what to do in california?

so, i moved to california from the UK in january. dreams of big V8s and open roads had seemed great, but in reality thats not really me. back in the uk i had a variety of cars, mostly modified in way thats wouldnt be legal here in california with regards the emissions regulations. i also built a kawasaki ninja powered go karts with my friends i shared my shop with and it gave me a new persective on speed.

its been 4 months or so now, and the silverado SS i have bores me to death, and i need to build something quick, i just get the impression that going genuinely fast on budget here while staying legal is impossible. i want something with 500bhp/ton+ ideally, to give me something close to the buzz the kart gave me, which i think i could achieve on my budget using a boosted LS, or saab b204, boosted bmw m50 if the car was light enough. but from what research ive done it seems like only certain approved parts are legal, and most of those are expensive and largely just spec sheet fillers. and engine conversions are a nightmare with regards paperwork.

does anyone else know where im coming from?

my point is, i know pre 75 stuff is smog exempt which mates it easier but im a 90s/00s guy i guess and nothing of that era that falls within my budget appeals to me due to the archaic engineering and weight. so what are my options? is there a way of cheating the system or something i dont know about in terms of making life easier with engine swaps/major modifications?

id really like to build something i can drive on the streets and not have to worry about being pulled over and ending up in trouble because of a turbo conversion or the wrong engine etc. i see loads of crazy cars like the bizimoto minivan and wonder how the fudge they managed it? or is it just illegal and nobody cares?

any advice/wisdom anyone has to share?

engines from newer versions of the same model line can go in. There are some weird exemptions, as I'd seen a few STI swapped RX8's. But from what I was able to find, bogus smog checks are very expensive because they really punish the offenders.

CARB is a bunch of crap, it really is, but before I get on my soapbox about "if you want a standard, make it berkeleying standard across the board" it does allow for often expensive, but also interesting custom work. As was explained to me, if you can make parts with carb stickers work, they're legal, not necessarily vehicle specific. I would look that up before taking it to heart, but frankensteining may not be out of the realm of possibility.

Another option is diesel. Pre 97 doesn't need smog, and as along as you aren't rolling coal, you can do pretty much anything you want. Turbo diesel car? Mud truck? buggys? options are there.

A way a lot of people get away with a LOT of stuff is PNO registration, planned non operation. It's risky, and I'm sure there is a better way, but trailering the car to tracks, no one cares outside of the track what it had or does.

People also swap back to stock before getting smogged, then switch back. A lot of work, but it could be an easy way through. As long as you aren't shooting fireballs on the interstate or racing, it really shouldn't be a problem though.

everything is legal until you get caught, and don't break more than one law at a time.

I actually forgot about that. Not every county has smog. Much like getting a concealed carry permit, it can vary by county. Might be worth finding a county map, but most in both situations are closer to oregon.

So if you build a kit car (or homebuilt, locost-style car) you can register it under SB100, which will make it smog exempt. That's probably the best way to a legal 4 lbs/hp car.

Most owners of heavily modified cars in CA do one of three things: they have "a guy" who will look the other way and smog it (this is getting harder and harder, I'm told), they live in an area that only smog cars on owner transfers, rather than biennially, or they revert it back to stock whenever it needs to be smogged. None of these are legal, but many people get away with it.

revrico wrote: engines from newer versions of the same model line can go in. There are some weird exemptions, as I'd seen a few STI swapped RX8's. But from what I was able to find, bogus smog checks are very expensive because they really punish the offenders. CARB is a bunch of crap, it really is, but before I get on my soapbox about "if you want a standard, make it berkeleying standard across the board" it does allow for often expensive, but also interesting custom work. As was explained to me, if you can make parts with carb stickers work, they're legal, not necessarily vehicle specific. I would look that up before taking it to heart, but frankensteining may not be out of the realm of possibility. Another option is diesel. Pre 97 doesn't need smog, and as along as you aren't rolling coal, you can do pretty much anything you want. Turbo diesel car? Mud truck? buggys? options are there. A way a lot of people get away with a LOT of stuff is PNO registration, planned non operation. It's risky, and I'm sure there is a better way, but trailering the car to tracks, no one cares outside of the track what it had or does. People also swap back to stock before getting smogged, then switch back. A lot of work, but it could be an easy way through. As long as you aren't shooting fireballs on the interstate or racing, it really shouldn't be a problem though. everything is legal until you get caught, and don't break more than one law at a time. I actually forgot about that. Not every county has smog. Much like getting a concealed carry permit, it can vary by county. Might be worth finding a county map, but most in both situations are closer to oregon.

