Well for people in CA. that have v8 rx7's.Do you have to get it smoged?or how do you register it as?like if you get a v8 thats for like a 74' car or older that means you dont have to smog it right?of course I woulnt want a engine that old but one of those new ford engines that poeple put in there old mustangs.


One more question:has any one ever put any kind of honda engine in ther FD?I was thinking a good engine to put in that is reliable is the S200 motor and tranny.or some other honda engine.

 

no. few people swap their engine in favor of one that makes less power.
unless you want to join the KA guy in the other thread...

 

You can't legally put an older engine into a newer car anywhere in the country. The engine has to be from the same model year or newer. In california you will have to retain all of the engines original emissions equipment, or suitable CARB legal replacements. For instance,for an LS1 swap that means the stock headers, cat's, EGR and AIR equipment, fuel rails, and the complete obdII functionality of the computer. A real PITA, and probably not worth the effort.

Oh, and speaking of not worth the effort. No one in their right mind is going to go through the trouble and expense of all of the custom fabrication and wiring to put in an engine that makes less power, just for reliablity sakes. There's a reason why no one is really chomping at the bit to replace their 13BREW with a Renesis engine in their FD.

 

Is that law for only places with emissions laws? I dont think it would matter in hawaii.

 

Nope, it's an EPA guidline, meaning it's Federal. Of course, if you don;t have emissions testing, then you could probably do it and noone would know the difference. It's still illegal though.

 

the engine has to also have been available in the US in said chassis.

 

Where did you hear this? There are hundreds, if not thousands of cars that are legally registered with engines that were never offered in their chassis.

Pete, the founder of the v8rx7 board has a California legally registered V8 powered RX-7 convertable, and I personally know three people with 240Zs converted to 5.0L v8 power.

The engine has to have been available for purchase here, and after 1970-something has to have an EPA smog profile. It doesn't have to have ever been offered in the chassis you're putting it in. No kit cars or engine swaps of any sort would ever be street legal if that was the case, yet people register them every day.

The engine just has to be newer than the chassis and has to have all of the emissions equipment (or equivalent in every state but CA, and now MA I think).

 

If you're curious, here's the EPA guidelines

http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resour.../engswitch.pdf

"EPA received many questions regarding the application of this law to a situation where one engine is
removed from a vehicle and another engine is installed in its place. EPA's policy regarding "engine
switching" is covered under the provisions of Mobile Source Enforcement Memorandum No. lA
(Attachment 1). This policy states that EPA will not consider any modification to a "certified
configuration" to be a violation of federal law if there is a reasonable basis for knowing that emissions
are not adversely affected. In many cases, proper emission testing according to the Federal Test
Procedure would be necessary to make this determination.

A "certified configuration" is an engine or engine chassis design which has been "certified" (approved)
by EPA prior to the production of vehicles with that design. Generally, the manufacturer submits an
application for certification of the designs of each engine or vehicle it proposes to manufacture prior to
production. The application includes design requirements for all emission related parts, engine
calibrations, and other design parameters for each different type of engine (in heavy-duty vehicles), or
engine chassis combination (in light-duty vehicles). EPA then "certifies" each acceptable design for use,
in vehicles of the upcoming model year.
For light-duty vehicles, installation of a light-duty eng~ne into a different light-duty vehicle by any
person would be considered tampering unless the resulting vehicle is identical (with regard to all
emission related parts, engine design parameters, and engine calibrations) to a certified configuration of
the same or newer model year as the vehicle chassis, or if there is a reasonable basis for knowing that
emissions are not adversely affected as described in Memo 1A. The appropriate source for technical
information regarding the certified configuration of a vehicle of a particular model year is the vehicle
manufacturer."


Take my swap for instance. I have a 99 LS1 in a 94 RX-7. The LS1 is a certified configuration, and it can be demonstrated that emissions are not adversely affected by replacing my 13brew with it. In fact, my emissions are much cleaner, even without the catalytic converter, but shhh...don't tell the EPA

 

my guidelines came from the NTHSA. and the time limit for emissions is 25 years. so when the car is 25 you can do anything you want and even import them here.