A 6 bolt swap in a 7 bolt is illegal?

[Kiiii]

That's what I've been hearing cause its an older motor and you can put an older motor into a newer car? Well I heard that's the law here in California.

 

[AWD_FIEND]

That's not a law in California and if you fear smog checks in that uptight state with Gov. Awnaldo you can payoff several owners that run smoke checks.

I build custom cars frame up in California, and the most difficult aspect of my work involves registering these vehicles in this state because of all the insane laws. I've been required to become very familiar with the process of registration in this state to the point that I charge several grand per vehicle I peronally title, most lawyers arent even capable of completing this process (I know I intially used them). It is absolutely a law in this state that you are not allowed to backdate engines, dont know why you made the statement regarding our laws with such confidence b/c youre dead wrong.

Here's the deal, regular tier 1-3 smog techs and test only facilities are required to read the engine code off the block and cross reference their flawless database of engine codes to ensure the engine in the vehicle hasnt been backdated, amoung other things (theft). But in reality most techs dont bother, its based on their mood, but if they are audited by BAR and found guilty of careless incomplete smog checks their liscenses are revoke and they are fined no less than 25K. Now if you get tagged for any modification on the car that isnt CARB approved the police officer will order you to visit the dreaded Smog Referee who is infact a state emloyee (think sherrif) of smog laws and he will nail you to the wall for every modification including wiring or vacuum hose discrepencies, and definetly check the engine code. Quite a risk to take.

Dont laugh, the rest of the country will be mandated to accept these laws in the next 10 years thanks to Al Gore and the not so-"inconvenient truth". So us Calis will have the last laugh.

 

[AWD_FIEND]

so why is it illegal to mod cars in cali?
i don't get whats wrong with it and ii have heard that if you have a modified car and you get pulled over they can tow your car? is it true?

There has been such an extreme reaction here to the Fast Furious movies it's been plaguing this industry here for a long time. I'm OG and was attending the races in compton, and downtown LA when they were sort-of legal, cops would show up, make sure no drug deals, or prostitution then move on when all they saw was racing. Depending on what county you're in now and how extreme your mods they have started to skip impounding and gone straight to crushig our cars, especially if you have parts installed that can be proven to have come from vehicles that were stolen. You cant just cruise into a swap meet and buys parts without making sure they arent stolen now because the burden of proof now lies on the vehicle owner. Its pretty bad here. One thing I can say though is they'll have to shoot me dead before they crush my car

 

[AWD_FIEND]

its kinda funny that everything i have seen on the car crushing i have never seen a classic v8 muscle car on there, or anything about cars like modified firebirds and camaros etc,

I cant emphasize enough the truth of what your saying. I have a couple Mustangs(shut-up) and I was racing in an industial park with nothing but imports (mostly supras and DSMs) when there was a huge raid by a newly developed Task Force trained specifically to reduce racing. I was pulled over and at the time my car didnt have ANY smog equipment (cats, egr, smog pump nothing), and all kinds of illegal exhaust, intake, and engine mods, and when the officers told me to pop the hood I thought I was done. Tow trucks started showing up in mass and everyone was getting cited or impounded (before crushing). A couple officers started looking around while I watched nervously, and pointed at my headers and induction i heard them say "this is no good, thats no good." Then one of the officers shook his head, walked over and handed me my license and told me to get lost! I cant say I was upset, but seeing the import prejudice was pretty upsetting.

 

[AWD_FIEND]

i hear arizona is pretty easy on street racing and stuff

They are easy on smog laws, for now. Cant say about racing although they have the largest population of red light cameras in the country, with speed cameras catching up.

 

[Strm Trpr]

That's not a law in California

Ummm, yes it is.
If the car is 96 and newer it has OBDII.
You can not put an OBDI year engine in an OBDII car.
You can tell the difference from the outside when the 1g CAS is hanging off of the passenger side of the intake cam...

 

[donniekak]

Ummm, yes it is.
If the car is 96 and newer it has OBDII.
You can not put an OBDI year engine in an OBDII car.
You can tell the difference from the outside when the 1g CAS is hanging off of the passenger side of the intake cam...

2gb's have the cas in the same place. I doub't it would be really hard to get away with a 6 bolt swap if that is all you did to the car. But, if you want to be sure, get a JDM block, no vin number, and imprint the vin of your car on the block.

 

[Strm Trpr]

2gb's have the cas in the same place.

Yeah, I realize that, but 1g CAS' are much larger.

I'll keep my 7-bolt and just spend the money on a good machinist and have him eliminate the 2g oil jets.
It's all in the machine work and block preparation.

 

[lacroixdp]

Dont laugh, the rest of the country will be mandated to accept these laws in the next 10 years thanks to Al Gore and the not so-"inconvenient truth". So us Calis will have the last laugh.

I don't believe this will be the case at all. Indiana, in fact, used to have smog checks. However, they decided to get rid of it years ago. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that I will never move to any state that has ridiculous laws like that.

To the OP, I'd recommend what I do whenever I relocate somewhere temporarily with laws that infringe upon my rights to drive whatever the hell I want... keep your car licensed some place else. I do the same with guns, and I'll do the same with cars. I have a residence I maintain in Indiana so that I not only bypass smog laws, but I also don't have to have that ridiculous plate on the front of the car. Heaven help the People's Republic of California.

