I need some help, i just got my emission letter in the mail yesterday and i know that my car wont pass.....so does anyone know of a rotary friendly place in northeast va where i can get my car done. Maybe even a place that i can pay a little extra to make sure it "passes". Any help or suggestions would be great. I have a new high-flow cat to put on to get it a little closer to being legal.

 

Well, with a new cat on it, you should be pretty set, Hyrdocarbon emissions _tend_ to be the only problems with rotaries. I'd also make sure you have new plugs, and that your wires are up to spec.

You'll probably pass just fine with that new cat, as far as the car runs OK.

I can give it a look over if you bring it by, but it's probably quite a drive for you, as I would be in Laytonsville, MD :p

 

my car is actually up in fredrick MD right now at the new pfs location getting some suspension work done. Do you think i should just put the cat on and give it a try at a regular shop or should i put alcohol in my gas and do all i can for the first try??? Thanks for your response

 

I would also like to find an emissions friendly place in NOVA. I don't have any emissions on the car. I'll willing to hook the guy up if I pass...

 

Guys, the only way to pass a car in VA is to put a totally diff car on the dyno (remember, the results of the test are sent via modem to Richmond FIRST, which decides whether you passed or fails, then the results come back here simply for printout purposes only...NOT evaluation). I'd check out the place first, maybe take in your beater, and see what the guy does. Most guys when they want the VIN, they just ask for your registration card. If this is the case, you've got it made. If they're thorough/****, they'll use that scanner and scan the sticker on the door jamb for the VIN. In either case, if you're slick, and you hand him your registration card (w/ the VIN bar code on it), he'll just use it.

So what's the trick? The car on the dyno is NOT your car. It's a friend's FD that's pretty much stock, and will pass emissions. You see, they only info he's gonna really need to input to identify your car is that bar code he scans. So a friend's FD + your registration card = happy emissions. Hypothetically speaking, of course

Oh and the reason why it's so freakin hard to find someone willing to voluntarily put another car on the dyno for you to pass is because they know they're looking at not just loss of license and a high fine, but jailtime.

Note: PLEASE don't PM me asking if you can use my car on the dyno. My car would fail emissions even w/ the engine off

Lastly, you can always PM Wargasm, and see if he'd be nice enough to tune your PFC to a super low emissions setting for ya, and make sure whoever's doing the emissions testing doesn't boost!

 

or just register your car in a non-emissions county in va. You can have a seperate mailing address from where your car is "garaged"

My advice- make friends in central va

 

Neal, you do that too??

 

Hum... my sister is at VA Tech I'm sure they don't have emissions

 

Nope, no emissions here (Blacksburg), but you still have to pass the state inspection visual... you'll need to have the cat, airpump, etc on the car unless you pay someone off.

Oh, and what year is your sister?

 

Again, choose wisely. I was just telling Neal how a few days ago I (hypothetically) was state inspection shopping. I spent about 4 hours going down the road, from one gas station to the next, until I found someone who wasn't going to make me take off my stickers to pass, and doesn't put the car up on a lift, if it's only for state inspection.

I already knew someone from last year's inspection that doesn't put the car on a lift (so they don't check for cats), or take off the wheels. Prob is, this year, he gave me issues about my stickers, and well, w/ all the shows coming up soon, I don't feel like having to take 'em off, get new ones from my respective sponsors, and then put 'em back on. It's a hassle...plus, that's a LOT of Goo-be-gone to be using to get rid of the sticky residue they leave behind...

So in short, no you don't need to have cats to pass a visual state inspection. As for airpumps, dawg, you're talking about an RX7. Last year when the guy popped my hood, he got quiet for a sec, said "Damn, I dunno what the hell I'm lookin at," and dropped the hood. This year, the guy opened it, looked, and closed it. Mind you, there's a HUGE gaping hole where the airpump used to be

Pat, if you change over your registration and title address, and need to pass a visual here, PM me. I'll tell ya the two inspection stations I know that don't put the car on a lift.

 

yeah, my family lives in central va so I have an actual house I can register my car at...

 

Neal...did I tell you how good of a friend you are to me? Well you know what?? I got a beautiful PO Box out there that loves me...

 

I will check to see if its cool, I think in VA you can have a different mailing address than your garage one

 

One time I got pulled over in the FD (for looking for a cop...I swear! Fairfax County... nuff said lol) the guy started giving me a hard time about the address on my license vs the address on my registration. He asked me why it's titled to a PO Box. I told him because of privacy reasons, and the DMV said it's 100% legal. So he said where do you live? I told him here. He said so the car's here? (trying to give me a ticket for changing address and not notifying the DMV within 10 days). I said no, I park her there, for storage. He gave me this dirty look, and was like "where?" So I sputtered off an address I have memorized there and he was like "well get this taken care of...I could write you up for invalid registration if I wanted to" which is BS... He was just trying to flex his 5-0 muscle, but it's 100% legal, no if's and's or but's.

 

Ha. My sister is 25 and in her 3rd year of Vet. school. Thanks for the info. I'm going to look int o this asap

 

Gosh Pat...you're so ... yesterdayish LOL. This is OLD NEWS. You think all those modified sportscars we have on the street today w/ VA tags pass emissions? No friggin way...

Keep us updated. I'm sure it'll work smoothly. And when you go to the DMV here, and they ask for your emissions stuff, be like oh I'm from so and so (whatever city your sis is in), and they'll be like oh ok...here are your stickers sir.