Looking For Advice *G-Body Related*

[RustRocket]

Well I never thought I'd say this, but I'm pretty worried about an emissions test. I currently live in a place where we have no smog or safety inspections(the middle of nowhere), and in just a few months I'll be living in Boise, Idaho. My question is, does anyone here in the Boise area know just how strict the testing is? Are there any loopholes, exemptions, cheats, or otherwise that still allow me to drive my cars as semi-daily drivers without worrying about putting too many miles on my car? The Cutlass was the first car I owned, worked on, did donuts in the snow, cruised around with friends, I just can't bring myself to lose the car. Its a long term project but a driver, and I don't drive it incredibly often but I do at every chance I get. My Eagle is my current daily driver and I greatly enjoy putting miles on it. I know for a fact that both cars will fail miserably at any smog or possibly safety inspection. I have toyed with the idea of leaving the cars registered in NV at my parent's address, but I'm not sure how long I can pull that off. I don't mean to sound like I'm pleading for my life, but if anyone has some input I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance

 

[Jeff L]

I looked up Idaho emissions regulations and they are similar to what I dealt with in CT where you do have some outs. They have the repair excemption if you spend over $200 and still fail and they have an economic hardship excemption.
If you could find a garage that has smog testing equipment, you might want to test one of your cars just to see what the readings are? You might be surprised and the readings not too bad unless you have removed emissions elements like the cat convertors, etc.

Having a car registered to an out of State address can be problematic. But, in a town north of me which is a retirement community, many residents live in two places switching every 6 months to avoid cold weather. We call them the snow birds and a few drive and have their out of state plates without worry. I know it is different in your circumstance. You could do it, but I just worry about what happens in an accident. Others here know more about how your insurance would be affected if God forbid something happens and they find out your cars are registered out of State but live in Boise? Then again what is wrong with “parents helping their kids get through tough times and lent them their cars” ? In AZ we have to have our out of State cars registered within 30 days if we now work and live here? Then again it depend what is your primary residence like the snow birds who are retired with multiple homes.

While writing this I can understand how confusing this situation can get. I just feel it is not that bad and you will not have a situation where you would not be able to drive your cars on the road. The excemptions are there and one of them should be able to give you piece of mind that you will be able to register and drive without worry. Good luck.

 

[TURNA]

Boise, Idaho????

I guess they don't want the potato's poisoned!!


Inspection Exemptions
The following vehicles are exempt from emissions testing in Idaho:

• Vehicles under 5 model years old.
• Vehicles older than model year 1981.
• Hybrid and electric vehicles.
• Vehicles weighing under 1,500 lbs.
• Motor homes.
• Classic vehicles.
• Farm equipment that is motorized.
• Vehicles used solely for agriculture purposes.

I think you will be ok both vehicles can be argued that they are classics.

Cutlass being one year off from an 81 next year will prob be 82

The rarity of the eagle should make it qualify.

Put collector insurance on them when you go to register them and make sure the insurance card says HISTORICAL or COLLECTOR on it.

 

[ed1948]

What concerns me is your statement of 'possibly failing safety inspection'.
Why do you feel emissions may be a problem? What changes were made away from stock equipment?

 

[lilbowtie]

Back when we had emissions test in Michigan I had a 79 van that I towed with, the emissions removed, headers, w/no cat. A fresh oil change, take it out and lean on it for 10-15 mins with the radiator blocked to get it around 220 and take it in for the test w/o turning it off and it passed w/ flying colors.

 

[DRIVEN]

Since you were too lazy to give specific specs on your cars, I'm too lazy to go look them up.
You might be surprised at how easy they are to get passed. The Eagle will probably slide through with a carb and timing adjustment as long as the cat is present. I have no idea how your Cutlass is set up. There is the $200 repair waiver too.
Both could technically qualify for collector plates, making them exempt, but you aren't supposed to use collector cars as regular transportation.
The best option would be to live in a free county since testing is only necessary in Ada and Canyon counties. Gem, Boise, and Owyhee counties aren't that far from the City of Boise.

 

[L92 OLDS]

Nice 1982 Cutlass. Not many of those had T tops and buckets!

 

[UNGN]

I had an '84 Eagle 4 door we swapped in 3.08 gears. That was one of my favorite cars.

Who knew 100 Hp in a 3500lb car could be so fun.

 

[454GrandPrix]

The following vehicles are exempt from emissions testing in Idaho:

• Classic vehicles.

I think you will be ok both vehicles can be argued that they are classics.

The rarity of the eagle should make it qualify.

This will not be a matter of persuasion or debate. If Idaho's emission law specifically exempts "classic cars" from meeting any requirements, I can guarantee you there is another law somewhere that details precisely what does and does not qualify as a classic car. You can 'argue' the point with the DMV employee until you are blue in the face, but if an '82 Cutlass doesn't meet Idaho's legal definition of a classic car then you are out of luck. I'll also wager heavily that a low number of surviving vehicles still on the road is not legally sufficient to exempt your car from smog requirements, either.

Smog laws are generally not 'fluid' or flexible or open to case-by-case interpretation. Quite the opposite, in fact. They are usually very clearly defined and completely inflexible. That's been my experience, anyway.

Good luck.

 

[DRIVEN]

According to the definition on the DMV application it needs to be 30 years old and
"that it is in original or authentically-restored condition without major modifications from factory specifications" and not daily or commercial use.

Since I don't know what the Cutlass looks like under the hood I can't say how it would be determined. I'm thinking the Eagle would qualify but I'm thinking it would probably pass a regular tailpipe test anyway.
I live outside the test area so I'm not sure how picky they get in Idaho. When I lived in Oregon all cars 1975 and newer had to be tested. They never, ever popped the hood. Just slid a mirror underneath to see if the cat was present and did a tailpipe test. If it failed but was close they'd usually run it again to give you the benefit of the doubt.
In my experience, retarding the sh*t out of the timing can cover a lot of sins.