WhiteTrash4HotRods
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Kentucky
Alex E, maybe we should try opening pandora's box to get some special tools to downtweak those angry diesels out there that keep running our dirt bike's off the road!
question about motor swaps and stayin CA legal
- Thread starter tribal_4x4
- Start date
Alex E
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Bay Area, California
Yeah, I hate regulations because whos to say what I can and cant do but then I like it for people who just over do it. Like I say, its just where you draw the line. Put the sooty diesels aside and I just wonder why hot rod your tow rig. Your tow rig is supposed to be reliable, now I know I will get people who say they have hot rodded trucks and cars and they dont have problems and thats fine. But with all the crap that causes problems. no starts and fuel managment problems on cars, well I'd prefer to keep my tow rig stock...if I had one.
Getting back to the original question, what does it take to pass with a conversion. You have to have all emissions equipment functioning. Second, they want the transmission that came behind it at the factory, preferably from the same vehicle. However I did not have to prove it came out of the same vehicle even though it did. In some counties, the shift points have to be the same on a dyno, some counties like where I live you do not. That means you have to gear the diffs to have the same highway rpm as the donor vehicle. That is an important point for us as off roaders. You must have the donor vehicle air box on it. When I did mine, the hood was off and the thing was flapping in the breeze when I went to the referee. You cannot have an exhaust pipe larger than 2.5" before the cat. You can have an aftermarket wiring harness as long as everything is hooked up. You have to have a CEL just under the dash and it has to be labeled as such with a hook up if it had one. The vehicle will be relabeled as whatever the donor vehicle was on a sticker on the door post and that is how it will be smogged. It will have to meet those standards. Any modifications have to be CARB approved, such as my shorty headers. You cannot legally modify the internals of the engine, although they won't tear you down to prove it. So if you pass, you can get away with internal modifications.
