HcDave1

I was wondering what can be moded on a engine and still pass smog? ive had people tell me im stuck with the power i got now but im really into racing and when i got rice taking me im not liking that all, Can Anyone help me out with smog requirments .... i was told i cant supercharge it but ive seen some street legal kits but i dont want to throw 2,000 under the hood and find out i cant pass smog. BTW im driving a 78. If there are any good sites on this topic of engine mods the will pass smog what can be done. pros and cons anything you can throw my way would be awsome i have tons of questions on this topic....

If anyone can help me out extensively on this..

Email: hcdave5150@hotmail.com
AIM: hcdave5150


thanks a lot.... i wanna say thanks to everyone who has helped me out on this BBS, you all rock :cheers:

theandies

The best thing to do is MOVE OUT OF CALIFORNIA :lol: too may :crazy: politicians there. My best guess is check out the smog laws of CA and see if all your car has to do is pass the emission levels of 1978 (I think that is the case in most states) then find a good engine shop that can help you with your modifications to keep you legal.........or you could sell the 78 and get an early shark 68 thru 74 that don't have a CAT and mod away.
John

fauxrs

You could move out of CA, but what ever you do - dont move to VA - been there - done that - got the T-shirt - used it as a rag. :lol:

But seriously, you can put in
1>a different cam
2>run aluminum heads (with smaller chambers to raise CR)
3>install headers
4>a high flow cat convertor (3" preferably) with
5>equally high flow mufflers.
6>Edelbrock Performer intake
7>Edelbrock performer Carb - or well built original Q-jet

With all of that you should have reasonably good smog compliant power since all of those parts can be had with a CARB EO number. The biggest thing you can do is just make sure you dont go too far with the cam.

Yes you only need comply with 78 standards.

stingray_76

you sould move to ontario :thumbs:
we have a grandfather clause on anything 20 years old or older :cheers:
no smog testing for my polution machine :D

DaveL82

It's not as difficult as you think. Edelbrock and others have smog approved aluminum heads. Go to a roller cam like the ZZ4 which has high lift but short duration. This will give great power and pass emissions with the short duration. I have this with the EGR and air pump still on my car.

With a good roller cam and heads you'll have a real sleeper. The original Rochester carb can be used also!

Dave

terryrudy

I have gone a mostly smog-legal route.

Hedman Hedders #68301 (has the AIR fittings on them) LEGAL
Trick Flow 23 degree aluminum heads. LEGAL
Comp Cams 268h cam LEGAL
Edelbrock aluminum Performer EGR intake LEGAL
True Dual Exhaust with no Cats NOT LEGAL

Am now switching over to TPI which should also be legal. As long as you keep your exhaust in teh stock 2-1-2 setup, you should be fine with the above mods. And of course you can change tranny/rear gears if you want.

Or of course you can swap in a newer motor from a C4 or C5 and that should be legal as well as long as you have the 2-1-2 crap-exhaust with the single cat. (though you can get high flow single cats and larger diameter pipes which do help performance.

I also chose to do up my suspension how I wanted it first before I touched the motor. No use having a ton of power in a chassis/suspension that is old and tired.

theandies

If you moved to VA this year you would be exempt from testing as your car turns 25..........no inspection on 25 or older cars :cheers: :cheers: Mod to your hearts content.
John


[Modified by theandies, 10:38 AM 1/7/2003]

R. Bruno

Don't you love CA? Keep in mind that if you plan to keep the car, we have a rolling exemption for cars 30 years and older. I know 2008 sounds like a long time but your last smog may be before that. For example, my car ('76) is smogged this year (2003) and then again 2 years later in 2005. After that no more smog. So just 2 years and I am home free....unless of course, the state decides to change their mind???:confused: On second thought, just move out of CA. :cuss

fauxrs

VA is very pretty. I spent half a decade in Roanoke. but on the other side of the coin, it felt I was living in a perpetual casting call for Deliverance. Also Roanoke didnt offer the life style that I prefered - which SoCal does.

You can mod your car quite extensivly - it requires a bit more work, but I know of guys running smog legal 383's. on the other hand, bubba will fail in CA in building an engine - he isnt sophisticated enough :lol:

HcDave1

thanks, ive always been into corvettes as a little kid and watching them race and when i go "legal" :bs streetraces. i know the car is old and cant perform like new cars but when i go up against a honda civic and watch the frount tires burn out its a laugh, but he still kicks my butt by a car lenth or 2 and im like that aint cool its a corvette GET IT MOVING .... sure hes got weight on his side, but i dont like losing :D I dont think i can wait years for my smog to be up hahaha.... i would like to just learn as much as possible and do it part by part Not so much for racing it but just for fun. How do you guys feel about things such as turbos, superchargers, and NOS. I personally think i would wanna build up the engine the best i could and if i couldnt push anymore out of it then i would supercharge it. Nos is cool but its kinda scary to me... i wouldnt want nos in my daily driven vette Even tho it would look :cool:

"KEEPING BACK WHEEL RACING ALIVE"

Russ Bellinis

#1 You can put in any engine that G.M. produces for a CAR (not truck) that is the same year as yours or newer, as long as you install it with all of it's smog equipment. I think the L48 tpi or an Lt1 is as new as I would try. You could put in an Ls1, but I'm not sure about all of the electrical complexity that goes with it.

#2 You can use any parts with a CARB eo# to modify your car, ie aftermarket heads like the 23* trick flows, Airflow research, etc. Just look for the Carb eo#. Some heads, like Vortecs, won't have a carb eo# because there is no egr passage in the head. The Vettes from tpi at least on use a separate egr pipe off the exhaust header to the intake manifold. You can do that and get by with non egr heads.

#3 No one can easily check your internal engine parts. If your cam gets too radical, you might have trouble passing smog, but with a little care it isn't a problem. An lt4 hot cam isn't smog legal, but a friend of mine with a 91 Z28 running a ported tpi, big runners, and large base passed smog with a lt4 hot cam installed in his car. You can't put a big block in your car, but the Rocket block, Dart, and the Motown block are all small blocks that can be taken out to 440 cubic inches. I remember speaking to one of the Car Craft editors (Doug Glad) about doing more smog legal build ups in the magazines, but he said the problem is that manufacturers want their products written up, but they don't want the magazines to make an issue of a part not being smog legal. As an example, Doug had a 92 Z28 with a 383 crate motor, nitros, and a Vortech blower, that put out 500 hp at the rear wheels and was completely smog legal!

74FLCONV

FLA = No Smog Laws & Everyone Gets Concealed Weapon Permits!

Send my love to Dianne Feinstein.

:cheers: :thumbs:

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA

GROSSPOLLUTER60

No problem.......
stock bottom end
Im runnin edelbrock 6090 heads
comp 268h
pro magnum 1.6rr's
performer rpm(switch to egr performer for smog)
smog legal headers
3in to dr. gas x pipe, then 2.5in all the way to deltaflow 40's(another thing I change to the test)
a few other things but you get the pic.
My car runs VERY strong
gp

HcDave1

GROSSPOLLUTER60, corona, Thats cool im right down the freeway from you hehe cool. Thanks for the replys

Wardog

In Ca (I once lived there and had to smog a '73 big block...) they will examine your engine for all the correct little parts - like a TCS, etc... and fail you on the visual inspection if it ain't there. They even printed me a copy of a picture of what my engine should have on it!