Hey guys. I'm moving to Houston from Raleigh NC next fall. I'm bringing my 88 GTA with me. Do I have to get it smog tested in Texas? I currently only have to get a safety inspection but no smog because of the age of the car. I'm just wondering if there is anything I need to do so I can get it on the road right away. Thanks!

In the same boat as you, i'll be there in January. Yes they have testing. its pretty strict from what i hear but alot of guys say they know places that can get you by.

you need cat/cats, smog stuff, AIR and EGR to be there and working as they will do a sniffer test, 2 speed i believe.

This is one of the reasons I cant take my twin turbo camaro down

your car has to be 25 years old to skip the test here... yes they are pretty strict.
One thing to look at is moving to a county that doesn't require the test. only the larger cities have it. You might be able to live close to houston, but jsut far enough away that you can avoid the PITA

where are you moving to in texas? only certain counties run a sniffer test, the rest are only visual

I'm moving to houston but near clear lake. I have headers, AIR system is gone, and the egr solenoid is missing (like that when I bought it). I do have a cat though.

I thought I read somewhere that those devices have to be present, but they don't check to see if they actually work or not. Probably depends on how cool the guy doing the test is.

Good luck, You've got a few years before it's going to "age out" here...

Yeah if I need to I can make them look like they work. There is no way to make them functional without removing my headers (which is not happening). I'm just trying to get a feel for how strict the laws are and what all I need to do before moving. Thanks for the help guys.

yeah your in an emissions county, i live by clear lake so im in the same boat as you. there are places around that dont inspect to strictly, but the closer you can come to actually passing visually the better, you just HAVE to pass the sniffer

Precisely!

For Inspection Only counties, it just has to pass visually, but doesn't me the smog pump can't be gutted, the cat gutted, or the A.I.R. tubes plugged. Just has to pass visually.

This link will show you which counties require emissions testing, etc.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/ You've got 4 more years of testing in the shown counties, for your '88.

I've got an 86 ford that I just put through its last test. Bye the time the grace period runs out on the current tag (january 7th, 2011) It will be exempt.

Is there a way you can leave the car registered in NC for a couple more years?

Yes. In fact I will probably try to do that if possible. However, if that is not possible are there any shops around that will "pass" my car. You know, the cash only places? I really don't want to hunt down a smog pump and all the tubes and stuff that go with it. I would have to change the routing of my serpentine belt for one. I would really like to avoid that whole situation if at all possible.

yeah there are places around

just keep get the car inspected right before you move down so you have a year to not have to worry about it

So you're telling me that if it has a fresh NC inspection I don't have to get it re-inspected to register it as a TX car?

i think there's a way to leave it registered where you used to live for a while... i seem to remember some guys doing that. im not sure you'll have to look it up

this was something I was looking into but not sure how it works since i have yearly inspections in PA, and if i move to houston, how will i renew my hometown state inspection?

Never found a clear answer on this

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. Since my car is close to the 25 year mark I will probably just try to go "underground" for a while so I don't have to make a bunch of drastic changes to my car.