To make a long story short, got pulled over right after 7 stock in Huntington Beach for no front license plate.

Officer asks, "Do you have any mods done to your engine?"

Me... "Yes, I have cooling upgrades."

Pops hood. Visually you can see my air intakes, my front mount intercooler, my shiny koyo radiator, and my after market Air separator tank.

Officer looks at my radiator and AST and says this is illegal. Im like... okaaay. Writes me up for "altered emissions" and I have to see a ref station.

My smog pump is removed, downpipe replaced, and I have a racing beat muffler. Turbos are 99 spec turbos.

Im thinking about putting back on my oem air intake box, smog pump, and oem downpipe.

Will leave intercooler, exhaust, and after market radiator and AST. Watchu guys think?

Ken

 

Hey Ken,

Uh, you're still gonna have issues with the referee. It was pretty crazy when I moved here w/ my fd from S.C. I guess because my car wasn't a California car, they only checked for exhaust emissions compliance. He looked under the hood for 10 sec. and closed it remembering out loud, "that's right-this is a Michigan car, lucky you" (where the car was originally from). I'm thinkin' yours is from here

 

intercooler is not illegal to change

 

JUNK IT.

PM Wackyracer for free towing and a polish job.

 

swap a stock exhaust, make sureits quiet with a cat, and put the airpump back in and find a stock intercooler. The radiator is fine.. done..

 

cant you pay a high fee in court and skip the ref? I've heard of others doing this.

 

Yo Ken,

Did he look like this guy? http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/k...S/DSC_0726.jpg

If so, what a dick! He was studying all the cars and saying he wasn't going to pull anyone over that day...

FWIW, I passed smog twice and know of plenty of FD guys that have passed with an aftermarket downpipe (I had an aftermarket downpipe and an RB dual-tip too). Even though some people do say it's technically illegal, I haven't heard of that many people having issues at the smog station with an aftermarket one.

As far as the AST, that shouldn't be a problem, the ref guys should be competent enough to realize it's a part of the cooling system, as well as the Koyo. The only iffy thing is the FMIC. I say go with the FMIC and DP and if try it out. If they deny you, then just take it off.

Your other option is to pay a $$$ ticket to bypass the ref. Good luck

 

smog exempt old school FTW!!!

 

like everyone said, you can avoid the hassle if you fork up some change. its around $3xx i think. i think you have to go back sooner or later though.

 

Like others have said, you can avoid the ref in most cases by paying the fine which is around $300, but some ref tickets you HAVE to go to the ref. My friend had to go and I think the only difference was the cop put "non correctable" on the ticket (modified exhaust).

Aftermarket intercoolers are not apart of the emissions system, so they are legal to change, BUT finding a smog tech/ref/whoever to believe you is pretty rare, so put everything to stock if you plan on seeing the ref. INCLUDING the shitty precats. A lot of smog techs will pass you with a downpipe, but not a state referee.


-Oh you can leave your AST on, but then again some refs are dicks and will point at anything shiny and say it's been modified and is illegal.


Good luck

 

Last I heard, Cali quit the smog Ref program due to budget restraits. You might want to check that out. But I know they killed the "Vehicle Retirement" program, and I heard the REF program went at the same time.

 

They're bringing it back, last I remember.

 

It's already back..

 

Pay fine, + Out of state plates.

 

Hey Andrew,

That's definitely not the officer. I was pulled over in huntington beach later on in the day.

Im not sure if I was even given an option to pay a fine. However, to be safe, my mods can be easily remedied.

The ref stations are definitely back. Ill keep you guys updated.

The reason why i dont want to pay the fine is because I actually wont some sort of certificate from the ref station stating my setup is good to go just in case I get pulled over in the future.

 

The cop will probably still be a jerk and make you go again, even with a certificate.

I pray that i wont get pulled over and sent to the ref. I dont know what i would do it i HAD to see a ref. It would probably cost me over $500 to make my car smog-legal. Thats maybe.

Good Luck Ken.

 

I've taken a vehicle to the ref before and spoke with the guy there. They just want to make sure that the exhaust system is within Db ratings and that your emissions system is intact. They will perform a smog check.

The guy told me that intake systems are legal as long as you have a CARB cert or number, clearly visible. The intercooler, radiator, and ast should be fine. Your Racing Beat exhaust should be fine too. ( I don't know about the dp as they will do a smog check, but if anjew says you're good, then I guess you should be fine).

Upon completion, if you pass, you will be given a certificate. If you keep your aftermarket exhaust on and it passes the ref with it, the certificate will say that your aftermarket exhaust is in compliance. I hope that helps!

 

Ken,

I know us V8 guys go to the BAR association and get a certification sticker that we put on our cars, and if we were to get pulled over, we would just point to our sticker and there wouldn't be an issue.

I'm not sure how that would work since you have the stock engine, but I *think* I remember that they can authorize modifications and give you approval stickers for them. You might want to give them a call and talk to them about it.

 

when you get the ticket notification in the mail, it will have a bail amount option....


if not, i believe you can go to court and plied guilty/havent fixed it yet and the judge will give you a fine.

Ive had 2 ref tickets in my old s13.. random pull over because it was late at night and a bunch of my buddies *my car was at the end of the train* where heading to the late night kick it spot. freaking sucks.

 

Ken,

I had to go to a ref earlier this year.

He told me that everything had to be stock in the engine bay, *including the intercooler*, and that he would also "check the ecu for any codes," though not sure how he'd be able to do THAT, even if my stock ecu was mod'd, which it isn't.

For a LSx conversion, he told me that the engine would have to be stock, with a stock Corvette radiator, all the way back to the stock Corvette cat, and that he didn't care what was after the cat - EXCEPT, it had to have a stock Corvette fuel pump and stock Corvette gas tank.

Ken, you're most likely going to need to swap in stock FD parts for the ref. If the officer got you for a modified exhaust, the ref may also perform an exhaust sound check. You'll pass the sound check on a stock port with the stock cat and stock exhaust even with a downpipe. Don't ask me how I know...

Josh

 

What's BAR?

Why would you goto court then plead guilty??? That makes no sense.

Ready for this Ken?
Plead NOT guilty by written arraignment. I don't know if yours is a moving violation or what not. If they make you pay the fine,
http://lasuperiorcourt.org/Traffic/index.asp?RT=EX

phase 1:
CVC 40519(b) Written Not Guilty Plea
To: Traffic Court Clerk
Date:
Court Name:
Court Address:


Re: Written Not Guilty Plea for Citation #_____________, dated _____________.

(PM me for the rest of the form)

PHASE 2: the courthouse will send you a TR-202 form, fill it out. Enter all yore information on the statemnt of facts to the best of yore knowledge. If nothing , just write NOT GUILTY. Then sign it.

PHASE 3: wait for court's response

PHASE 4:

PHASE 5: PROFIT

 

summarize ..........................................too much reading!

 

BAR stands for something... google it. Cars that have legal engine swaps can be inspected by the state ref. If it passes, they issue a sticker that you put on the inside of your door jamb. The sticker basically tells the next person who is smogging your car, that the engine is to be smogged as an LSx (if you were to do an LSx swap). So the sticker means that the car is BAR'd or passes BAR or has been BAR'd etc. etc.

 

Bureau Automotive Repair

http://www.autorepair.ca.gov/

 

i thought u drink in it.