Getting Ready for California STAR Smog
03-29-23, 08:46 AM
#51
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so three having the state run program is kind of redundant, some states have done studies to see if the smog programs work, but not California
the SF bay area is bad too, if you go up in the hills and look down there is a layer of brown stuff. its better than it was for sure, if you want to see how bad it was, try an 80's A Team episode, there is usually an establishing shot of LA, and its usually pretty bad
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Toruki (03-29-23)
03-29-23, 02:06 PM
#52
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there are a couple of issues there. number one is that every OBD2 or newer (1996), car, by law smogs itself. that was the point of having that law. two most of the cars on the road are newer than that.
so three having the state run program is kind of redundant, some states have done studies to see if the smog programs work, but not California
the SF bay area is bad too, if you go up in the hills and look down there is a layer of brown stuff. its better than it was for sure, if you want to see how bad it was, try an 80's A Team episode, there is usually an establishing shot of LA, and its usually pretty bad
so three having the state run program is kind of redundant, some states have done studies to see if the smog programs work, but not California
the SF bay area is bad too, if you go up in the hills and look down there is a layer of brown stuff. its better than it was for sure, if you want to see how bad it was, try an 80's A Team episode, there is usually an establishing shot of LA, and its usually pretty bad
We also need to look at pollution as a whole . Buying a new car every 5 years is also bad for the environment , but we just don't see if in the air. 35 year old cars still on the road will inevitably displace the production of new vehicles. That's why I think cash for clunkers was a corrupt system designed to jump start the production of american vehicles. They destroyed millions of cheap affordable and most importantly semi indestructible japanese cars that would run forever with little maintenance , and most people used that money to buy gas guzzling cars according to the data . A 1995 civic gets like 45 mpg. Further strict NHTSA laws made cars heavy hunks of plastic that couldn't pass EPA registrations due to all of the extra weight . Cars had ti be heavy to be safe but also had to get some BS high mpg. The best way to cut weight was to add more plastic . We wonder why people switched to SUV's and trucks. They have lowered mpg standards under the epa and as a result you can still get a good interior . But this is counter productive as the mpg per new vehicle has dropped . Again a 1995 civic got 45 mpg, very few NA cars get that today .
03-29-23, 04:05 PM
#53
We know that laws drive innovation. Since companies are looking for the most profit and adding smog equipment to cars can increase their cost, you get the point. The spur in electric vehicles without a doubt is driven by laws. In the end if companies are forced to comply, they will find a way to decrease the cost. This is a good thing because of innovation that can be used across multiple industries. it can be painful to get to the end game, but in the end everyone wins.
03-29-23, 04:33 PM
#54
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A little sad that car manufacturers have realized that electronification allows the continuation of the USA's love of enormous vehicles. Remember what expensive gas did to cars in the UK back in the 80's? Lots and lots of high performance hot hatchbacks! I remember my first gen Vauxhall Astra GTA with something like the love for an old flame.
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03-30-23, 12:30 PM
#56
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so as far as biblical plagues go we've had fires, darkness, plague, floods, and next up is probably insects, lol
03-30-23, 12:39 PM
#57
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Thread Starter
But today…. It is sunny and achingly beautiful outside. Makes the mortgage and smog worth it. Until the next fire season.
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j9fd3s (03-30-23)
03-30-23, 09:38 PM
#58
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Thread Starter
OK, back to the plot. Am looking seriously at the suggestion to remove the cats and store them until next smog test in two years. I assume I will need to create a custom exhaust from header to muffler? I have the stock OEM header (not the thermal reactor version) and a Racing Beat cat back muffler on the car. Quick search of the usual suspects did not uncover any pre-built solutions for spanning between header and muffler. Trying to avoid replacing the header if at all possible... or relieve me of that misconception if switching out the header has major benefits.
03-31-23, 07:52 AM
#59
Rotary Enthusiast
You don't need the entire exhaust system. You can have a shop make a "test pipe" or "race pipe" that starts at the header's exit flange and replaces the cats. You prob want some type of resonator in there. rx7.com makes (made?) on for the stock exhaust on my '83 and they have other versions on their web site.
https://rx7.com/store/rx7/saexhaust.html
Also, maybe racing beat has something?
Edit: Love that bike shop!
https://rx7.com/store/rx7/saexhaust.html
Also, maybe racing beat has something?
Edit: Love that bike shop!
Last edited by Toruki; 03-31-23 at 07:58 AM.
