Stupid Smog Emissions Question...

[thisismatt]

2 hours ago, iceman510 said:

Gotta love the whole concept of the smog pump as a pollution-reduction device.  No actual reduction of emissions, just more air around them to reduce the ppm or whatever measure used.

California air resources board (CARB) is all a bunch of bureacratical bulltish.  I'm pretty convinced it's all about money, since if it was about emissions then the sniffer test would be the only concern. But no, there are piles of arbitrary rules about what you can't do, even if you have clean emissions.

[datzenmike]

2 hours ago, iceman510 said:

Gotta love the whole concept of the smog pump as a pollution-reduction device.  No actual reduction of emissions, just more air around them to reduce the ppm or whatever measure used.

 

Actually it reduced hydrocarbon emissions. (unburnt fuel) Oxygen rich air is pumped through tubes down the exhaust port and close to the exhaust valve. Under certain conditions the very hot exhaust just need some oxygen to start it burning in the manifold. If you have a catalytic converter, maybe California 521s had them, don't know but the 620 did then the extra air helped it as well.

 

The later 720 used tubes from the exhaust manifold to a one way reed valve on the side of the air filter. Every exhaust pulse is followed by a vacuum wave. The one way valve prevents pulses from entering the air filter but does allow a continuous series of small vacuum pulses to suck filtered air into the exhaust manifold. WAYYYY better than some power robbing mechanical pump. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

18 hours ago, thisismatt said:

California air resources board (CARB) is all a bunch of bureacratical bulltish.  I'm pretty convinced it's all about money, since if it was about emissions then the sniffer test would be the only concern. But no, there are piles of arbitrary rules about what you can't do, even if you have clean emissions.

It absolutely is all about money. And it's hard not to be cynical about it, but it's not just CA. CA just put the lobbyist spin on automobile mods. To be CARB exempt, you need to pay the BAR for testing, to ultimately obtain a CARB OE number. It's just one way the state of CA generates income. Think of the small town sheriff who sits on the lonely highway just as the speed drops from 70mph to 25mph. He's generating income for that small town.

 

Other states have ludicrous vehicle requirements too. I'm glad I don't live in New England, where I'd have to get safety inspections. That seems logical enough, but in practice, it's a load of bull. So pick your poison.

 

I do LS swaps for a living, and my bread and butter swap is one that I've done so many times that the BAR ref supervisor contacted me to urge me to get an OE # for my swaps. That way, there would be no certification process, just apply the label and be done. So from my point of view, it's not about the bureaucracy, paying the fee would actually save me money in the long term.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

On 11/23/2023 at 8:46 AM, Duncan said:

 

 

You DO have to be somewhat careful if you're stopped.  If you're driving like a hoon and smart off to a cop, he can write you a ticket where you have to take your car to a BAR referee if they suspect the smog stuff is missing or modified.  It is a rare occurence, but I have seen it happen a time or two.

 

 

 

 

I've heard stories. One about a guy with a '69 Charger that was told to go home at an illegal street race. He kept arguing with the officer, who then asked him to open his hood. Lo and behold, there were no original emissions devices on the engine, so the cop wrote him up hard. And guess what? Original emissions equipment parts for a '69 Charger ain't exactly cheap or easy to find. It cost the guy thousands to get out from under that offense.

[thisismatt]

24 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

It absolutely is all about money. And it's hard not to be cynical about it, but it's not just CA. CA just put the lobbyist spin on automobile mods. To be CARB exempt, you need to pay the BAR for testing, to ultimately obtain a CARB OE number. It's just one way the state of CA generates income. Think of the small town sheriff who sits on the lonely highway just as the speed drops from 70mph to 25mph. He's generating income for that small town.

 

Other states have ludicrous vehicle requirements too. I'm glad I don't live in New England, where I'd have to get safety inspections. That seems logical enough, but in practice, it's a load of bull. So pick your poison.

 

I do LS swaps for a living, and my bread and butter swap is one that I've done so many times that the BAR ref supervisor contacted me to urge me to get an OE # for my swaps. That way, there would be no certification process, just apply the label and be done. So from my point of view, it's not about the bureaucracy, paying the fee would actually save me money in the long term.

 

What gets me is that sensible people have no problem with emissions controls. Where I live now there are safety/equipment inspections, but I got my truck registered as historic for one small fee and now I don't have to do anything - I don't even have to pay registration on it every year anymore. But, there are diesels everywhere and people with no cats and it feels like I'm back in Costa Rica sitting at a roadside eatery breathing exhaust fumes everywhere I drive.

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I've heard stories. One about a guy with a '69 Charger that was told to go home at an illegal street race. He kept arguing with the officer, who then asked him to open his hood. Lo and behold, there were no original emissions devices on the engine, so the cop wrote him up hard. And guess what? Original emissions equipment parts for a '69 Charger ain't exactly cheap or easy to find. It cost the guy thousands to get out from under that offense.

 

Quite a few years back, there was a guy here on Ratsun that had a swapped 510.  I don't recall the back story, but he ultimately ended up having to sell his 510 out of State due to the expense getting the swap CARB legal.  I don't think it happens too often, but quite a lot of folks assume they are completely free of emissions laws.

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

1 hour ago, thisismatt said:

 

What gets me is that sensible people have no problem with emissions controls. Where I live now there are safety/equipment inspections, but I got my truck registered as historic for one small fee and now I don't have to do anything - I don't even have to pay registration on it every year anymore. But, there are diesels everywhere and people with no cats and it feels like I'm back in Costa Rica sitting at a roadside eatery breathing exhaust fumes everywhere I drive.

It gets me that new diesel trucks don't have to get tested for, I think, six years? So around here, half the new trucks are heavily modified, while my older Cummins is stock. I get the logic, that new vehicles won't need testing until they start to wear, but it gets lost in translation.

 

Historical reg is fine, but even then, you;re not allowed to drive more than a few hundred miles per year. So any way you look at it, you're breaking some kind of rule.

[datzenmike]

In Onterrible starting in the late '60s if you sold your car it had to pass a safety inspection. This protected the buyer and the public from dodgy upkeep and mods. Here if you move to BC an out of province car has to pass one time a safety inspection. The local cars are bad enough but some POS from northern Albortia or yahoo Saskatchewan? no thanks.

[thisismatt]

2 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

It gets me that new diesel trucks don't have to get tested for, I think, six years? So around here, half the new trucks are heavily modified, while my older Cummins is stock. I get the logic, that new vehicles won't need testing until they start to wear, but it gets lost in translation.

 

Historical reg is fine, but even then, you;re not allowed to drive more than a few hundred miles per year. So any way you look at it, you're breaking some kind of rule.

 

Yes, but as it is I don't drive it much at all 😅