I want to know some EMISSIONS LEGAL good mods to do, in order from least to most expensive. I feel like the only one here who has to pass emissions, you read most of the mods lists and the first thing anyone has is "yanked emissions crap". Well I can't do that. My state (VA) requires ALL factory emissions crap. In fact, even an open element is technically illegal because it removes the THERMAC thing (yeah yeah don't tell me how that's crap it doesn't affect anything I KNOW but I can't change the law). Anyway the air cleaner is easy enough to put back on come inspection time so I do run an open element, but things like the AIR pump I'm not going to yank. For that matter I LIKE clean air so I want a car that will run clean enough to pass the inspection all the time (ignoring the air cleaner).

I've got a Hooker cat back with 3-inch I-pipe, to be honest it didn't seem like that much of a performance improvement. But maybe that's because my stock exhaust had rust holes the entire length of the I-pipe and in the muffler, so it was probably "high-flow" already :-).

I've ported my TBI unit and made the FPR adjustable. There was a small improvement but nothing earth-shattering.

I'm going to do a rear-end swap, putting in a 3.23 posi instead of my 2.73 open. I didn't want to go any higher on the gears because I drive 46 miles a day on the highway and I don't want to kill my mileage.

What about an intake manifold? I've heard that the TBI-specific ones are pretty much crap, but has anyone tried a carb one (like the Edelbrock Performer) with an adapter and gotten it past the inspectors? I'd get the one with EGR so It'd have all the equipment, but maybe it depends on how much of an *** the inspector wants to be.

Headers are more pricey. Emissions legal headers (and y-pipe) seem to run around $300, plus I'd need to get them Jet-Hot coated which is around another $150-$200 I've heard.

What other emissions legal mods have you guys done? A cam-swap is doable as long as the car runs well afterwards, there is no way the inspector can tell what kind of cam I've got (ditto with heads, except Vortec (no EGR passages)).

 

I would say emissions legal headers and a high flow cat.

Just curious, how do the inspectors in VA know what a stock engine is supposed to look like? And have they told you where in their laws does it say that a THERMAC device is used for emissions?

 

well for the manifold part if its that big a deal i would just paint it black with some good high temp paint and make it look like a fatory manifold,and make sure the EGR looks as factory as possible also.ya never know if those inspectors own or know thirdgens themselves!!good luck man

 

well for the manifold part if its that big a deal i would just paint it black with some good high temp paint and make it look like a fatory manifold,and make sure the EGR looks as factory as possible also.ya never know if those inspectors own or know thirdgens themselves!!good luck man

 

this is all new to me.... I live in VA also, and when i get an inspection sticker the only emissions check they even attempt to do is make sure its got a muffler, and thats only if the inspector is a stickler... i've never spent more than 10 minutes at inspection... I live in SW VA so maybe this all is just a city thing... i dunno.... anyway, i wish you the best, cuz i'm readin too, and i need all i can get.... hahahah
good luck

 

SW Virginia? Wow cool. Me too.

They don't even check to see if I've got a muffler most of the time.

 

emissions legal goes a long way. i did heads, intake, 1.6 rockers, and a full exhaust that was all emissions legal.
best bang forthe buck emissions legal things are gears(3.73's) and a posi. it won't effect your emissions at all.
also, emissions legal depends if your state has a visual check or not too. in NJ we have no visual, so as long as it passes the sniffer anything goes. we also do not have post shut down emissions, so we can ditch the char coal can stuff too.
in states that have visual you have to have all the lines running to important stuff, EGR, AIR, cat line, and junk like that. and in the republic of kalifornia you need to have all teh apprpriate communist air resources board stickers for any bolt on part(the trick becomes to paint it to look stock so you can avoid having tacky looking stickers everywhere)
emissions are a tricky thing. look for parts from companies liek SLP and edelbrock that make really good direct bolt on stuff. there are other companies out there, but many do not make emissions friendly parts. the one thing you will need to meet any federal emissions standard is an EGR valve, you can tune a car to pass with out one but it will barely be drivable.

later
tim

 

yeah guys, but the question is whether or not the car will pass the sniffer with no smog stuff. i'm thinking about doing it myself. i live in Maryland. no visual inspection, just the treadmill.

 

Their computer tells them what is supposed to be there. There is a visual and a 25mph sniffer test in Northern VA (fairfax, arlington, loudon, etc) - the rest of the state gets by with a idle test or nothing at all.

It's getting pretty tough to find techs to pass non-compliant cars. So no dual exhaust for my L05 copcar.

 

Tim, EGR smeeGR, bah!
I passed my car with no EGR. They looked under my hood and laughed thinking it wouldn't pass. Well it didn't the first time but ran a little richer (was way too lean) and the HC count went up but the Nitrous fumes went down just enough to limbo the mark by 10 ppm. It was something like 970 pass and I got a 960. It was only one mark below.
EGR only effects drivability if you have a stock eprom

 

Best SOTP mod I have made was 3.42 gears. Car pulls very well now and I still get 26mpg with all my mods.