Do you know the CA law on swapping motors?, smog Options

[computers4kids]

If you do a conversion to a 76 car in CA, which requires smog checks do you know how the law works in regards to smog? As I recall there's some fine print if the motor is newer or older than than car it's going in (76)?? I still need to talk to the DMV for their version, but I always like to know the answers to my questions before I ask them. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)
Thanks

[Bruce Hinds]

What happened to the 30 year old exemption?

We moved to So. Cal from colo and found the newer car vs. newer engine routine, I brought in a '75 with a '69 motor.... but the car was only 28 years old at the time so I kept it registered in Colo. That can get sticky if you get pulled over, luckly we still had an address in Colo!
They told me though that once it was 30 years old It wouldn't matter- but we moved before then.

[Derek Seymour]

What happened to the 30 year old exemption?

We moved to So. Cal from colo and found the newer car vs. newer engine routine, I brought in a '75 with a '69 motor.... but the car was only 28 years old at the time so I kept it registered in Colo. That can get sticky if you get pulled over, luckly we still had an address in Colo!
They told me though that once it was 30 years old It wouldn't matter- but we moved before then.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...641&hl=smog

I hoping that maybe... just maybe with Jay Leno no longer doing the Tonight Show he will get bored and decide that he wants to tackle this at a higher level, it was Leno who made a public uproar about this last time. It's going to take someone like that with big $$$ and a high profile to get the public to realize that the number of cars on the road 30 years and older is so small that that they have little effect on the environment. Also that any 30+ year old cars that are streetable are owned by collectors who keep them fine tuned and not in a "gross polluting" state of disrepair which are the cars the current laws are going after.

[ericread]

Also that any 30+ year old cars that are streetable are owned by collectors who keep them fine tuned and not in a "gross polluting" state of disrepair which are the cars the current laws are going after.

Sorry to bring up a point of contention, but I see a number of 30+ year old cars on the I-5 every day that are on their last legs. Some are "smokers" and some just look like they're about to fall apart. While the folks on this board take extreme pains to ensure our '75 and older teeners are in top condition, this is not always true for all older cars.

Eric Read

[Derek Seymour]

Sorry to bring up a point of contention, but I see a number of 30+ year old cars on the I-5 every day that are on their last legs. Some are "smokers" and some just look like they're about to fall apart. While the folks on this board take extreme pains to ensure our '75 and older teeners are in top condition, this is not always true for all older cars.

Eric Read

I don't doubt that at all... in fact the day I drove to the SMOG facility I was in my driveway doing last minute fine tuning and a late 60's Chevy truck drove by leaving a huge black oil cloud in its wake.
However my guess.. and I stress the word guess.. is that if you rounded up all of those vehicles and compared the pollution output to all the Jane Soccer Moms in their Hummer H2's on an equal drive time basis... let's say a 45 minute commute... the sheer number of Soccer Mom's would make the old crusty cars polution levels look prety small.
Then take into account the number of miles one of those crusty vehicles could ACTUALLY drive. Also as you mentioned those cars are on their last leg and if their owners aren't the wrenching type then they will be off the road permanently soon.

Take a look at who was behind Sally Lieber's bill, and who helped provide the statistics, oil companies and car manufacturers, and as we all know those companies have one motivation... profit. Removing old cars means people have to buy new ones, and in 2002 what were most people buying??? Gas guzzling SUV's.
2002 was also the same year that Senators backed a bill trying to exempt pick-up trucks from fuel efficincy standards citing that they are primarily work vehicles even though 70 percent of pickups are used for personal transportation, 8.3 percent are used for construction and 4.6 percent are used in agriculture.

Lieber and her staff had good intentions and I don't doubt that many of the air quality standards that were raised with her bill have helped our environment. But as fas as the 30 year SMOG exemption goes... I have my doubts.