Emissions

[rbohm]

NYState has a rolling 25 years according to the NYstate website. I was wondering though if you needed to have the cats in the car if you were ever pulled over by a cop and wanted to confirm that emissions weren't that big a deal for older cars. I don't want to buy another fox mustang or any other 80s muscle car because any kind of engine swap would make the emissions really hard to pass every year. I figured a 60s mustang would be safe from the harassment.

actually most states defer to federal law regarding engine swaps, thus you can do engine swaps as long as you follow a few simple rules;
1: the engine to be swapped has to be the same year or newer than the car.
2: you must maintain the chassis emmision controls for the year of the car, and the engine emmision controls for the year of the engine.
3: any aftermarket parts you install needs to have a epa or carb eo exemption number.
4: you cannot put a truck engine in a car(technically), but you can put a car engine in a truck. the reason? trucks usually have easier emission standards than cars do.

given the above rules, you cannot legally install a 460 in an 85 stang unless you get said 460 from an 85 or later car that came from the factory with a 460. you also must use the emission controls from the 460, and the emission controls from the 85 stang chassis. that said, many times states dont care what engine you install in your car as long as you have certain emission controls hooked up and operating, and you pass a sniffer test as well. california does a check on engine casting numbers, and compares them with the car in question, and if the engine is older than the car then you fail the emission test even if you have ZERO emissions. on the other hand in arizona i could install a 460 in my grand marquis, and as long as the air pump and cats were in place, and the gas cap passed a pressure test, and the engine passed a sniffer test, the state of arizona would consider the car legal.