCV because it didn't match the declared year of my swap.
 
At *just* 33, I remember growing up in the inland empire (where smog from the LA basin would get trapped behind the hills and mountains and just sit there), and be all but physically unable to go outside some days because it was simply too painful to breathe deeply. I have no problem with smog laws in so far as they are truly about bringing down average real pollution. Where it gets a bit strange is the visual component of the test. I think the law should be that if you have a car of Year-Make-Model x, so long as you pass the criteria for said model, what you have in the car is irrelevent. When doing my swap, I actually had to take OFF a more recent version of a PCV because it didn't match the declared year of my swap.

Yep, I agree, it would make things a whole lot more simple for everyone if they would just run the test pass or fail for your car.

Yes Ben, the AR headers are really nicely made and really made a huge difference in power and response. I never had it dyno'd before but with only the headers, dyno tune, and I put a cold air intake on, it came out at 370 at the wheels. It was a difference you could really feel.

I am sure that you have probably already done a dyno tune or will after adding the headers to all of the other engine mods you have, heads, cam, throttle body and intake. I had my tune done at A&A Corvette in Oxnard. The guy that runs A&A, Andy Green, is really a whiz with the LS motors and the guy that did the tune was named Charlie. I think it was Charlie Williams and both he and Andy treated me really well and prices were reasonable. I would highly recommend them.
 
I think Tim has it just about right. It's more a matter of luck than anything else. My first vette was "imported" into CA and i got sent to a judging facility. I was terrified of the small detail things that were not right, especially with the vacuum hoses. When I got to the station, the guy stood in front of the car waiting for me to pop the hood. Needless to say, he found nothing wrong.

Oh, and Glenn, I don't remember which top I was wearing.

By the way, hi guys!
 
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