Are there any guys running street ported motors, headers, or carbed 13Bs in CA and getting away with it? I'm thinking of buying a GSL SE with that setup but I know that none of this stuff is smog legal, I just want to know if they will be able to tell when I get it smogged. The two issues are 1) will it pass the emmissions test? and 2) will the guy doing the visual inspection know that it's not supposed to have a carb and headers on it?

 

#1 is going to be your hardest fight. Carbed rotaries are notoriously hard to pass emissions on, as evidenced by all of the emissions control stuff included on the stock carb'd 12a. If it's not a stock carb'd 12a then chances of passing emissions anywhere, let alone Cali, are slim to nil.

#2 is debatable. The headers are a dead giveaway, but stock exhaust can be picked up for the duration of the test... Whether or not they know it should be carb'd is another story. Technically the VIN does indicate that (one of the digits is a 1 for carb'd and a 2 for fuel injection on 84-85 FBs) but I don't know if their computers would have that information or not.

So unless you know somewhere that can "pass" you through the test, I'm going to guess that you're better off not buying the car or finding a way to register it in a state or county where emissions controls and knowledgeable mechanics (or mechanics with good computer records) are nonexistant.

Jon

 

Right now my current project/daily driver in is a 85 S with headers, racing muffler, no cats, emissions/everything else ripped out, and a Weber 48DCOE carb. I do NOT pass smog, but if you know the right people, for the right price, it can get done is usually how it goes.

 

That's what I thought. I may end up driving a car closer to stock than I want.

 

Are any guys in Cali driving a ported car that passes smog? I know it's not legal but I don't think there's really a way to tell on the visual and I don't know what that does to the emissions test.

 

TMCs....let me save you a lot of time and headache. The simple answer to all your questions is a big ***

NO

There is no way a ported and carbed rotary will pass smog. It takes so much to make a STOCK engine pass smog...any little mod you do will kill it. These engines burn hot and burn dirty. So...search around the site get more info...but seriously...if you do not have a smog hook up...keep the car stock. Or do what I did...pass smog FIRST...then start modding. But be prepared to put everything back when it comes times to smog again in 2 years.

 

I pass CA dyno roller smog testing with a ported S5 TII engine.
Although,a streetport on a TII engine is basically just a clean up of the runners.The EFI is designed to run with much more aggressive port timing/duration compared to the 1st gen engines.

There are no C.A.R.B. approved headers made for our cars.You can pass a sniff test with headers and all the smog gear working,but you wont pass the visual test without the C.A.R.B. approval placard for the headers.

Your VIN number will load the computor with the neccesary vehicle info and the tech will be looking for items that are appropriate for your car.....I.E. carb or EFI specific components.If you convert a carbed 1st gen to EFI or vice-versa,its considered an engine swap and you have to get it refferee approved.That of course only applies to FACTORY carbs or EFI.....no standalone EFI or aftermarket carb is going to pass a CA smog test since neither has the ability to operate the factory smog control devices.

 

Porting will dump more HC's into the exhaust stream......thats unburned fuel.

Rotaries already dump lots of fuel when stock,its part of how they are.Their rich nature also means that they are very low on NoX production,which is why very few rotaries have EGR valves,so thats one less thing we have to worry about.But you only have to fail in one gas category to fail the entire smog test.

You can most likely pass a CA smog test with a light streetporting job on a fully smog eqquiped 12A carb engine.In the past,Ive had stock 12A's that only produced 5-10PPM of HC during a test,with 175PPM allowable.Granted,they were in perfect tune and had a new cat,but they were very clean running with SOME room for power improvement.However,finding out how much you can get away with in regards to porting and passing would be a terribly expensive and time consuming project,since youd have to tear down and rebuild,then smog test until you find out exactly how much porting will squeek under the smog standards. Chances are,on a carbed N/A 12A engine, the HP gains arent going to be substantial enough to justify the work,even if you hit the max pollution and power numbers on the first try. And even then,one misfire or bumble during the sniffer test can mean a complete fail and $$ down the toilet.

 

yup i saw it pass on the smog dyno with the sniffer stuffed into the turbo muffler
it brought tears to my eyes, literaly, lol