03-31-23, 09:32 AM
#60
seniorchief
While me and my 85 GSL-SE are now retired here in the Midwest since 2006 (no smog required), twenty of my twenty-six year (1980-2000) career were spent in California. Two duty stations I really loved were a shore tour with Weapons Test Squadron at NAS Point Mugu ( Ventura county, just off Pacific Coast Hwy) I Lived in Port Hueneme and was two blocks from the beach, It's also the tour where I bought my RX7. The other was NAS North Island attached to an ES-3 Det on sea duty, lived in Coronado when not deployed. Both beautiful places to live and while i couldn't afford to retire in CA I was thankful to have had those experiences before I transferred to Florida for my last six years.
04-01-23, 09:48 AM
#61
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While me and my 85 GSL-SE are now retired here in the Midwest since 2006 (no smog required), twenty of my twenty-six year (1980-2000) career were spent in California. Two duty stations I really loved were a shore tour with Weapons Test Squadron at NAS Point Mugu ( Ventura county, just off Pacific Coast Hwy) I Lived in Port Hueneme and was two blocks from the beach, It's also the tour where I bought my RX7. The other was NAS North Island attached to an ES-3 Det on sea duty, lived in Coronado when not deployed. Both beautiful places to live and while i couldn't afford to retire in CA I was thankful to have had those experiences before I transferred to Florida for my last six years.
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Seniorchief (04-01-23)
04-01-23, 09:57 AM
#62
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Yup, original OEM header and more recent cat back RB muffler already in place. Just need to bridge between their two bolted flanges. Hoping to find someone that fabricates and sells them as seems not uncommon to remove the cats between tests.
I assume the RB manifold flange stops in a different place to the OEM manifold and to run the RB pipe you would also need their manifold. Will look deeper into that though.
QUOTE Edit: Love that bike shop![/QUOTE]
How you unless the Roaring Mouse shop?
I assume the RB manifold flange stops in a different place to the OEM manifold and to run the RB pipe you would also need their manifold. Will look deeper into that though.
QUOTE Edit: Love that bike shop![/QUOTE]
How you unless the Roaring Mouse shop?
04-01-23, 10:15 AM
#63
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RB used to have a downpipe/pre silencer thing, but i don't see it anymore.
you could also run your old cats, if you got them back from the shop
you could also run your old cats, if you got them back from the shop
04-13-23, 10:49 AM
#64
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I did everything I could before I gave up and just "passed" with $$
04-13-23, 10:55 AM
#65
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All this stuff just makes me baffled as to why so many parts companies like RB and such are based in California. Are there just great benefits for businesses in Cali? It seems counter intuitive to base your Car parts company in a state that treats car owners like convicted felons
04-13-23, 12:08 PM
#66
Senior Newbie Member
All this stuff just makes me baffled as to why so many parts companies like RB and such are based in California. Are there just great benefits for businesses in Cali? It seems counter intuitive to base your Car parts company in a state that treats car owners like convicted felons
The EPA has also re interpreted the clean air act to apply to all vehicles regardless of their status as non operational track use / offload only status. This means you are breaking federal law for using a car that was once a street car to race drift rally mud plug rock crawl or simply just use on your homestead , farm or ranch.
No one here thinks it's ok for cars to be spewing out toxic fumes , but lets be honest with ourselves. By the time a car turns 40 years of age , the overwhelming majority of it's brethren have met their fate to the recycling plant, and if not , it's probably a valuable car and all of it's kind are garage queens that rarely get driven. Of the surviving cars , the bulk are rarely driven due to abandonment , are driven very little due to various reasons , and an even smaller amount are driven a considerable amount .
At that point even if the car was a gross polluter , there are so few of them on the road constantly at any given time that removing them through strict smog laws , or enforcing strict smog laws makes a insignificant difference.
If the government truly cared SUV's and Trucks wouldn't be the #1 best selling segment in america , they get like 20-23 mpg and they are the majority .
But alas it's all virtue signaling paired by rampant consumerism . My neighbor has had two Prius and is now in a new tesla . He junked both prius because the batteries went bad and it cost more to replace than he would get on resale. We live in a throw away world , and we demonize old technology that was built to last by claiming that it is bad for the environment. On paper the old tech is " dirty" but in practice it's longevity ends up wasting less and polluting less.
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Toruki (04-14-23)
04-20-23, 04:06 PM
#68
I'm in AZ, but we still have emissions testing in my county u less you go Historic Plates, but then your insurance watches mileage, so I swap my original 84SE cats and manifold onto the car every 2 years for testing - and have never failed emissions.
