I know in CA we need all the goodies but I am trying to figure out whether I need all of that extra plumbing between emissions tests. I've read up that they really don't and that the header injection upstream points are only used during cold startup and the downstream one to the cat is used during normal warm running.

I know that cat isn't CARB but I am betting it will pass the sniff test.

 

I don't think it's just a question of a sniff test. It won't pass a visual test...IE: the components aren't there underhood. And I'm assuming that California, the home of excessive regulation, has a visual element to their emissions testing?

 

Yes they have a visual inspection. More like a cavity search.

If the car came with it, it needs to be there.

That was in fact the last part I had to restore when I moved out there and tried to register my car. They were amazingly thorough at identifying every piece the car was supposed to have.

 

 

I'll re-enable/install the secondary upstream injection before the test, but I don't think the metallic catalytics require it at all and for ceramics, the upstreams (the lines on the manifold) are only used in cold startup.

 

If the factory cat had an AIR line, then whatever cat you put on there needs an AIR line.

They couldn't care less whether your cat is stamped steel, cast chinesium, spun "metal", ceramic-coated stainless steel, titanium-niobium-lawrencium-plutonium alloy, 3D-printed virgin nonobtanium alloyed with purest irreplacium from an asteroid freshly delivered from the Oort belt by the Cassini probe and forged in the fiery furnaces of Hell by 10,000 year old reprobate gnomes sentenced to eternal hellfire and specially selected only for committing too many impure acts between confessions, ... doesn't matter. If the factory cat had an AIR line, then they'll be expecting to see an AIR line; and they will fail you if they don't.

Furthermore, if they decide to probe your **** cavity, they'll check your VIN to see if it's a 49-state car or a California car; and then they'll look up the CARB EO # on the cat to see if it matches. (keeping in mind that it's against CA law to even ship a 49-state cat into CA)

My best advice to you is, EFFF a bunch of "spun metal" this and "ceramic" that; and put the car back like it came, as close as you can manage. With all visible parts that it visibly came with visible and visibly hooked up and visibly operating.

 

Well my current cat has a metal stamped part CARB number... ;-). I may not throw out all the old stuff...

 

Yea but does the carb number match the car?

 

Here in Cali during the test now they crawl under the car and type the number stamped on it into there system to make sure its for our cars. There is currently only 3 cats allowed for our vehicles. So make sure its a legal cat.

 

The current one is...

 

Off hand do you know which 3 are allowed. I might be shopping sooner than later

 

Magnaflow has at least 3 all by themselves, under EO D-103-117, which includes a dual-cat for the '89-'92 TPI, but it's around $790! The single 3" under that exact same EO is around $190. Still ouch!