CA smog and high performance (like oil and water)

[roadkill5.0]

I am planning on building another 5.0 and thinking about a supercharged stroker. My concern is that of the infamous Californian smog laws. How far can you take it and still smog? Who makes CARB legal superchargers? What kinds of setups are the CA guys running and getting away with? What do you recommend?

Thanks
-Mike

 

[roadkill5.0]

.

 

[giddyup306]

I don't know of anyone that makes a CARB approved s/c. You might be outta luck.

 

[RydeOn]

Whaaaat? Alot are. I just passed my Cobra at a test only center. No prob.

 

[giddyup306]

Whaaaat? Alot are. I just passed my Cobra at a test only center. No prob.

I was just giving him a bump for the thread. I don't know a lot of the specifics on s/c's.

 

[Michael Yount]

Just because a car passes at one location with certain mods, doesn't necessarily mean that the mods are smog legal. Part of the problem with enforcing emissions regs is doing so consistently - the simple fact is that it's darn near impossible to predict just what you're gonna run into from your particular inspector in your location on the day you take your car in.

And, it ain't gonna get easier - CA just passed the toughest smog regs in the world; and my understanding of it is that the 30 year exemption went away as part of the new regs. So all of you looking forward to that time in the future when your car didn't have to pass any more -- well that free pass just went away. A blurb about the changes...

""LOS ANGELES (AP) - California air regulators Friday unanimously approved the world's most stringent rules to reduce auto emissions that contribute to global warming _ a move that could affect car and truck buyers from coast to coast.

Under the regulations, the auto industry must cut exhaust from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from larger trucks and sport utility vehicles by 18 percent. The industry will have until 2009 to begin introducing cleaner technology, and will have until 2016 to meet the new exhaust standards.

The move by the California Air Resources Board came despite vigorous opposition from auto industry officials, who argued that the board did not have the authority to adopt such sweeping regulations and that they could not be met by current technology."

 

[jrichker]

The time will come when the output of your car's exhaust will be cleaner & healthier to breathe than the air around it...

 

[bln92cpe]

Alot of smog technicians are biased..I have a supercharged 306 that I recently took to get smogged and the first 2 places I went said they would fail me just for having my crankcase thing plugged then I took the LX to a different station and passed emissions no prob however he failed me because my vacuum hoses were "tampered with" I am fixing that problem.. I go to CA mustang shows all the time and I see blown 408's...351's guys running no cats.....So basically guys are gonna run what they want..Plus at my performance shop the tech said he can get anyone passes at his friends test center....

 

[Psydwaze]

Mine passed with my current list of mods and gutted cats. The first shop refused to test it because of all the aftermarket parts but a local Mustang shop referred me to a test only station that deals mainly with Mustangs.

 

[3022FST4U]

Almost all of the manufacturers have CARB numbers for their blower kits. Vortech, Procharger, Paxton, Powerdyne, etc.
A stroker can pass too. If you really want to be complete you could get one of CHP's 347 shortblocks that come with an EO number, but it's not like a shop is ever going to tear down your motor to make sure you really have the CARB legal stroker parts and there is really nothing special about their CARB shortblock.
OBviously there are heads, intakes and cams with EO numbers as well. You should be able to put together a pretty hot combo and stay smog legal. That's not to say you might not have to work to make it pass, as having EO numbers doesn't neccessarily mean your whole combo will blow clean air. EO numbers are just to get past the visual.
Buying smog legal stuff costs hp and money, so you should weigh out all the pros-cons and consider if it wouldn't be better to keep a smog motor lying around and then build your motor just how you want it. You'd swap motors every 2 years for smog, but depending on how crazy of a combo you want, it might be worth it.

 

[runningmole]

You dont' even need to tell them it's a stroker either. No one would know mine is a 327 unless tell them. I'll be putting a Vortech on my car

 

[90mustangGT]

I am sure it has to do with the inspector to a point. If you get some tree-huggin hippie your SOL. A lot of people think that we should all drive these tiny econo boxes because we don't "need" more. Georgia's "Clean Air Force" wants to be like CARB. They are starting to get real strict. However so much of the money that you pay for an emmisions test here goes to MCI the phone company, they get $10 per tests just for providing the phone line, and a bunch of other companies get thier cut also. Since the inspectors are paid jack, and my buddies and I know some, it's easy to bribe them, that's what we do, I love corrupting the system, at least I hate the EPA.

 

[plucka-plucka]

I just emailed Vortech on a supergnager set up and they said they had CARB #'s for CA. I am thinking about getting one. Hell, I passed with all this crap on my Sig, no problems.

 

[roadkill5.0]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I really thinking about saying the hell with smog and swapping every 2 years. My only other concern is that in the last 6 months I have had a few friends get pulled over and told to pop their hoods. Then proceed to get a stack of fix-it tickets.

-Mike

 

[Michael Yount]

roadkill - that's the kind of thing that's only gonna get worse as time goes by. And the other states will likely adopt CA's regs as they have in the past. CA has always won the battle with the car companies - with the lone exception being their zero emissions/electric car mandate. No reason to think they won't win this one too.

 

[roadkill5.0]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I really thinking about saying the hell with smog and swapping every 2 years. My only other concern is that in the last 6 months I have had a few friends get pulled over and told to pop their hoods. Then proceed to get a stack of fix-it tickets.

-Mike

 

[scorp69]

roadkill-I have a chp 347 shortblock ready for a s/c or turbo. email me at [email protected] for more info. Its still in wrap and its a sportsman block

 

[Michael Yount]

It would be really cool if the manufacturers 'just said no' to California. Would be interesting to see who would win the standoff if the manufacturers simply said - if those are the rules, then we won't sell new cars in CA. But there's no way they could all get organized enough to do that; and if they did undoubtedly the ACLU would file an anti-trust lawsuit against them.

In any event, the incredible drivability, efficiency and clean-running reliable cars we have today are largely due to CA standing up years ago and saying - you will make them cleaner and you will make them more efficient. New technology will come out of it. Fuel cells, hybrids, super-clean diesels, camless engines here we come!!

 

[runningmole]

I'm sure they'd lose a hell of a lot of business Michael. Don't forget, it's California, land of change lanes, then see if it's clear. People buy new cars out here like it's gasoline

 

[Michael Yount]

mole - I think you miss the point; it's BECAUSE of what you describe that if the automakers said 'enough's enough', the PEOPLE of the state would stand up to their regulators (CARB) and say 'enough's enough'. It would be the market at work....