Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 11:26:50 EST
Reply-To: BenTbtstr8@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Benjamin Tan <BenTbtstr8@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: C.A.R.B. Legalities. Was Re: VW Trends and Eurospec
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi Ken,
I agree that you would need prior CARB approval on "frankenmotors", engines
which they have not previously certified. As I mentioned in the last post,
you can still get them through by calling it a "whatzit" motor from a
"zatzit" car or some such. You just can't get too creative. For example, it
would be difficult to tell the difference between a stock 1.8 inline-4 engine
and one stroked to 2.1. which never existed in "nature" as you say. Don't
call a Saab V4 a 1965 VW flat-4. They know the difference.
Let me clarify the difference between a referee and a smog inspection station
for those who are not familiar with CARB. A CARB referee is a state employee
or contractor who certifies conversions and decides whether a vehicle (which
could not otherwise pass the mandated biennial smog inspections) is eligible
for a temporary or permanent exemption. Whereas, a "Smog Check" Inspector
does just that inspect. They visually, and via sniff test, check if a vehicle
passes based on data provided my a manufacturer or ON A LABEL AFFIXED BY A
CARB REFEREE.
CARB does no follow Fed Guidelines on engine swaps. They only care that
engine has the smog equipment for year of manufacture. They modified this
further for replacement engines after a number of citizens complained that
few VW's had original factory engines. There are millions of us VW owners in
California. Thanks to all those voting enthusiasts, we can now use Mexican
engines to (legally) power our VWs. The Fed or EPA requirements only become a
concern when you are exporting the vehicle to a different state or country.
Again, in California, it is a non-issue.
Vehicles I have done swaps on in the past:
1- 1968 Chevrolet Camaro. 250 ci inlne-6 to 1965 327 ci V8
2- 1974 Toyota FJ55 Landcruiser. 250 ci inline-6 to 1969 350 ci V8
3- 1969 VW Type 1. 1500cc single port flat-4 to 1971 dual port 1600cc
4- 1954 VW Type 1. 1200cc single port flat-4 to 1835 cc dual port frankenmotor
5- 1973 Toyota Celica GT 1800cc inline-4 2 valve to 2000cc 4 valve
frankenmotor
6- 1969 VW Type 2. 1500cc single port flat-4 to 1967 Type 3 frankenmotor
7- 1983 Euro Merz 280TE converted to CARB spec (not a swap)
8- 1979 Euro Porsche 928 converted to CARB spec (not a swap)
9- 1983 Euro E-30 323i masquerading as CARB spec (not a swap)
All of these cars passed inspection. Once you have a CARB sticker with the
engine specs on it, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEE A REFEREE FOR INSPECTIONS. You just
go to your local "Smog Check" inspector very two years or when you sell the
vehicle. that is until the vehicle is older than 25 years.
Getting back to your other concern, after you get a Eurospec CARB EO tag, you
should be able to just waltz in to a commercial Smog Check Station.
BenT
San Francisco
PS:
I'll address "gross polluters" another time
