Help getting my 5.0 legal in Texas

My uncle just went through this in his EFI 302 swap into his ranger. The DMV where he lives (ohio) told him that when he swapped motors, he needed to bring any documentation he had. He brought the recipt from the junkyard where he bought the block, and it was a damn good thing he did. When the DMV ran the numbers on the block, it came up stolen.

Long story short, the junkyard had bought a flatbed full of long & shortblocks from a junk hauler guy. They didnt pay the money it costs to run the numbers themselves, so they got fined, and my uncle had to take the whole damn motor apart and destroythe block in front of a sherriff a few weeks later.

I told him he should have said **** off, do it yourself, but not be hot tempered like i am, he did what they asked, and got the junkyard to pay him for his time and a new block from wherever he bought the second one from.

I would get the numbers from the block, and call your local DMV first to find out exactly what you need to do. If they ask about the swap, tell them the original motor blew and you bought one from a friend in a wrecked car

And normally, (ive since moved to a non emissions state) they frown on EFI to carb conversions, but as long as you pass emissions, you shouldnt have a problem.

Nitrous N20 said:

Right. Im just not sure how a supercharged car with heads, cam, intake, headers, and aftermarked exhaust is going to pass inspection. And in Collin county, where I live, they make you do a simulated acceleration emmesions test on a dyno.

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Thats the same thing they used to do in ohio... read up on this, it may help ya get by..

http://www.jason.fletcher.net/tech/sniffer/sniffer.htm

register it in a county that doesn't check emissions.

Nitrous N20 said:

Those are all good ideas. It looks like the issue with the engine mismatch is going to cause more of a problem with registration than with inspection.

For inspection, I can just use some of those suggestions t get it to pass emissions. Namely, putting the factory hpipe on "if I can find one" prior to getting the test. Personally, I think the car sounds like crap with the prochamber in place anyways. Id rther have something different.

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The DMV didnt ask me anything about the drivetrain when i got here, but my insurance company did.

I'm in Texas. I don't think anyone is going to check the numbers on your block. All you have to do assuming you have clear title, is get insurance on it using the VIN and get it to where it will pass emissions and you should be good. I don't think getting insurance will be an issue unless you tell them it's an engine swap car. Has it ever been registered in Texas or anywhere else as a swap vehicle? If you manage to get it registered okay you could always find a place that will sell you an emissions sticker under the table. There are plenty of them around I'm sure

*EDIT* I just noticed the post right above this that said your insurance asked you about it. You should be good to go now.