from what i gather from the stuff ive read online, it seems like you can swap any engine into any car, but the engine has to be newer, and the emmissions equipment from that engine have to go with it. which is a pain in the ass and kindof defeats some of the point in my opinion.

as for the carb thing, does it apply to stuff like larger turbos, different boost piping and so on? i can only assume so? how the F do you get around that?! a saab b204 is an engine id like to mess around with, because with essentially a larger turbo, intercooler, exhaust and fueling upgrades to suit, they can make north of 500bhp. thats great, but 1, i wouldnt want it in a saab, and 2, how do you get around the larger turbo thing? do they sell larger turbos that are carb approved?! cant imagine thats a thing to be honest!

i read about the diesel pre 97 thing. i wondered what interesting cars were out there that fall into that bracket, and also, if they dont need emissions checks, how would anyone know if there was a gasoline engine in it?

the swapping thing is fine in theory but berkeley, tbh be honest i kindof what to do something silly just for E36 M3s and giggles, and it would likely turb into something thatd be hard or impossible to reverse. especially every 2 years,

codrus wrote: So if you build a kit car (or homebuilt, locost-style car) you can register it under SB100, which will make it smog exempt. That's probably the best way to a legal 4 lbs/hp car. Most owners of heavily modified cars in CA do one of three things: they have "a guy" who will look the other way and smog it (this is getting harder and harder, I'm told), they live in an area that only smog cars on owner transfers, rather than biennially, or they revert it back to stock whenever it needs to be smogged. None of these are legal, but many people get away with it.

that is also something id read about but the rules seemed somewhat vague. like the vehicle its based on has to be somewhat unrecognizable, is that externally or mechanically i wonder? and where do they draw the line on stuff like kit cars? if i spend a few months building a glorified 2 seater go kart with a bike engine, lights and seat belts, with that fly?! the rules seem quite vague, im used to the uk where they are what they are and although often crap, they make sense and are clear.

also, motorcycles dont have to be smogged, whats the deal with putting a motorbike engine into a 4 wheeler i wonder? couldnt find anything on that.

While it's nominally legal to swap engines (newer engine into older vehicle, no crossing of truck/car engines/chassis), you have to transplant every possible emissions-related component or use CARB-approved equivalents. That basically makes it impossible to get an actually legal car in most cases, because odds are that something isn't going to fit. With things like V8s and Miatas it's the headers, and basically every V8-swapped "legal" Miata has had the ref look the other way when it comes to the headers.

There's wording in the rules about cars appearing to be old cars, but AFAICT in practice that's not applied at all. I know of an SB100-approved home-built Atom replica, for example.

You can't put a motorcycle engine in a smog-controlled car. You can put one in an SB100, I think, although there might be rules requiring reverse gear to meet the SB100 approval.

Basically the way SB100 works is that they do 500 a year. You used to have to line up at the DMV on Jan 2 to get in, but I'm told that they're usually still available through most of the year now that the backlog has been processed. You bring with you a big pile of documentation (bill of sale for any major components, such as the donor vehicle for engine & tranny, the kit if you're using one, stuff like that), the SB100 forms, and a checkbook. Pay your fees, they fax it to Sacramento, and you get an SB100 serial number. Once the car is built you bring it to the DMV (and I think the CHP) for inspection, they issue a special VIN, rivet a VIN plate on the car, and you can register it. They do a smog test on it for research/informational purposes (the numbers are completely ignored when it comes to registering your car) and you're good to go. It's transferrable too, I owned a home built SB100 Locost (Miata donor) for a couple years that I bought from the builder.

The locostusa forum has a good writeup on this.

