I registered my trailer through Maine, maybe they have options to register vehicles there too? No idea if they have inspections for cars, but apparently not for trailers.
I registered my trailer through Maine, maybe they have options to register vehicles there too? No idea if they have inspections for cars, but apparently not for trailers.
Armitage wrote: ... this is a track car with a 4-point bar and 6-point harnesses and I wear a helmet.
Umm... no it's not.
If it was, you wouldn't need it to pass inspection.
The streets are governed by a set of laws. Those that choose to use the streets, play by the same rules.
You are saying you want your street car to be treated by the track rules.
You wouldn't gripe about the track rules if you failed to pass tech, would you? Nope, you'd fix the car.
I'm not saying I like the rules. I'm simply saying you are being inconsistent in your expectations.
If it is a track car, keep it at the track and don't worry about the rules that don't apply related to driving it on the streets.
Advan046 wrote: Well the law is a result of many "Buyer Beware I Don't Care" types that do put in a fake or inactive airbag.
This makes a lot of sense and I hadn't considered it before. In this case, however, it's completely obvious that the aftermarket race wheel does not have an airbag so it would be a non-issue to a potential buyer.
It would be easy enough to put a non-functional bag in and rig up a light to pass inspection, but in a way that's worse than just not having one at all.
If I didn't live in the 'burbs and have no room for a tow vehicle and trailer this would be a non-issue. As it stands I have to drive the car on the street to get to the track. And also to the occasional cars and coffee :P
I live in a state that has no inspections so pardon my ignorance, but...
Why do you have to register the car in VA?
If you owned a summer home in another state or rented a long term residence in another state, could you not register a car in that state so that when you flew into your other state, you would have a car there waiting for you?
If your summer home was here in Ohio, we have a two year registration option and no inspection. You would likely not need it register again until it "moved back" to Virginia as a classic.
I'm moving back to a state without inspections as soon as possible.
^^ I've totally thought of buying some land near the track over the border in WV and "garaging" the car there. That would be awesome, no more emissions tests either :P But then I think about it and realize how absurd that would really be to spend all that $$ and effort. As to the "why" I seem to recall that there can be problems with your insurance if you register your car in a state you don't actually garage/use it but I don't know any specifics.
On South Bass Island in the Ohio portion of Lake Erie there is the city of Put-In-Bay. I believe this island has more classic cars per capita than any other city in the US. The reason being that the island has very few year-round residents but many summer homes. The thing to do here is to add an island car to your summer home. This island car is typically something rare or unique which never leaves the island.
Being an island, there is not post office delivery service to your front door. Everything is a PO box and residents go down to the post office to get their mail. Getting a PO box there on the island (like everyone else) would seem to make you look like a resident. Insuring your car to that location and that state does not mean that you can not still drive the Ohio car to VA just as you can drive any VA car to Ohio. (Or so it seems to me.)
In Ohio, registration/plates are about $50 per year.
On the island, every summer Sunday at 2:00 they hold the car parade and this is just a portion of the cars you will find on the island.
http://www.putinbaycarparade.com/index.php
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKehtI508Gs
I have a stock FD wheel and airbag for sale. If you're interested, msg me. It's a very nice one. If you only use it for inspections, you could re-sell it in a couple years and get your money back or more, easily.
Slippery wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: Would the airbag light have to function? IIRC, it lights up with ignition on and then extinguishes about the time the engine starts. A lot like an alternator light, then...This is exactly what I would do ... make sure the alternator light works and then go from there.
Does the alternator light have to work?
nicksta43 wrote: So my rallycross car will have to be from before airbags. E36 M3.
Why?
As I've pointed out before, if a rallycross course is so rough that the airbags deploy, then the course designer has utterly failed. You won't be worried about the airbag so much as you'll be worried about calling a flatbed to haul your car away, as the corner workers look for all of the pieces of the suspension that you just ripped off of all four corners.
It takes a significant deceleration to set the bags off. Enough to cause massive physical damage to the car. Think running into a parking lot curb at 60mph. That one resulted in the subframe being removed from the car.
So, really, if you think about it, you'd be more likely to deploy bags at an autocross than a rallycross...
For the alternator to energize, usually!
Keith Tanner wrote: For the alternator to energize, usually!
But does it have to say ALT (or whatever the heiroglyphic is) or can it be rewired through the airbag indicator?
I ask merely for information. I am certainly not suggesting that somebody move a couple wires in their instrument cluster connector so that the alternator or the oil pressure idiot light goes through the airbag light circuit. That would be wrong.
JohnRW1621 wrote: On South Bass Island in the Ohio portion of Lake Erie there is the city of Put-In-Bay. I believe this island has more classic cars per capita than any other city in the US. The reason being that the island has very few year-round residents but many summer homes. The thing to do here is to add an island car to your summer home. This island car is typically something rare or unique which never leaves the island.
I do maintenance on a couple of those "island cars". Kinda neat, really.
fornetti14 wrote: You should be able to put a wheel with an air bag back in there to act as a place holder. Then wire the SRS or air bag light so its running in parallel with another temporary trouble light, like a check engine light. When they try the accessories, all the lights will light up like they are supposed to and shut off (as long as your CEL is shutting off) like they are supposed to. I think I explained that correctly. Of course this is just to fool "the man" and pass the inspection you've been passing for 7 years. It worth a shot.
This, it will work. It will take you an afternoon at most.
