I ordered a set of flowtech headers , when I spoke with flowtech/holley they said they were 49 state legal (legal everywhere except CA). I have since read and heard that You do need AIR to pass inspection. So what is the truth are they legal or not? BTW: I live near Phila PA.

 

I was wondering about the same thing ! anyone know whats the deal with that in NV ?

 

It depends if they do a visual inspection or not. Find out from the DMV in your county to see if they do sniffer and visual or just sniffer only.

 

If they are legally claiming that their headers are 49 state legal, then that means they were issued a C.A.R.B. exempt #. Make sure that you get (or are going to get) some type of document that has that # on it. Then if they give you crap, you just show them the #. Then they have to accept it.

AJ

 

Yes the headers come with a white instruction sheet outlining their street legal carb exempt #. I contacted Holley techs and they too explained to me that to be 49 state legal, you didn't need the AIR injection.

 

If they have a CARB number I understand they are legal but isn't it illegal to remove or tamper with any emmisions equipment? Would a shop put these in or would you have to go ahead and remove your AIR stuff yourslef and then have a shop install the headers if you decied not to install them yourself?

 

I don't think a shop would remove the AIR equipment because it is illegal. I would install the headers myself anyway, because it will be a good learning experience.

 

Is there somewhere that i could find the infpormation on how to remove the AIR from my car. I am not sure exactly what I need to remove and cap etc...

 

There's a good tech article on the main site you can read. Or you can wing it like I did, but I would only recommend that if you have some experience working on cars.....

 

C.A.R.B. - "California Air Resources Board".

"Not legal for sale or use in California."

If they had a C.A.R.B. exemption, it would be legal for sale and use in California.

 

You cannot legally remove emission controls in PA. Phila, Bucks & Montgomery counties all have the dynamic emissions testing as well as visual inspection for compliance. These headers are "49 state legal" only on cars that don't have AIR or you somehow manage to keep the AIR system intact. I am sure you could find a station somewhere that would look the other way, but getting caught can cause a stiff fine for you & the station.

 

OK. That's right, but there still should be some federal emissions exempt number that they had to aquire for them to claim that they are 49 state legal. Otherwise, as mentioned earlier, that's on a specific year/model of Camaro/Firebird. IMO, that's false advertising.

I made the mistake of the visa-versa scenerio on that one. If it get's a C.A.R.B exempt #, then that means it's legal in all other states. Sorry.

I guess the best way to go about it would be to contact Flowtech and ask them what the deal is.

AJ

 

Well I hope I can get these things in and still pass inspection. They are on there way to get coated as we speak. I contacted holley and I was told that they would be fine ANYWHERE except California. I am not trying to argue because I honestly don't know (thought I did but now it's anybodies guess). How would summit get away with saying this if they were not legal? "Legal for sale and use on pollution controlled motor vehicles in every state except California" year one also has a similar statement on their site.

 

They wouldn't be fine in Colorado, that much I can tell you.

If you have a visual inspection, and "A.I.R." is on their checklist, you'll fail. Doesn't matter if the sniffer says it's okay, because the A.I.R. flow doesn't go to the headers in closed-loop operation.

I think Holley needs to get their act together.

 

Already did twice. Both times they explained to me that to be 49 state legal, you did not require AIR injection. I don't understand why they would tell me this, because I knew it wasnt true.

 

I dunno? I guess the safe route (although the more expensive one) would be to get the ones with the AIR injection.

It would royally suck to get to the test station and not pass. Glad I don't have to deal with that.

AJ

 

oh you know what that really sucks because Summit tells me that they are 49 state legal holley tells me the same thing and year ones website says the same. So i figure that all three of these major companies couldn't be wrong, i went ahead and had them coasted and they are on there way to me right now. How can they get away with stating these things if they are not true?

 

Summit and year one are parroting what Holley says. So, it's really only one company. They're located in California, so they know what works there works anywhere. 10 years ago, "California emissions" meant a lot more than it does today.

They can get away with it because there isn't any accountability - yet...

A.I.R. is a federal requirement, not California-unique.

 

Well I emailed holley's tech department and here is the response I got... I am not familiar with PA laws in this respect. You would have to check with your local Air Resource Board. Thats a little different than the response I got on the phone of you will be fine anywhere except California.

 

Like they said (and others here have said on other posts), check with your local emissions testing/inspection people. Most likely the answer you get will be, "Yes, you need everything," or, "Why do you ask?" ("Let's see your registration, please...")

After you find out those headers aren't legal for you, perhaps we can start a "Holley/Flowtech/Summit/Year One accountability campaign"...