If you want the best possible outcome with the least amount of worry;
1. Change your oil - if your OMP is pumping old, contaminated oil into your intake, it's going to show up on emissions output. Change your oil filter while you're at it. It's cheap insurance, and at least you'll be sure clean oil is being burned.
2. Plugs - BR8EQ14 is the standard for our engines. Running anything else isn't helping. New plugs ensure as clean a burn as possible, and make sure everything is tight and grounded well, while you're at it.
3. Plug Wires - simple to replace in this set of items, if you can't remember the last time you replaced them, just spring for a new set.
4. Distributor Cap & Rotor - basic maintenance around ignition, and necessary to ensure clean, proper spark on these old, low-powered systems. Don't mess with the coils - the stock Mitsu components are the best you can find and almost never fail. They're designed to work with this system and give plenty of ZAP!
5. Air Filter - clean air coming in, and as much volume as possible will help with both idle emissions and the rolling dyno test. A new filer helps a lot with road performance, too, and they're comparatively cheap and easy to replace.
6. Exhaust System Gaskets - often overlooked, any air leaks in your exhaust, from the manifold to the pipes and the muffler, allows oxygen into the system, which reacts with any unburned components to create HC and CO above normal. New gaskets are cheap, time to swap them is well-spent.
7. Fuel - avoid adding anything to the fuel, and stay away from high-test (aka high octane), as rotary engines have a short ignition and power stroke, any the octane additives delay ignition specifically for piston engines - which exactly what you DON'T want in a rotary. Run a can of Seafoam through it if you want, but it's not likely to change the results.
With these things done - which is just good PM on any car every few years, you have the best shot at passing on your first attempt using stock components, and remember that emissions testing standards are based on when the car rolled off the production line. They are also compared to past years readings for your car in some states (*like AZ), so think of it as setting a baseline if you plan to keep the car in that state. Good luck,
If you want the best possible outcome with the least amount of worry;
1. Change your oil - if your OMP is pumping old, contaminated oil into your intake, it's going to show up on emissions output. Change your oil filter while you're at it. It's cheap insurance, and at least you'll be sure clean oil is being burned.
2. Plugs - BR8EQ14 is the standard for our engines. Running anything else isn't helping. New plugs ensure as clean a burn as possible, and make sure everything is tight and grounded well, while you're at it.
3. Plug Wires - simple to replace in this set of items, if you can't remember the last time you replaced them, just spring for a new set.
4. Distributor Cap & Rotor - basic maintenance around ignition, and necessary to ensure clean, proper spark on these old, low-powered systems. Don't mess with the coils - the stock Mitsu components are the best you can find and almost never fail. They're designed to work with this system and give plenty of ZAP!
5. Air Filter - clean air coming in, and as much volume as possible will help with both idle emissions and the rolling dyno test. A new filer helps a lot with road performance, too, and they're comparatively cheap and easy to replace.
6. Exhaust System Gaskets - often overlooked, any air leaks in your exhaust, from the manifold to the pipes and the muffler, allows oxygen into the system, which reacts with any unburned components to create HC and CO above normal. New gaskets are cheap, time to swap them is well-spent.
7. Fuel - avoid adding anything to the fuel, and stay away from high-test (aka high octane), as rotary engines have a short ignition and power stroke, any the octane additives delay ignition specifically for piston engines - which exactly what you DON'T want in a rotary. Run a can of Seafoam through it if you want, but it's not likely to change the results.
With these things done - which is just good PM on any car every few years, you have the best shot at passing on your first attempt using stock components, and remember that emissions testing standards are based on when the car rolled off the production line. They are also compared to past years readings for your car in some states (*like AZ), so think of it as setting a baseline if you plan to keep the car in that state. Good luck,
My 1980 SA has failed CA smog twice. When I first acquired it a few years ago and registered in CA, no problems. Most of the items listed above had been done as part of a thorough refurb. Now, a few thousand miles later and it's time to check again, and it's failing. I suppose I can re-complete the above items, but am wondering where one obtains a new cat converter if that's the route I need to take?
Thanks for any info.
04-21-23, 09:02 AM
#69
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My 1980 SA has failed CA smog twice. When I first acquired it a few years ago and registered in CA, no problems. Most of the items listed above had been done as part of a thorough refurb. Now, a few thousand miles later and it's time to check again, and it's failing. I suppose I can re-complete the above items, but am wondering where one obtains a new cat converter if that's the route I need to take?
Thanks for any info.
Thanks for any info.
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