NYLS

Looking at either a junkyard engine rebuild or a crate engine going into a kit-built car. I live in NY, what's the deal with getting engines to pass inspection? If I buy a crate, I'll need a compatible ECU...and? Catalytic converters? I know that if I buy a scrapyard motor, it'll have to pass inspection for that year, right?

G Atsma

I would find out the EXACT rules for NY smog and kits. Which kit are you using? If it is a replica of anything built before 1965, you might be totally off the hook. The year of engine would be immaterial. I'm in California, and that's how it is here. I've HEARD (lol) NY kind of models their smog program after ours, but I'm guessing. Check it all out. You might be pleasantly surprised.

NYLS

I'll have a look - I assumed that it'd be pretty similar to CA's laws with a few exceptions. In absence of an old make body I know NJ next door uses engine year for smog requirements, so I'm going to assume that it will be similar, but I'll have to find out if the car I'm building falls under the "custom" or "homemade" banner.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

Basically this - it has to pass requirements for the newest year. If engine newer than chassis then the engine year governs. If chassis is newer then the chassis year applies. Then you take the vehicle to get checked, and none of the techs know how to handle it, so they discuss it for about twenty minutes and end up just using the chassis year.

G Atsma

Darth- Not in Cali(and NY if they follow Cali).
Here if it is a pre-75 (or, importantly for here, a REPLICA of one, like a Cobra) car, no smog inspection, no matter the engine, as they go by registered year and have no clue which engine is in it. And cars 75 and later can't have an older engine in it, simple as that.
So that is why I asked which kit it is.

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

What is this smog/inspection you guys speak of? 😜

NYLS

It's a modern car kit, nothing old. New components.

G Atsma

But what might it resemble that was made before 1975? This is your out if you use your head and play your cards right....
There is a certain amount of leeway here if it kinda-sorta resembles ANYTHING made along time ago.
Exactly which kit is it? I'm familiar with most that are currently available.
For example, the Brunton Stalker, which uses LS engines, closely resembles the Lotus 7 which was made in the 50's thru 60's.
You register it as a '64 Lotus 7 replica

NYLS

I totally get where you’re coming from, and had I bought some sort of replica kit I’d definitely be playing that card. It’s one of these, so using an early model of something isn't going to work.

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

I love me an SL-C!

NYLS

I dug through NY’s inspection rules, and the form they are presented in is useless in my case.

They state that a “homebuilt” or “custom” car is exempt (latest rule PDF I could find was 2017). However, no matter how hard I looked I couldn’t find what constitutes “homebuilt”
or “custom”. Those terms are not defined on the NYSDMV site. The car kit I’m interested in comes with a manufacturer MSO, so does that still qualify as homebuilt or custom? There is absolutely no information that I could find regarding engine years or frame/body year being the controlling factor.

Useless website.

G Atsma

If you are buying a box of body panels or even a partially assembled shell, plus a chassis, and all attendant parts in boxes, it IS a homebuilt car.
I just checked the site. It comes in 16 stages. I doubt anything is even partially assembled. YOU will be building this car. No way it is not homebuilt.
If the most recent info is from 2017, I doubt it is obsolete info. Those things don't get annual updates. 4 years old is RECENT.
Build it, save ALL receipts and paperwork, take lots of pictures of the UN-assembled kit, plus lots more while under assembly, then of the finished car.
Get it registered and have a blast!

RB04Av

What car are you working on? What engine did it come with? Will the car be used on the streets AT ALL or is it a strictly track car of some sort? In NY, how do they inspect cars? (look for emissions "devices", check engine type to make sure it's the same as what the car came with, sniffer test with no visual inspection, etc.) etc. ... We can't know, at least those of us that aren't familiar with NY laws, what you have to comply with. First thing you gotta know is WHAT THE LAWS SAY.

Some cars, you can drop a LQ4 in, and they're so old, it doesn't matter what motor is in them. Some other cars, 98-02 F bodies for example, the inspectors basically won't be able to tell that it's a LQ4 because it looks the same (almost) as the original. Some other cars, ... you should be getting the point by now I hope. If not you have no business swapping a motor in the first place.

88bruce

The reason a kit car is offered in that manner is to side step the crash test standards.
An E-Rod engine package with documented CARB compliance would satisfy NY emissions.
Whether the rest of the car can get by inspection is another matter.

tblentrprz

Drop in to your local inspection place and ask them about homebuilt and where to find the details. If they appear sharp regarding the inspection laws, let them in on what your building and see what they say. They might have some good insight on how to navigate the NY inspection laws.

Surewhynot

iTrader: (1)

If the car is newer than 26 years old, the engine year has to be the same year or newer. If it is an obd2 car, you will need the obd2 plug to work and have no check engine light on. Older than 26 years and it's only a safety inspection. The rules may change for a NYMA (New York metropolitan area) car. What part of new yourk are you in? I was a nys inspector before I changed careers.

NYLS

Dutchess County

Michael Yount

iTrader: (1)

Do what tblentrprz suggests above -- have your conversations not with a bunch of us guessing in the forum; rather, with the people that will actually PERFORM the inspection. What they say is likely going to be what you're actually going to have to live with, notwithstanding the actual laws/regs.

NYLS

My post, so it's cool if I necro it? Anyway, in case anyone else is looking, I spoke to the DMV department that handles custom built cars. Specifically cars that HAVE NO VIN - they have an ersatz frame and are completely custom. If you have a production frame and engine, that's what they're going to go with, so the following does not apply. This pertains to smog, ECU, and OBD requirements. Here's what I was told:

Call the DMV technical department. They will send you a packet on VIN and vehicle requirements, and associate that packet with your DL# as well as the included forms.

IF your car is a replica of an earlier model (GT40, Shelby Cobra, whatever) the inspection will be based on the year the replica represents.

IF your car has no historic reference (you've got a non-production based car) they will base the engine requirements on the year of the engine.

This is specific to NY only.

G Atsma

Here's a tip. Look thru pics of all racecars from 1975 sand earlier. Find one that looks closest to what yours will be.... a replica of. Even a LOOSE replica.