HI There -

I recently bought my dream car: an '87 Camaro with a 350 and 700R4 tranny.

I'm living on the east coast right now, but soon have to move to LA, and would like to take the car with me. My only question is, do I have ANY chance getting this through California emissions??

It's running an Edelbrock carburetor, and headers (I don't know which brand). It has a stock cat exhaust. The previous owner told me it's an HO engine and thought there was a non-standard cam in it, but I can't be sure. It's Right now the car's OK with Connecticut emissions. The engine and carburetor are in very good health.

Can anyone help with what I'd have to do to get it legal in LA? I don't have a lot of spare cash unfortunately. Any help much appreciated.

Many thanks!!
Bruce

No. Zero. None whatsoever.

There was no "HO" motor in these cars in 87. Your car came with either TPI, or the LG4, if it came with a V8. The last year of the HO motor was 86 and there were VERY VERY FEW of those.

Not that it matters too much to the issue at hand; just, that's not some kind of "buzzword" to be tossed around lightly. It carries a specific meaning.

If your car came with the LG4 (VIN code H) you'll need to put the computer-controlled Q-Jet back on it; along with EVERY emissions device that it would have come with. That means, the computer, the Check Engine light, EVERY sensor, EVERY solenoid, EVERY hose, EVERY wire, EVERYTHING. If it came with TPI (Vin code F if it was a 305, or 8 if it was a 350) it'll have to have the same thing, except as appropriate to TPI. Some headers are California-approved: they'll have to support AIR (the pump and array of little tubes that injects air into the exhaust). Of course, it'll have to have the cat, an intake that's either stock or that has a CARB EO number, and so on.

Things that can usually slide by: wrong block casting (a 350 will generally slide through in place of a 305, because they don't generally check the block casting), head castings (as long as they're GM), gears, torque converter.

Things that ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT slide by: the wrong carb, a carb instead of FI, no cat, no AIR, headers without an EO #, ANY emissions device of ANY kind missing, a non-working Check Engine light, disconnected or plugged vacuum lines, ANY visible emissions-related part that isn't stock (air cleaner for example), a V8 in place of a 6-cyl without it being from a SAME or NEWER MODEL car, with ALL emissions-related components intact and operating.

Piece of cake, if you were sensible about your mods, and kept all the pieces you hacked.

If you weren't, then sell the car, and buy another when you get there. It's cheaper to ship money than cars you can't use.

Don't even bother trying to argue, that's just how it is out there.

Been there, done that. Got the CA license plate to prove it.

CA sucks

Many thanks!

Just one more question, which I suspect will be bad news: I should have mentioned that the car was originally a V6, converted a while ago. I guess that this means absolutely NO chance now, huh??

Thanks!!
Bruce

Asterix, sofakingdom knows what he is talking about. Whatever car you have to smog after you get here, make sure to find a shop that will do a "pre-test" for you before the car is connected to the DMV computer. It will save you a lot of grief with the system out here.

Not as much as Maryland does.


You'll need to bring the car to the local smog referee once you get here, for him to approve the V6 to V8 conversion. And you'll need to have everything in order as sofakingdom described.
Come over to the SoCal forum and join in the fun. There are a couple people selling their cars that might interest you. We'll welcome you once you get here.

I am doing a V6 to V8 conversion on my Camaro. I live in San Diego. I bought a book from the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) called Smog Check Inspection Manual to get some more detailed information on the requirements. I then called the station in Oceanside and talked with a fine gentleman who said that what I was doing was actually not required to be inspected and approved by the station. Since the engine I was putting into the camaro was a chevy engine, no inspection was required. As long as the engine is set up with CA emissions standards all I would need to do is get it smog checked.

Sounds like the perfect excuse for a complete LT1 or LS1 conversion. . .

Navy, good thinking on getting the inspection manual. The problem here as probably most places is that if you ask 3 state employees questions about smog requirements, you will get 3 different and usually conflicting answers.

" All exhaust emission controlled vehicles with engine changes must be inspected by an official referee station and must have a Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) Vehicle Identification Label affixed to the doorpost."

--California Department of Consumer Affairs
Bureau of Automotive Repair--

Sounds to me like the smog tech is going to fail you and send you back to the referee for a sticker.

Sure for an engine change, but how about an engine replacement? That is different and CA treats that different. As long as your replacing one Chevy engine with another one.....

I'd say that going from a v6 to a v8 is an engine change.

Here's what it says:
"Our recommendation is to rebuild and reinstall the original engine, ........... However, if you do decide to change the engine, these guidelines must be observed to ensure that the vehicle will be eligible for smog certification or registration. ......All exhaust emission controlled vehicles with engine changes must be inspected by an official referee station and must have a Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) Vehicle Identification Label affixed to the doorpost."


You can see from the wording that anything other than the original engine is an engine change.

emissions are for people who live in states they should not be living in!! And people wonder why i don't vote for democrats, they want me to drive Toyota electric car.

Its not about clean air. Its about control.

i tried to smog a car i brought from Florida either chp or dmv has to inspect it before you can even register it