Has anyone put a decent motor in their car with dual exhaust and kept it emissions legal? I want to keep my 86 El Camino a daily driver but streetable car. I'm building a mild 350 for right now to replace the beat 305. Any suggestions?
exhaust and emissions
- Thread starter elkydude86
- Start date
- Status
i live in montana, and there are nor "real" emissions laws here yet, but exhaust shops wont touch your car here if it doesnt have a cat, so everybody builds their own systems out of mandrel bent tubing. pipes has some very nice and affordable kits for g-bodys, and you can get cats from them too i think. i passed a preliminary emissions test with my turbo car because it runs raged edge lean up to 3000 rpm and then goes pretty rich when boost hits it. you can tune anything for lean and then put it back after you pass the test. removable cats, ext.ext.
I also once had a Firebird that wouldn't pass smog test. I put a used Holly Projection on which is adjustable and at the test I leaned it out so it passed, then on the way home, adjusted it to my liking.
well i dont have emission stuff were i live either so it has all been deleted on my regal. but i did build my own exhuast 2 1/2" with two delta flow flowmasters. i have also heard of people mixing in like 30% alcohal and passing emissions tests
thanks everyone. i think i'm gonna go with building my own system with two cats. I'm still curious about air racks on the headers. Anyone running them?
elkydude86 said:
I've been thinking of doing the same thing but my engine is an Oldsmobile, and the A.I.R. tubes are separate from the exhaust manifolds. They do make the Chevy headers with the A.I.R. tubes if I am not mistaken. I have no idea if they would still fit with headers. Either way, I believe one of the cats has to have a fitting for the A.I.R. tubes to go into, since the system only went on cars with single cat. single/cat back duals from the factory.
It would be a lot easier to do things if you didn't have to worry about the emissions stuff. I really don't understand how so many people run without any type of emissions equipment on these cars and pass inspection. Here you have to have your car registered as a classic and the car has to be older than 25 years to be exempt from emission testing. Registering a car as a classic also puts many limitations on how much the car is driven, which also affects insurance, etc., etc, etc. Yeah, you can de-tune/lean out the car, put on catalytic converters temporarily, but cats aren't exactly cheap to just put on once a year and never use. The whole process would just be a whole hassle.
But overall, if the engine is tuned properly and you are running cats, you shouldn't have to worry too much. The engine in my car is in bad shape and probably would not run very long with a cat because of all the burnt oil. I always have to put a spare cat on to barely get through (if even). It also helps to have a garage and a many tools to make any mechanical projects feasible (which I don't). I just want to get it all redone right and emissions legal so I don't have to keep tinkering with it every time inspection comes up. I don't think it is going to get any easier any time soon anyway, before you know it, there may be no exemptions for older cars with the way they are trying every which way to get them off the road (CARS).
You didn't state where you live. What is required b the state to register a vehicle will vary widely depending on the municipality in question. Plenty of us have put powerful engines in our cars with no smog equipment whatsoever, but those who do typically live in a state with no inspections, or they have a "work around" for that...
in vegas you can pay the tester 20 bucks and theyll give you a sticker. its all about who you know, not how rich youo blow 😀
- Status