 

[Strm Trpr]

I don't believe this will be the case at all. Indiana, in fact, used to have smog checks. However, they decided to get rid of it years ago. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that I will never move to any state that has ridiculous laws like that.

To the OP, I'd recommend what I do whenever I relocate somewhere temporarily with laws that infringe upon my rights to drive whatever the hell I want... keep your car licensed some place else. I do the same with guns, and I'll do the same with cars. I have a residence I maintain in Indiana so that I not only bypass smog laws, but I also don't have to have that ridiculous plate on the front of the car. Heaven help the People's Republic of California.

That's all fine and dandy, but if you work, eat, sleep and deficate in California for more than 20 days, or any of the following, you must register your car in California.

When fees are due?
Fees must be paid within 20 days of entry or residency to avoid penalties. Any vehicle owned by a California resident must be registered within 20 days of entry into California unless a special permit was obtained. Nonresidents whose vehicles are properly registered to them in their home state or jurisdiction may operate their vehicles in California until they:

Accept gainful employment in California.
Claim a homeowner's exemption in California.
Rent or lease a residence in California.
Intend to live or be located here on a permanent basis (for example, acquire a California driver license, acquire other licenses not ordinarily extended to a nonresident, registered to vote).
Enroll in an institution of higher learning as a California resident or enroll their dependents in school (K-12).
NOTE: Nonresident military personnel stationed in California or their spouses may operate their vehicles with valid out-of-state license plates from their home state or the state where the military person was last stationed.

How could one live in California and not pay rent, have a job and pay taxes and so on?

 

[Strm Trpr]

Didn't know, got hookups and mechanics that do as they please that don't say a word.

It's really easy to bypass the automobile law in CA. Why do you think there are so many modified in CA?

So long as you don't get pulled over you're fine.

^^^ statement is key.

 

[J-speed99]

I always heard that it is a national law that you couldn't install an engine that is older then the car, but nobody checks for it except in CA.

 

[AWD_FIEND]

Yeah, they don't go into that much detail. What they look for is that all the Vac lines follow what the horrible under hood diagram does and that you pass their little visual and smog check. I passed the inspection with quite a few mods that aren't allowed.

The ref that I went to, told me that it is legal to swap an engine into a car as long as the crankshafts are interchangeable with the original. Opens up a big market for DSM's because of the 2.4 blocks and such.

But to the OP, no it is not allowed for a 6-bolt in a 2g car. They won't be able to tell a difference, but if they do run the numbers then you might get into some trouble.

I register between 6-10 Specially Constructed Vehicles per year and see as well as experience what many poor souls trapped in the cyclone of bureaucracy have to go through to get flagged vehicles registered. If it really was that easy for you than thank your lucky stars. Like any municiple employee they're human and have their bad days and good days, so you must have shown up the day after Mrs. got a cute new teddy. Never once have any referees cut me any breaks despite the fact they see me every other month. But yes I have consistently slipped a few changes past the vigilant eye of the man through disguise and trickery but never an entire engine.

 

[AWD_FIEND]

Any back pressure at all will hinder performance on a turbocharged car. And if anything a cop isn't going to pull you over because they just happen to know you don't have a cat, it's going to be because you have a loud/large canister. And about the whole "damage to air quality", be real. Owning a car in general will eff up the air quality. You are modifying said car to go faster. You do so by getting in more air. To go with that air, is fuel. Oh look, air quality just went down the shitter...

Cops aren't just targeting cars with loud exhaust, they have a sense of smell too, and as mentioned by others in this thread its quite easy to instantaneously from quite far away, smell if someone eliminated their cat. That is superfluous however because when a cop pulls you over in an import with modified exhaust he's going to check if their is a cat.

I am being real, and I do care about air quality, and it is possible to be respectful of the environment while also make cars insanely fast. More air requires more fuel, but only during the 1% of the time you're driving at WOT. The rest of the time you should be conscientious of your tune and at least run a cat if you've eliminated everything else smog related. I'm not riding the global warming dumb-ass bandwagon, I've always felt this way, running a cat doesn't hurt performance enough to make it worthwhile to eliminate them.

 

[Bluesideup]

Any back pressure at all will hinder performance on a turbocharged car. And if anything a cop isn't going to pull you over because they just happen to know you don't have a cat, it's going to be because you have a loud/large canister. And about the whole "damage to air quality", be real. Owning a car in general will eff up the air quality. You are modifying said car to go faster. You do so by getting in more air. To go with that air, is fuel. Oh look, air quality just went down the shitter...

Your S4 had four catalytic converters with ceramic cores. I would be surprised if a street driven dsm with one properly sized mettallic 100 cell cat lost significant hp over a test pipe. Significant meaning you could see a quantitative difference worth the huge fine for no cat.

What gets me are the guys putting down 300whp that feel it's necessary to remove their 10lb EVAP system yet they have a 40lb sub box and 25lb wheels. What's the point?

Every time I've taken a car in for emissions in Cali they've tested the EVAP system. I do wish they would calm down a bit on the visual inspection and evaluate based on what comes out of the tail pipe.

 

[Defiant]

1. Yes, engine changes are illegal, other than replacement with what the car was built with.
2. You might get away with it. If not, you might have your car confiscated, or priced out of ownership with fees.
3. Californians don't give a crap about other states' emission enforcement procedures. When your state realizes how much they make off smog checks, you'll be getting them soon enough.
4. Good luck with finding a crooked shop. The fine is on the order of $30K for the shop, $10K for the tech, and a loss of a career.