DanCheet

I've been looking into a E36 LS1 car for a while, but all the research ive done has led me to believe that the State of Wa, or any other state wont allow me to register, liscense, or pass emmisions if the vehicle dosent have an engine manufactured by its manufacturer.... you know what i mean? i can't have a chevy, ls1 powered bmw, but i can have an e36 bmw with a 2005 M5 engine it it. HOw did you guys takin this speed bump on?

billg

iTrader: (3)

Ive never had a problem like that! unless Wa has some kind of weird law, I dont think they can do that. I guess there arent any Street Rods in Wa? Ive done quite a few swaps and the basic deal to swaps according to Calif and the Feds is that the vehicle cant pollute any more than it did originally. IE, you cant put an older motor in a newer chassis but you can put newer motors into older chassis as long as ALL the required equipment for the motor is installed and operating correctly. If there is a difference between the 2 years regarding a certain type of smog equip, then the stricter of the 2 applies. About the only exception to that rule is that they cannot make you install cats on an early chassis that wasnt designed for them as they are a fire hazard without all the proper shielding, etc. If they are private smog stations in Wa then I would just go talk to a smog tech and see what he says, if they are State run then ask to see a "referee" if they have them as they are the guys that make the decisions. HTHs.......... Bill

Argon Z

anyone know how to go about getting a title and insuring this thing. They way i see it, if it is legal to drive a a dune buggy on the street this should be too. If anyone knows what meathod i should take i would love to talk to you. It is in michigan.

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BLWN1

iTrader: (6)

Where is the plate and turn signals?

XtremeDime

iTrader: (16)

alot of states require that you can only drive it in the summer and u need special tags, some states just give you special plates for a fee, other states require the same year or newer engine and some states say it has to be a factory option for the year of your vehicle. im in alaska so washington aint so far off, id think you should call up your IM referee.

'JustDreamin'

What you really need to do is to figure out what requirements and processes your car must go through and then determine feasibility.

For example, here in the state of Maryland, we've got two inspections.
1.) Safety inspection. This is a one time inspection at the time you register the vehicle. They are very thorough, but everything is safety related (brakes, steering, lights, etc.). They could really care less what is under the hood, as long as the stuff is in good working order.

2.) Emissions Inspection, which is every two years. Actual test administered depends upon vehicle model year. Pre '78 are exempt, '78 to '83 get tailpipe sniffer, '84 to '95 get IM240 Dynamometer treadmill test, '96 & newer get OBDII plugin test. So, depending upon vehicle year determines what test you have to pass. As with the safety inspection, they don't care what's under the hood (could be a gas turbine or nuclear reactor), as long as it passes the emissions requirements for the vehicle (if you're '78 to '95) or plugs in and scans without codes (for '96 and newer).

Once you figure out what the specific rules and test procedures are for your state, then you can figure out if the swap is legal (and I mean legal in the "it passes inspection" sense).

'JustDreamin'

Oscar Will

Here is probably the ONLY advantage to owning a "classic" car in California. I had original title on my 1935 Ford, the State could care less what engine I put in it, it is totally exempt from any smog inspection and there isn't even a safety inspection required. So....buy an old car and do whatever you want in California. By the way, even without cats and evap system, the LS1 in my car puts out 1000% less emissions than the original flathead V-8.

Argon Z

lol, yea my car will have tail lights etc when it is done. That is if it ever gets doen

Argon Z

who does these inspections. The police department or ?

MrDude_1

iTrader: (4)

you could always register it in a state that has no emissions or inspections...

Argon Z

i think michigan is pretty easy on this stuff but not sure where to start looking

DanCheet

thanks for the information guys...looks like i'm gonna be spending another few hours on the phone with the DOT, state patrol and emissions people, i'll let you all know what i find out. - Dan

'JustDreamin'

Before you spend hours on the phone, check and see if your state has a website with all that info available. I know Maryland does, including the details of what the emissions inspection protocols are and such. And get the details of when they inspect (MD only inspects at title transfer (vehicle sold or something) whereas Virginia does a safety inspection every 2nd year).

ArgonZ, I'd be looking into what Michigan is going to require..... I personally don't know, but you will need to find out....You'll get it done sometime soon (keep the faith) but it'll be a bummer if you've got to rework stuff to make some SOB with the State Police happy....And I'd be looking for a loophole to put that thing through (custom vehicle or something like that).

Every state's requirements and every state's process is different. Just as an FYI, here in Maryland, safety inspections are done by authorized inspection stations (gas stations, car dealers, etc.). Emissions inspection is only done by County run facilities.

'JustDreamin'

Argon Z

justdreaming...as always thanks. I know i should look into it now but......u know how **** goes

kelly_s

what about if your car is a obd1 car and the ls1 is obviously obd2. will they do an obd2 test on my car or just the test they do to obd1 cars?

billg

iTrader: (3)

When you put an OBD 2 motor in an OBD 1 car then its supposed to have to be OBD 2 tested. It varies by state tho, when I lived in Ca years ago you had to send the swaps to a referee station that ran the tests and they put a sticker in the door jamb listing the motor and equip it has, from then on you just went to a regular smog station and the sticker told them what was legal. When I was in NM, they really didnt care as long as the O2 was hooked up, the cat(s) was there and it passed the tailpipe test. When you have problems with a different state, the "loophole" to argue with is that the Feds have declared that if its legal in Ca (where its the strictest) then its legal in all 50 states. It would be an expensive battle to fight, but legally they cannot prevent you from doing motor swaps as long as it doesnt create more pollution when youre done. HTHs............ Bill

StevenK

It boils down to, will it polute more?

For an LS1 swap, they will most likely sniff you and make sure your under the limit for your year model. So when I go in, all I have to do is beat the 1991 Specification which will be easy with an LS1, I'm not even worried about having AIR disconnected.

Install it, tune it, and take it to an inspection place, thats the best way to find out how hard it will be to get a sticker.

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

I live in Vancouver, Washington and I looked into this a couple years ago. Not sure if this info is still good today or not, but this is what I came up with at the time.

Once the new engine is in the car and running, you need to take the car to the Washington state patrol for inspection. They run the serial numbers on the chassis and engine to make sure nothing is stolen. They do this for all cars coming into the state, so this is nothing new if you've ever bought a car from Oregon or any other state. I believe for engine swap cars they give you a form to give to the emissions center, provided the car passes the patrol center inspeciton. This form will tell the emissions center what year emissions standard to test for,,,, then....:

After the highway patrol inspection, you may need to have emissions testing done depending on where you live. For example most small towns in central Wa don't require emissions testing. But, if you do have testing requirements in your area, no visual inspection is required and the vehicle must pass tailpipe emissions for the newer of the Chassis/Engine combo. For example; if you have an 02' LS1 in a 96' E36, you need to pass 02' emissions standards for whatever the engine came from. If you had a 98' Camaro with a 1970 LS7 big block, you'd still need to pass 98' emissions.

Hope that made sense.

Mike

macky

A lot of places in Washington don't require emissions testing. I live in Seattle but use my friends address in Mount Vernon to register my cars for cheap with no emissions testing. I don't have to prove I live up there and just go up to Mount Vernon once a year to pay for my tabs. If that doesn't work for you, Seattle now does emissions testing without even opening the hood. They just put a microphone on the hood that senses the RPM's. As long as you pass the sniffer, you are all good.

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

Man, how do you start that conversation with the state official? "Ya see, I have this thing... actually I built this thing... yea, it's a car... sort of..."

BTW, your project is awesome.. better than I could ever do... now you need to make a sweet body for it!