More noob questions- HCI pass CA smog? + more

Touge · Oct 9, 2006

Hey,

I searched but couldn't come up with a direct answer so...

Will Heads/Cam/Intake be able to pass smog? It should be fine if I keep the cats on but it might fail visual inspection? Anyone have any experience with this?

My other question- do I need to do these in a certain order? I was planning on starting with CAI, Lower Intake, larger Throttle body and then do Heads/Cam/ect. later. Is this ok to do? I don't see how it could hurt because all its really doing is allowing more air flow. I was thinking that because there are specific combos of intake/heads that I would need to do them at the same time?

Thanks for the help everyone.

JJ95GTID · Oct 10, 2006

The larger throttle body and CAI won't help until you do the head and intake upgrade. You are better off doing a rearend gear swap first. That'll make your car more fun to drive. I highly suggest replacing the stock 4 catted H-pipe with at least a high flow 2 catted X or H pipe second. Follow that with the rest of the exhaust. Then do the H/C/I with the larger throttle body and CAI.

BTW, you can't just replace the stock lower with an aftermarket or GT40/Cobra/Explorer style lower. It won't work with the stock upper. You want to replace the upper and lower at the same time.

JJ95GTID · Oct 10, 2006

Forgot to answer your first ???

Locally we have a visual inspection and the tail pipe sniffer test. They look for the cats underneath the car and the air pump under the hood. If it is all hooked up then they clear it for the visual. I have passed with excellent numbers every year.

WhiteDevil · Oct 10, 2006

I just passed CA smog with my 347 combo. Make sure you dont run an open breather for smog you need to have a closed PCV system. Also run your stock H-pipe and make sure you get a comp tune or run a tweecer and you will be fine.

Chythar · Oct 10, 2006

Touge said:
Hey,

I searched but couldn't come up with a direct answer so...

Will Heads/Cam/Intake be able to pass smog? It should be fine if I keep the cats on but it might fail visual inspection? Anyone have any experience with this?

My other question- do I need to do these in a certain order? I was planning on starting with CAI, Lower Intake, larger Throttle body and then do Heads/Cam/ect. later. Is this ok to do? I don't see how it could hurt because all its really doing is allowing more air flow. I was thinking that because there are specific combos of intake/heads that I would need to do them at the same time?

Thanks for the help everyone.

Well, it all depends. The main issue with a H/C/I is the emissions they produce. Power usually means more fuel, and that means more emissions. Some heads are 50-state legal - they'll come with a C.A.R.B. EO number saying so. But most places won't know the difference between a stock head and an aftermarket one. I don't believe any aftermarker cam is legal, but there's no way to know the cam is different without taking the engine apart.

The intake manifold and CAI don't affect how much fuel is put into the engine, so no C.A.R.B. EO number is needed. But they look different, so a shop may accuse you of modifying your engine because of them. Ironic, huh? The one part that's legal to change, and it's the part most people will notice. Make sure your EGR and cats are there and working, and you'll have a much better chance of passing.

WhiteDevil · Oct 10, 2006

Chythar said:
The intake manifold and CAI don't affect how much fuel is put into the engine, so no C.A.R.B. EO number is needed. But they look different, so a shop may accuse you of modifying your engine because of them. Ironic, huh? The one part that's legal to change, and it's the part most people will notice. Make sure your EGR and cats are there and working, and you'll have a much better chance of passing.

You need a carb number for a CAI and an Intake Manifold. You will fail if you dont have them. My Edel RPM and my MAC Cai i used to have came with C.A.R.B nubmers.

Chythar · Oct 10, 2006

WhiteDevil said:
You need a carb number for a CAI and an Intake Manifold. You will fail if you dont have them. My Edel RPM and my MAC Cai i used to have came with C.A.R.B nubmers.

Learn something new every day. I'll remember that.

final5-0 · Oct 10, 2006

I don't live in or know about CA rules
but
Running clean is Running clean no matter where you may be

You will have no prob putting out clean emissions as long as you got no mechanical issues and your tune is good.

You will of course have to be able to satisfy issues of the visual part of the inspection and maybe something I have only seen on the internet and in mags ... the carb number for your hot rod parts.

In a nutshell ... if you got all smog stuff in place and working and the tune is good ... you should be fine.

btw ...... I've passed with very clean results each year since 2003 with my combo

Grady

Methodical · Oct 11, 2006

I agree that as long as you have the smog stuff, no mechanical issues and yor CARB numbers you should be ok. I run off-road H-pipe (Flows) with equal length stubbies all the time except for emissions. I just put the stock h-pipe on - still brand new only used for about 2-3 months when car was new - and go thru emissions. We have visual for cats only. My car did what is know as a "Fast Pass" for the emissions test - it was so clean that it passed in about 10-15 seconds and that's with what's in my sig. I tested back in June 06. Now here in MD for cars 96 and up they just hook the scanner to the car and scan for emission related codes. This can easily be beaten by using a scanner just before the test and delete any codes that one may have before the test.

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