Smog help for a CA driver?

[bobula]

Hi everyone,

My sister recently picked up a 78 620 King Cab in Oregon and brought it back here to CA to live. Unfortunately, all of the smog equipment was removed by a previous owner so not only does she have to figure out what to do on that, but she has to take it to the CHP for inspection and the people at the DMV are insisting that her truck has to be registered as a commercial vehicle! I know she's going to have to talk to someone with brains there, cause there's no way that thing has to be a commercial vehicle. She's at about $350 on the registration so far (I didn't get the exact details of the fees.)

 

So unless I'm missing something obvious, the CHP inspection is going to reveal to them that she has no smog equipment and there's no way we'll be able to try a crooked smog or anything of that sort. I think what we need to do is track down smog equipment and get it all back on there but that's a challenge in itself considering no one is selling any of that stuff.

 

Does anyone have any advice? It's going to be a huge bummer to her to be unable to drive her dream truck here :(

 

edit: Haha, I see my sister already posted in the parts wanted forum :D Anyway, my post still stands. We need advice!

[K_trip]

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[skyblue]

for some reason trucks in california are registered as "commercial". my 72 521 is registered as a commercial vehicle. i didn't question it or look into it at the time cause i just wanted to pay the fees and be done with it. I got this from a law enforcement forum:

 

"Any vehicle in CA designed to carry a load other than passengers will be assigned commercial plates by the DMV. They charge you a "Weight Fee" on your yearly registration based on your vehicle's gross weight, see Section 9400 of the CA Vehicle Code for details. Some exceptions: Vehicles used for commerce (Taxi Cab) will also be issued a commercial plate."

 

link to VC 9400: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc9400.htm

 

hope this helps with the plates question. I'm no help with the smog equip.

 

good luck

[MikeRL411]

If you "permanently" attach a camper type shell or bed cover [not a flat one]the truck is deemed not to be commercial. So get one and bolt it to the rails. Toss in a sleeper foam matress to reinforce the point.

[justin 620]

I remember hearing that older vehicles don't have to pass smog somewhere on this forum. If that's true, how old would they have to be?

[DATSTON]

i believe its '75 and older

[K_trip]

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[bobula]

If you "permanently" attach a camper type shell or bed cover [not a flat one]the truck is deemed not to be commercial. So get one and bolt it to the rails. Toss in a sleeper foam matress to reinforce the point.

 

This is interesting advice. Her truck had a shell on it but she removed it. Would putting it back on and just telling the DMV employee take care of it, or does she need to do something else?

[K_trip]

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[skyblue]

i honestly don't think the commercial plates is a big deal. If the truck weighs less than 3000lbs you only have to pay an extra $8. i would rather pay that than have a camper shell on my truck. I would focus on getting it to pass smog. start calling "pick n pull" style auto wreckers and just go grab what you need.

[datzenmike]

i wont be able to help you locate all the smog equipment, but i can get you a "special" smog for a very fair price.

 

I'm guessing this is illegal so we can't very well support it by turning a blind eye to this post.

[highdesertdatsun]

the reason they made the commercial plate thing happen in AZ is so they can check your

cargo make sure you dont have a bomb. if a vech is registered commercial they need no

reason to pull you over to check cargo. at least this is the case in AZ. darn 911 efects us all.

all one tons in AZ have to be commercial. even my old 91 . it seems in Cali. they consider all

trucks bomb carriers. 

[Lee R]

I live in CA ( I have a 74 so no smog) but I never heard of CHP inspecting the vehicle.  When I moved from Virginia back in 2000, I went straight to DMV and paid for the new CA plates.  No inspection or anything.  I doubt CHP or DMV would even know what smog equipment would belong on it!  It just needs to pass a sniffer test without going over emissions standards from any test only place.  Visual wise, it can't have a WEBER downdraft or side draft.  Other than that, it passes a sniffer then she's cool.

[K_trip]

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[schicksal]

The CHP only does a safety check on the vehicle and checks all of the vin numbers are matching. They make you pop your hood but they don't look at the emission parts just verify numbers . That's what they did last time I went through this.

[Old Rob]

As to the commercial plates, putting on the camper shell may get you a passanger plate. However if you're traveling down the road with something in the bed, a cop can pull you over and write you up for registration. It's not worth the potential hassle as stated for the few extra dollars.

 

As to the smog, because of it's year it will have to be smogged. Smog check. First determine if it was originally sold in CA or is it a Federal vehicle. Sometimes the smog equip is different. Then as stated do some homework as to what was originally on the vehicle and start tracking it all down. You should be able to get a rebuilt smog pump, new cat converter, mixture control valve, etc. from the wrecking yards. The parts were used over several years.

 

As to the engine swap, it is best to talk to a referee and get everything in writing as to what you will need. One thing for sure is you cannot put an earllier engine pre 76 into that vehicle.

 

[datson4life]

smog is super lame, i have a 70 521 and when i got it dmv made me go thru quite a bit cause it was out of their system, im sure they are gonna have u weigh the truck at a certified weight station, and the yearly cost for the weight as a "comercial truck" is pretty cheap, my truck was only 2100lbs

[Pacific coast Datsun]

$350 ? ....thats 17 years of registration here in AZ.

[kelowg]

find another cheap and wrecked 78  for smog parts. you could do something other than special smog thats illegal. otherwise, part her out. 

[Homeboyx]

You can try and to go to the Smog referee station and see what he/she(?) will tell you, but it's almost positively going to be to get all the smog related items back on there. 

Here's the list of what you'll need according to what I've gathered from a book:

 

-PCV

-ACL

-EVAP

-OC

-FR

-BP,EGR

-SPK

-AIS

-EFE

-EVAP-VC

-BP/EGR-BPT

-TOS

[skyblue]

It might be easier to find a presmog truck than trying to find the smog equip.