Knurled wrote:nicksta43 wrote: So my rallycross car will have to be from before airbags. E36 M3.Why? As I've pointed out before, if a rallycross course is so rough that the airbags deploy, then the course designer has utterly failed. You won't be worried about the airbag so much as you'll be worried about calling a flatbed to haul your car away, as the corner workers look for all of the pieces of the suspension that you just ripped off of all four corners. It takes a significant deceleration to set the bags off. Enough to cause massive physical damage to the car. Think running into a parking lot curb at 60mph. That one resulted in the subframe being removed from the car. So, really, if you think about it, you'd be more likely to deploy bags at an autocross than a rallycross...
Not worried about that at all. My plan is to completely gut the interior. Move the seat back to allow my knees to be in a much more comfortable position. Being long legged 90% of the cars I get into I need to bring the steering wheel towards me a minimum of three inches. Sometimes six even with the stock seating position. Lexan to replace all the glass except the windshield. Fabricated aluminum dash. In Ohio or Tennessee it wouldn't be any issues at all to get this car registered. I really had my eye on building an E36. But could easily get a G-body down to 2700-2800#. I don't have the money or space for a tow vehicle and trailer.
Knurled wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: For the alternator to energize, usually!But does it have to say ALT (or whatever the heiroglyphic is) or can it be rewired through the airbag indicator? I ask merely for information. I am certainly not suggesting that somebody move a couple wires in their instrument cluster connector so that the alternator or the oil pressure idiot light goes through the airbag light circuit. That would be wrong.
If I were to do that, I'd simply run them in parallel to avoid any particular confusion.
In reply to nicksta43:
Meaning if the stupid air bag has to be there to be registered then I won't be able to use a car built with airbags because I won't be able to get the ergonomics the way I want them.
not a lawyer but here are the codes dealing with VA and airbags.
"§ 46.2-1088.3. Air bags; installation of other object in lieu of air bag prohibited; notice of installation of previously installed air bag required; penalty.
Any person who, without the knowledge of the vehicle's owner or the person requesting the installation, reinstallation, or replacement of a motor vehicle air bag, installs or reinstalls any air bag or other component of the vehicle's inflatable restraint system knowing that the air bag installation is not in accordance with federal safety regulations applicable to that specific line-make, model, and model year vehicle is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Any person who, without the knowledge of the vehicle's owner or the person requesting the installation, reinstallation, or replacement of a motor vehicle air bag, installs, reinstalls, or replaces a motor vehicle air bag or other component of the vehicle's inflatable restraint system with an air bag or other component of a vehicle's inflatable restraint system knowing that the air bag was previously installed in another motor vehicle is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."
"20. – INSPECT AIR BAG AND AIRBAG READINESS LIGHT FOR:
Any defects in the air bag system noted by the air bag readiness light, or otherwise indicated; or
The air bag has been deployed and has not been replaced (and is not deactivated because of a medical or other exemption and a notice is posted to indicate that it has been deactivated); or
Any part of the air bag system has been removed from the vehicle; or
If the air bag indicator fails to light or stays on continuously."
All of those regs say HE can do it himself. He can't do it for someone else though.
I'm a VA State Inspector, and while I hate S.I.'s (I moved here from GA, where you can register a car if you have a pulse, a driver's license, and cash), I do love that they keep insurance rates lower for the state. Does it suck that you have to have an airbag even if you don't want one? Sure. Does it suck that the law says I have to go 55mph instead of the 85 that I want to be going? Yup. Does it suck that the guy doing 85 in the lane over had his car inspected to make sure his tires aren't corded or his brakes metal to metal or his exhaust dragging on the ground or his power steering puking fluid? Nope, not a bit. The law sucks sometimes, but you gotta pay if you wanna play. Either reinstall the bag or take it off the road for 2 years. It shouldn't have passed the last 7 years, so consider yourself lucky. 
nicksta43 wrote: Not worried about that at all. My plan is to completely gut the interior. Move the seat back to allow my knees to be in a much more comfortable position. Being long legged 90% of the cars I get into I need to bring the steering wheel towards me a minimum of three inches.
Oh, I hear you now. Part of my steering wheel is a 3" chunk of large diameter galvanized water pipe that I inserted between the hub and the main part of the wheel. (It hasn't broken in six years, so I figure it's not gonna break)
I don't have the money or space for a tow vehicle and trailer.
Neither do I, and if I did it would just get dedicated to more awesome cars instead of a (grimace) truck. So I leave the interior in because driving three hours with no interior sucks. Driving ten minutes with no interior sucks. Hell, driving one lap on course with no interior sucks. It's like an EZ Bake Oven in the car and you're the cookie.
Now that I think about it, my next rallycross car is going to have air conditioning. Not roasting is worth the extra underhood plumbing getting in the way of engine swapping.
Definitely lucky that you have passed inspection up until now. Its been several (5+) years since they seemed to REALLY start cracking down on airbags during inspections in VA.
What sucks about mazdas of that vintage is that (at least my prior 93 miata) had AIRBAG stamped right there on the vin plate in the windshield. No hiding that even with everything else removed from the car.
I'm in Virginia. Not to get too political about it but my understanding is that Governor Kaine wanted to get rid of the program when he was in office. His reasoning was that it didn't make anybody any safer and his proof was that the insurance rates were not any lower than TN's where there is no inspection. Sound logic IMO. Alas the Republicans (small government types you know) wouldn't allow it to be axed.
nicksta43 wrote: I'm moving back to a state without inspections as soon as possible.
Come to Michigan. We have cheap land and no inpsections of any sort! (Also 48,000,000 pot holes and an endless supply of road salt.)
You've been illegal for years and knew it and are now choked because you somehow feel that them missing this for several years means they shouldn't be able to enforce the law when they do catch it? Interesting logic.
Your alternatives have been accurately outlined by others. Don't like the law, go do something about it, but good luck with that. Comply or stop driving the car - pretty simple.
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