Do air intakes such as the slp need to have carb numbers for use in cali or can we just fabricate an aluminum or carbon fiber tubing to mount straight up to the maf with a conical k & n filter on the end of it??
Since we are subject to visual inspections I don't want to put myself in a situation that would bar my registration.
In most situations whatever is in front of the first smog device or behind the cat is fair game and not part of the visual inspection. The most obvious exception is the after cat turbo chargers because they make fundamental changes in the fuel mapping and other things that affect smog. If your car has a maf sensor, it has to be installed in the intake where the factory put it, but they don't care what you do between the air intake and the maf. Likewise, you can change the pipe between the maf and plenum as long as you don't modify it to allow more air to enter the system between the maf and the plenum.
Russ, everything you said makes perfect sense. And I agree, that's how it should be. There's no logic behind why it shouldn't be acceptable that way, providing the car still passes the numbers, of course. But in some areas, like up here, for whatever reason, some techs won't budge.
Maybe it's because we have such a huge sport compact population of 'fast and furious' wannabees who all seem to be preparing to audition for a part in the next movie, that they've ruined it for the rest of us. I dunno, but the techs I've dealt with in the last few years won't let anything slide, regardless that emission parts are in place correctly and functioning properly.
I even sent a pic of my intake to Don once to see what he thought about it. And he said it was fine, no reason it shouldn't pass, that the tech was just being a jerk. The car even passed the numbers very easily, but still...
Do you, Don and everyone else use the same tech? If so, I might have to start traveling down there to him for my smog tests. I'm even considering 'moving' to a remote Nevada address in the near future, lol.
The problem is that most smog techs are not mechanics. They only know how to perform a visual inspection and they have to constantly worry about some inspector showing up under cover from the CARB to try to trick them into letting an illegal car slide. As soon as they screw up, they get big fines or even their license lifted. It is much easier to simply flunk anybody that doesn't have their car 100% oem than to look for carb eo#'s on aftermarket parts.
Last edited by Kevin91Z : 06-27-2007 at 10:11 PM.
Reason: edited to keep our secrets and protect the innocent
The reason why I asked in the first place is because while I was in the middle of fabricating my cai I looked in summit's catalog for a polished intake elbow an noticed something interesting. The slp cold air induction for camaro/firebirds '85-'87 as well as '88-'89 and the LT1 types of years '94-'97 all carried CARB E.O. # D-187-12. I didn't want to continue fabing up my own if this is the case that cai do need CARB numbers.
The letters SLP stand for Street Legal Performance. I think SLP has a company policy of getting carb eo# for everything they make. Also I don't know what is included in the SLP cold air intake. It may include some modified parts that are smog parts and therefore need an eo#. Of course if the smog techs in your area are as "gunshy" about anything that is not oem as you say, carb eo# won't make any difference. There are smog techs out ther that will refuse to pass anything that isn't oem stock showroom equipment.
Everything from the air intake to the exhaust exit must have a CARB EO# to pass the smog test in CA. Usually they stop checking after the cat, but I have heard of overzealous techs failing an aftermarket muffler. State law says you must have muffler and it must exit after the rear wheels. But mufflers do not have to have CARB EO#'s.
There are favorable smog techs out there who dont care what is on the car as long as its not obviously illegal, everything is hooked up, and it passes, but they are rare. We have a favorite smog tech we use. And Russ, we would appreciate it if you didnt talk about him in such detail in public. We dont want to get him in trouble.
The air filter housing is considered part of the system.
Yup, pretty much what he said... "I can't pass you with that import air filter on there."
The SLP CAI has the air filter enclosed in a stock-like box, which is prolly why it was 'awarded' with a CARB number and is considered passable.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin91Z
Everything from the air intake to the exhaust exit must have a CARB EO# to pass the smog test in CA. Usually they stop checking after the cat
The cat is as far as most will go, even up here. They've told me that it doesn't matter what kind it is or whether or not it's a stock one. Just as long as it's there and functioning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin91Z
And Russ, we would appreciate it if you didnt talk about him in such detail in public. We dont want to get him in trouble.
Yeah, I kinda thought about that too. Thanks Russ, but when I read your post, I thought, "should he be saying that here?" But I do appreciate it, and I suspected as much, which is why I asked.
Last edited by LAFireboyd : 06-28-2007 at 01:17 AM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
A lot of the SLP stuff, including their intake manifold, runners, cat backs and the CAI, were delivered on cars from the factory as OEM Parts, so if a smog tech tries to give you static about the parts, tell him that it's OEM on your car. The CAI uses OEM intake trunks that have been modified, plus their own airbox setup and air filter. I wanted to dyno test before and after the CAI, but I had to deal with a melted engine in the mean time.
I haven't gotten the slp system and was wondering if the design is a higher flowing alternative vs a conical K&N (if the base of the air box is cut a bit or shoved down towards the bumper area) or is that ram air hood the best flowing with that air box incorporated. Any opinions on these cai s ?
I don't have a lot of experience with other systems, but what you want is something that breathes cool air from outside the engine compartment, hopefully not made of metal (absorbs heat and transfers it to the intake air) and has as big low-restriction air cleaner. SLP accomplishes all of this, but on a stock or bolt-on motor, has little power gain because the stock intake is not the limiting factor at that power level.
We dont want to get him in trouble.