I cannot positively answer, but I believe it to be anything that takes in or puts out air, or could be burned, needs CARB approval. If you look around, you'll notice everything from drywall to freezer bags to obviously car parts has a CARB stamp or sticker on it somewhere. Hollow core door surprised me the most.

could you get away with a bigger turbo on a factory turbo car? that depends on the tech doing the inspection and the numbers coming out of the OBD2 or exhaust. At least with sniffer testing, you can tune for it. But there is still a visual inspection and you're at the mercy of what the guy knows. Hope he isn't a member here who could hear the bearings spinning and name it from across a parking lot. (no one in particular, just extreme example of someone who's a particular turbo or car fan).

As I'm sure you've witnessed already, vehicle rules are bizarre there. Can only use special "green" parts, but people can drive down the road missing body panels, wheels cambered cockeyed, motorcyclists get to split lanes... It's kinda messed up. If you spend to much time thinking about it, blood will squirt out of your ears.

CARB requirements apply to anything between the air filter and the catalytic converter. Mufflers can be swapped without smog issues, although there are (rarely enforced) noise laws.

Crazy camber and missing body panels are not legal, there's just no inspection required that they would fail. Lane splitting is legal (or rather, "not illegal"). I find it kind of mystifying why that's unusual, it works out just fine in practice.

I'm jealous of lane splitting actually. Just seems far more dangerous or arguable than car parts. Growing up never seeing it before, it was definitely a shock the first time someone passed me in a traffic jam. I just always think some shiny happy person is going to open their door on them or jump lanes without warning. Sacramento drivers were far far worse than those around Novato and Antioch though.

How about starting with a high-powered base (such as a Z06) and adding a lot of lightness? 500 HP/ ton is quite a target, though

i guess the SB100 thing will be the safest way to go for me personally then by the sounds of it. i was about the say the least hassle, but i guess that depends on which way you look at it. in an ideal world id just do an engine and transmission swap, add a few aftermarket parts and some cheap mappable management and be laughing all the way to the next gas station.

@mitchell

that may end up being the easiest way to go. ive always stripped my project cars to their guts anyway, my last daily didnt have a heater, radio, carpets, sound deadening, door cards....and that was in england, during 2 winters.....but i did want to build something silly and have all the fun of the build and development, not just a weekend stripping out weight. but whatever gets the job done i guess.

i suppose my options are that or a ground up frankensteinesque contraption, mish mashed enough to qualify as a special built rather than just an illegally modified heap of turd.

LSx powered Locost on SB100 is probably the easiest legal way to get what you're after if you don't want to build up one of the smaller pre 70s cars.

i assume a pre built chassis would still be elligible for the sb100?

It's not easy, but there are still plenty of options. There is no shortage of modified cars in CA. There are pretty much three sets of smog check rules for CA cars.

1975 and earlier are exempt. This option allows the most freedom, but you are restricted to older cars. Plus this makes older cars a bit more expensive in CA.

1976-1995-ish (pre obd2 cars) have the most strict standards. Most have to go to certified "test only" stations where they are thouroughly visually checked, and run on a dyno while subjected to a tailpipe emission test. These tests are getting expensive (about $80) and are the hardest to pass.

Obd2 cars used to go through the same testing as Obd1 until just recently. Now, the test is simple- they pretty much just rely on the card's obd2 test port to report itself. If all of the readiness monitors are set, and no codes are flagged, all is good. While it's still illegal to mod the car with non carb exempt parts, it's not really checked anymore (the tests take minutes and cost $20, it's not much of an inspection.) Keep the ECU happy, the emissions components intact, and don't do anything obvious, and you should be good.

There is no way to make a non CARB certified turbo kit, supercharger, etc. legal, no matter how clean the car is. Engine swaps are legal if the engine is newer than the car, and all emission components are swapped too. Then the car has to be approved by a BAR referee. If passed, it gets treated from then on as the car that the swap came from for future smog checks.

In my expirience, turbo cars are pretty easy to mod and get away with. The smog check techs don't know what every car is supposed to look like. You can add a lot of power to a turbo car and still look stock. I just passed the strictest test available with my '92 Mitsubishi Galant VR4. Nothing after the head or before the throttle body is in stock. Nothing in the fuel system. It has a much larger turbo, intercooler, 750cc injectors, etc. but I made everything look as close to factory as possible. It passed the sniffer test with flying colors, and no problems with the visual. It does help to have an uncommon car that they don't see everyday.

By far the most common method CA car enthusiasts use is to return the car to stock every two years.

