Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 13:24:32 -0700
Reply-To: Gary Shea <shea@GTSDESIGN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Gary Shea <shea@GTSDESIGN.COM>
Subject: Re: Legal swaps Was: Re: Audi 5 Cyl Swap: Alert! Possible Trouble
In-Reply-To: <199901262352.SAA23269@microwave.comp-sci-yale>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Ok folks, I'm back to apologize. I have spoken with another smog guy
here in Salt Lake County, Utah, and gotten what sounds like a much
more comprehensive explanation. I'm glad Michael Sullivan double-
checked! It appears that the first guy I talked to pretty much lied
to me... he apparently has a reputation as someone who wants to
discourage people from doing engine swaps.
Here's the deal as I _currently_ understand it.
1. There are NO federal laws that affect engine swaps. All such laws
are made at the state or local level.
2. In Utah there is no state law that affects engine swaps except
one specifying that anti-pollution eqpt cannot be removed after 1977.
3. In Salt Lake County, there is anti-tampering law that goes into
effect in 1984, so it becomes tricky to mess with vehicles after that
date. Any swaps from '84 on are required to submit themselves for
examination at the Salt Lake CARB testing center and be tested there
each year. I get the impression that any 'reasonable' swap, like
say a clean version of the 5-cyl swap, would have a good chance of
being passed, depending on who you end up working with at CARB.
At least one guy there, Jim Jeffries, is very hard to work
with, but others, like Ed Cousins with whom I spoke, are pretty direct
and goal-oriented. I was told that the 1.9L TD swap into an '80-'83
van is not an issue, period, as long as the vehicle can pass the
opacity test (soon to be on a dyno).
4. For folks in Utah County, the anti-tampering law is effective from
'80 on or so. Not so sure.
> > From: Gary Shea <>
> > It's actually a bit more complicated than Mark suggests, unfortunately.
> > I recently talked to a smog guy here in Utah state gov't, who informed me
> > that federal law requires that the engine not only be of the same or newer
> > vintage, but must also have been available as standard equipment for
> > the vehicle that year or in later years in the US. Thus the 5 cylinder
> > Audi CANNOT satisfy federal reg's, as I understand them. My
> > understanding is that the underlying rule is that engine/vehicle combo
> > must already have been certified by the gov't as passing smog tests,
> > and of course that implies the above restrictions.
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Gary Shea shea@xmission.com
Salt Lake City http://www.xmission.com/~shea
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