My car is pretty heavily modified and I am worried I may fail emissions this fall. What are some cheap, easy things I can do to assure I will pass? I have heard of things like dissconnecting a fuel injector wire, use 85 octane fuel, what else is there?

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1987 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z
L98 TPI 350 (5.7L)
TH 700R-4 Transmission
Borg Warner 7.75" 9 Bolt Rear End

Current Mods: LT4 HOT Cam, Comp Cams 1.52:1 Roller Rocker Arms, Edelbrock TES 1 5/8" Headers, Hooker 3" Aerochamber Cat-Back System, Performance Resource Chip, Accel Ignition Coil, Cap, Rotor, 8.8mm Wires, K&N Filters, JET TPI Air Foil, All Free Mods, Falken ZIEX Z-Rated Tires.

Best ET (w/o LT4 cam): 14.32 @ 97.7mph
(corrected for elevation)

Soon to Come: 7.625" 10 Bolt with 3.42s and Accel TPI Intake Base

 

Here's what you do..... Take $20 and a 12 pack of beer and the inspector won't even do the inspection. He'll just give you the sticker and you won't have to do anything to your car....Always works for me.

 

Anyone else?

 

Here in NY we have the stickers in the windshield that you can get off if done correctly. Go to a salvage yard and find one that is junk to practice on then a good one when you can do it properly. Spray windex on it let it soak do it several times letting it soak 2-3 minutes each time use a razor blade on a corner and be carefull when removing it because they read void if not taken off carefully. Then slap it on your windshield while it is still wet. Good luck.

 

Okay now that the extreme solutions are over, heres some practical ones. First off all, run a bottle or two of fuel injector cleaner in the tank. Use about 89 or maybe 87 octane gas, but you dont want it detonating. Also, I reccomend driving the car hard on the way to the inspection place to get it really hot. This way the ECM will lean out the mixture as much as possible, as well as helping burn off unburnt gas. If these tricks do not work, then try the extremes listed above. If you have to, you could prolly give the inspection guy a couple 20s to pass it. My friend works at a Jiffy Lube, trust me.. :P

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1983 Pontiac Firebird SE
LG4-Based Chevy 400
700R4 Tansmission
Modified 4 Barrel Q-Jet Carb
Accel Super Stock 8mm Wires
Edelbrock Pro-Flo Air Cleaner
3.23 Posi Rear
14X7" Cragar SS/T Wheels
Clarion 45X4 CD/AM/FM Head Unit
100WX2 Amp
2 Pioneer 12" Subs in Custom Box
Third Gen Performance
"A four cylinder is only half an engine"

 

Denatured alchohal. You'll pass better than a brand new camaro would.

 

Dan, you used to have "gutted cat" in your sig. I assume that's one of the "free mods" you now mention.

Un-gut your cat. There is no way you're going to pass without a functioning cat. I have a co-worker with more radical mods than yours on his '90 RS: ZZ3 base engine; shaved heads w/2.00/1.60 valves; SLP runners extrude honed to TPIS intake & heads; ZZ9 cam w/1.6 rollers; dual cats w/3" catback; homemade AFPR; custom chip; 4.10 gears, 3000 stall TC. 52mm TB & 19 lb injectors for emissions test (normally 58mm & 24 lb). He runs 14.5's at Bandimere uncorrected. He was given a "fast pass" last fall for low readings during the initial phase of the dyno test. He has to run 92 octane with the compression he has.

For all you guys with your "cute" suggestions:
1) All inspection stations in Colorado for '82-newer cars are run by a single state contractor. It's their only line of business. Bribes are not taken lightly.
2) The sticker on the windshield is worth squat. You have to submit a bar-coded sheet that was part of the sticker when the inspector put the sticker on your car in order to get your registration renewed. Stickers are registered by VIN, so you can't get a replacement bar-coded sheet with a salvage yard sticker.
3) The machine won't print out a sticker without a dyno test having been run.
4) It isn't that hard to pass emissions if you start out with that as a goal. This other crap you suggest is worth exactly what you're paid to suggest it.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R. 2.93 limited slip. Cat-back from '91 GTA, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LG4 w/LB9 block, ZZ3 cam and intake, TBD heads, Hooker headers & y-pipe, 3" Catco cat).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. 0.030 over 396, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" headers, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1 @ 5800' Bandimere. Daily driver while Camaro was being put together.