Edit: Here's a couple pics of the VR4 engine bay. I'm sure a lot of you could pick out the mods, but this was stock looking enough to pass... <img src="#//smg.photobucket.com/user/AWDpower/media/Mobile Uploads/image_2.jpg.html][/URL]" /> <img src="#//smg.photobucket.com/user/AWDpower/media/Mobile Uploads/image_3.jpg.html][/URL]" /> <img src="#//smg.photobucket.com/user/AWDpower/media/Mobile Uploads/image_4.jpg.html][/URL]" />

The one thing they do usually flag is an open element air filter. I just stuck a stock cover from a newer Montero over mine to hide it...

<img src="" />

The second category is 1975 through 1999. 2000+ do not need to do the sniffer test any more, although this isn't actually all that different from the 75-99 cars because they still do the visual test and they still do the gas cap test. Basically they analyzed the numbers and determined that OBD2 cars almost never fail the sniffer test without also having a code set, so they decided to skip the sniffer.

Stumc wrote: i assume a pre built chassis would still be elligible for the sb100?

A kit car chassis is eligible. A car chassis that was sold as a car somewhere else (basically, something that already has a VIN) is not.

I think the most common SB100 car is a Factory Five Cobra, with the second most common being various Seven clones. Excocets are getting up there as well. The Flyin' Miata "XXXocet" would beat your hp goal (556 hp, 1800 pounds).

BTW, it looks like they've changed the SB100 procedure since the last time I read up on it. Here's a good link:

sb100

The second category is 1975 through 1999. 2000+ do not need to do the sniffer test any more, although this isn't actually all that different from the 75-99 cars because they still do the visual test and they still do the gas cap test. Basically they analyzed the numbers and determined that OBD2 cars almost never fail the sniffer test without also having a code set, so they decided to skip the sniffer.

Does this vary by county? I just had two cars smogged (the VR4 and a '95 Miata) at a test only station, and they only list OBD1 and OBD2, with the cut off for most cars being '96 (there were some '95 OBD2 cars.) OBD2 cars do get a quick visual, but nothing like OBD1 where they check vacuum diagrams and electrical connectors. The OBD1 cars also get the EVAP system test.

I did forget to mention, not all counties do the smog tests. Many rural counties are test free. Still illegal to mod, but there is no check in place...

CA SMOG INFO

Also, new cars don't require checks for 6 years, so new cars are easy to mod, for a while.

My 99 Miata still requires a sniffer test.

https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/New_Smog_Check_Test.html

As for the visual test, my 2004 Audi got the same kind of attention paid during that portion of the test as my 99 Miata -- a brief look around the engine bay with a flashlight and a mirror on a pole to check the cat. They didn't spend as long on the Odyssey, presumably on the basis that nobody would bother doing smog-illegal mods on a minivan. :)

In reply to codrus:

Good to know. Do you know if there are any differences between '96-'99 and 2000+ OBD2 systems, or is the 2000 model year just arbitrary?

I read your link and saw that hybrids are now being smogged, they were recently exempt. There goes my dream of building a V8 mid engine Prius.

Boost_Crazy wrote: In reply to codrus: Good to know. Do you know if there are any differences between '96-'99 and 2000+ OBD2 systems, or is the 2000 model year just arbitrary? I read your link and saw that hybrids are now being smogged, they were recently exempt. There goes my dream of building a V8 mid engine Prius.

I don't know of any differences, no. For example, AFAIK the 1999 and 2000 Miatas are identical.

And yeah, no more V8 Priuses. You'll have to build a mid-engined V8 Leaf instead. :)

In reply to Stumc:

If big V8's are your thing and you want massive performance, why don't talk to Flyin' Miata about putting an GM LSX motor in an MX-5? There are California smog legal options available.

What is your budget?

I'm guessing motorcycles aren't an option? Your power/weight goals can be had for a few thousand dollars, and you'd get to split/filter when traffic is backed up!

For swapping, aren't E-Rod engines a thing?

http://www.chevrolet.com/performance/crate-engines/e-rod-ls3.html

https://www.flyinmiata.com/V8/california/index.php

For the Miata, it's 1990-1995 only due to OBD thingies. You get 430 hp in a 2000 lb full-interior package though!