Hey guys I live in California and have some ridiculous smog standards to measure up to. I have the 87 carbureted base model Camaro, it had the 305 but I had it replaced with a 350 when the guy did the swap I had him leave off all the smog lines and the pump. I now realize how stupid that was and it's such a pain to find someone that can "help" pass the smog test. My question is what do I need to buy to replace the entire smog system (pump, lines and whatever else) and where can I buy the parts? Thank you!

 

Pump w/ brackets, lines, & cat w/ air inlet. Hopefully you didn't chop up your wiring too.

For the pump & lines, hit the pick & pull, look for mid 80s Chevy vehicles. They're basically the same as yours and their stuff will fit.

For the cat, Summit/Jeg's, Rockauto, your local muffler shop or speed shop, etc.

Hard to believe people are still making this mistake after all these years of everybody knowing it won't work, but, oh well. Nobody is going to "help" you pass the test, because if they do, and get caught, it's MAJOR penalties to them; and the state installs & monitors video cameras in licensed facilities for the specific purpose of catching cheaters. All you can do now is clean up the mess.

 

Or......move out of California...

 

California is a wonderful place; magical, beautiful. I think one of the saddest days of my life was leaving it.

That said, the weather conditions are such that the pollution (filth, ****, refuse, excrement) of humans, accumulates in the air, to a degree that until I lived there, I had no idea was possible. I recall the first spring I lived there, I drove up the 15 from Carlsbad and the 78 to Pasadena, through Temecula, Lake Murietta, Corona, Ontario, then turned onto the 10 through Pomona and onwards; by the time I got there, I COULD NOT EVEN read the expressway signs, the air was so thick and brown. I actually missed one exit because I COULD NOT SEE THE SIGNS. The air was cleaner around Pasadena but still stung my lungs.

I KNOW why they made the laws they did about cars out there. Yeah they're a pain in the ***; yeah I kinda hated having to make my car clean enough to fit in; but NOBODY has the right to defecate in their surroundings and demand their "god-given right" to force others to wallow in it.

 

And why is there so much pollution when modern cars have excellent emission control systems and the state has mandatory emissions testing? There is no emission testing in my county and our air is super clean. I am not complaining that CA has emission testing. I just think it's ridiculous on old cars that are such a tiny minority of what is on the roads today. I think the cutoff is 1975. I think they should raise it to 1985 or '90...

 

I live in Ontario Canada, we share(d) most of California’s emmission requirements and have recently done away with them,

Notably during the pandemic I’ve noted a distinct improvement in the clarity of th (Greater) Toronto skyline. I can clearly see Toronto’s, Mississauga’s and Burlington skylines from across Lake Ontario, and the emphasis is on “clearly”.

I do not attribute this to reduced auto traffic, but instead I believe this is due to reduced air traffic. As TL noted, late model car emissions are so clean that it’s highly unlikely IMHO that they’re the cause of what now passes for smog in my area. The number of older cars on the road in the salt belt isn’t worthy of consideration.

I remember what pollution was like 20 years ago, and I have no wish to return to that nor do I wish to leave that as a legacy.

Fix your car TL.

 

There's nothing wrong with My car. I just saw this thread and decided to comment, because the percentage of motorists in America who are using 30+ year-old cars as daily drivers is miniscule...

 

The greater LA basin/area tends to trap smog and pollution in and there isn’t enough airflow to force it over the mountains from what I recall. We have a similar issue in the winter time with inversion in the Salt Lake valley here in Utah. There are also many times more people in LA then anywhere in Colorado, hence more pollution.