RE: [T3] CA smog check warning

["Carver" <carver@ncwebsurfer.com>]

I changed a '80 Vanagon non-CA engine to a CA engine and had
to go through the entire bureaucratic mess to get it approved.
It doesn't matter if the engine you are putting in is less
polluting, it is a change and must go through the red tape.
Pity the guy who was there when I was, with a '56 bug pan, 
'73 T3 motor that was built as a dune buggy in '93.  What
year should they smog it as?  I never found out.

My swap was everything outside the short block, as my exhaust
stuff was going to cost more than I got the second bus for.
BTW, the FI from a Vanagon works great.  In 14 years, I had
loads of other problems, but never with the FI portion.

I remember when I first got my '67, I bought it from a dealer
as 'junk' with popping heads, and they didn't want to deal
with it.  I had to get it smogged plus other checks.  The
smog place looked at it, and said that since it was dual
carb, it was exempt.  Cool, it was '78.  Every time since 
then that I had to get it smogged, they looked closer and
closer at everything every time.  It was the same engine,
same vehicle, it was just that the state was forcing the
smog shops to be more stringent, and coming down heavy
on shops that would give people breaks.  Now it is to the
point that only a few shops are left.  The equipment
costs a LOT of money, so only big shops can afford it.
Then they keep changing the requirements to keep people
from getting a break, the $ goes up and the cycle continues.
Sloppy carb linkages were a fault one time.  Lack of a
choke element within the housing was another.  It took me 
years to track down a choke element (Thanks to this list
I eventually found one, thanks Tim)

I now have to pay for a pre-inspection inspection to see
what the emissions are to see if I pass.  Once I get hooked
up to the machine and it starts, the results are 
automatically sent to the state, regardless of the results.
If you don't pass and need adjustments to pass, that shows
up on the records too, thus the need for the pre-test.

A good idea taken too far by bureaucrats.  BTW, the same
company that fails cars, gets $ for taking them off the road,
not the vehicle owner.  Smells like a racket to me.  Then 
they are trying to keep those same junked cars out of the
hands of people like me who need their parts to keep my
otherwise good car from running.  

Sorry for the long post.

Jeff  '67 Sqbk

-----Original Message-----

> > It is my understanding that states which do emissions testing of
> > cars, including older cars, only require that those older cars meet
> > the standards THAT WERE IN PLACE WHEN THOSE CARS WERE FIRST SOLD.
> 
> Unless for some reason you tell them, "well yeah it's a 69, but the
> motor's out of a 7_" , then your car needs to meet the 7_
> requirements.

Interesting dilemma.... I hadn't thought of this problem. Since 
meeting later emission standards usually means much more than just 
swapping the long block this would leave many people out on the 
proverbial limb.

Weren't you required to verify the engine year against the engine #, 
though, anyway? It seems kind of silly to just take the owner's word 
(or lack of it) for this. In the end, this is probably one of those 
useful oversights.

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