Another carb legal question

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CaliWagon83

Royal Smart Person
Nov 12, 2017
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That's designed for the same year range and put carb legal heads and cam in?

I actually don’t know if there are any “CARB-legal” cams. At least there are very few for the LS engines. There may be some for the Gen-I and Gen-II small-blocks. It’s a matter of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” As long as they don’t have too much overlap and aren’t too “lumpy” a cam shouldn’t affect emissions too much, but a radical cam can really screw up your emissions. I’d stick with a cam profile that was offered in a factory engine to be on the safe side.
 

pontiacgp

blank
Mar 31, 2006
29,270
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Kitchener, Ontario
if it's every 2 years you have to go through the smog, and you don't know what the rules will be the next time but you do know they won't be worse I would have 2 engines. It takes less than a weekend to r & r an engine and it's easier on the mind than to worry about having trying to pass the modified engine.
 

pagrunt

Geezer
Sep 14, 2014
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Elderton, Pa
I actually don’t know if there are any “CARB-legal” cams. At least there are very few for the LS engines. There may be some for the Gen-I and Gen-II small-blocks.
Edelbrock has three for Gen I, 2102, 2103, 3702. I've had a few 2102's & they come with an under hood sticker with the CARB legal number on it.
 
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ElcoJoe

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Jun 20, 2017
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Youngstown Ohio
Question from a non californian, what would they do if you didn't have it inspected or didnt pass inspection and drove your car anyway?
Sorry for the ignorance but I'm from a place that doesn't do inspections.
 

DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
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Geez. Your car laws are as bad as your gun laws down there. Why does anyone even live in California anymore? Is the weather really that nice?
 
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CaliWagon83

Royal Smart Person
Nov 12, 2017
1,933
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Question from a non californian, what would they do if you didn't have it inspected or didnt pass inspection and drove your car anyway?
Sorry for the ignorance but I'm from a place that doesn't do inspections.

You could probably get away with it for two years. Smog checks are bi-annual. There are some smog guys that are willing to pass a non-compliant vehicle “under-the-table” but they risk losing their license (smog license) and/or a major fine and possibly jail time.

There are actually a few rural areas of California that don’t do smog checks, but they’re the exception to the rule.

And yes, by and large, the weather is amazing. :cool: Whether that’s worth putting up with all the rest of the B.S. is another question. :rolleyes:
 
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Zspoiler

Apprentice
Jun 3, 2018
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I have a 290 HP crate engine from Chevy in my 1981 El Camino SS .And it passed emissions in Washington State at the time.I don`t know what your state emissions laws. But if you some things like port match the intake to the cylinder heads ,a high flow catalytic converter (If permitted) extrude hone your exhaust manifolds .Are some things that are possible to make it more efficient ,But make it look stock.and pass emissions
 

jiho

Royal Smart Person
Jul 26, 2013
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Question from a non californian, what would they do if you didn't have it inspected or didnt pass inspection and drove your car anyway?
Sorry for the ignorance but I'm from a place that doesn't do inspections.

Every two years, your registration renewal notice comes with the smog requirement. If you don't smog it, you won't get your new registration card and the tag for your plate, and the vehicle won't be legally registered as of the annual renew-by date.
 
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jiho

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Jul 26, 2013
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My original plan was to pull a 454 out of my dad' single cab 94 chevy. I think I've hit a wall with that since I'm pretty sure they consider the truck heavy duty due to the weight of the truck.

CARB's definition of HD is different from GM's. If I'm not mistaken (still fuzzy on it myself), the CARB cutoff for "light duty" is 10,000 lb, whereas GM called anything over 8,000 lb "heavy duty." Your best bet is to call the BAR "Engine Change Hotline" and try to hassle it out with one of their "technical support" people.

EDIT: After reading the May 2018 revision of Appendix E (Engine Change Guidelines) I'm more confused than ever on this point. I'm not even sure it's legal to put any kind of truck motor in a car. And I'm not sure the Hotline has any "technical support" anymore, other than getting a Referee to call you. So yeah, you'd really have to call them.
 
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jiho

Royal Smart Person
Jul 26, 2013
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Replacement of a vehicle's engine with the same engine size or an engine offered by the manufacturer for that year, make and model is considered an engine replacement and does not require a Referee inspection.

Same engine size doesn't need a Ref? I don't recall that statement being there. Not sure how that would work at smogcheck, either. Need to get up to date. Dang whippersnappers think they're so fancy ....

EDIT: After reading the BAR site and the new Guidelines, I'm not sure what "engine size" means. These guys must really work hard, if you can't figure out what "engine size" means.
 
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