Anyone From Cali!
Anyone From Cali! Alrite guys i need some advice. I live in sacramento c.a and ive got some money saved up and i want some damn good exhaust! but i want to pass smog or get away with it, so if you guys could let me know what you guys have and how your getting away with it and if its worth it and advice will be apreciated!
You will pass smog with any catback exhaust. The problem comes when ditching your cats for an off road y-pipe. You could get LT headers, a catted y-pipe and a catback and still pass the sniffer. It is considered illegal even with a catted y-pipe b/c you can't tamper with the stock cats. I used to live in San Diego and smogged a different vehicle once and I don't remember the guy looking at the exhaust...he just put the sniffer in the tailpipe.
TECH Regular
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Deployed
What exactly do you want, just a catback? No problem w/ smog check. Anything more than that and your going to have problems when its time for the check, more than likely. Newer cars out here only have to get smogged every two years and I guess swapping headers every two years wouldnt be that bad would it? Also there are shops that might be willing to overlook anything illegal but from what I have heard it aint cheap. You might want to check in the western section for more info.
Originally Posted by 8-Pack
What exactly do you want, just a catback? No problem w/ smog check. Anything more than that and your going to have problems when its time for the check, more than likely. Newer cars out here only have to get smogged every two years and I guess swapping headers every two years wouldnt be that bad would it? Also there are shops that might be willing to overlook anything illegal but from what I have heard it aint cheap. You might want to check in the western section for more info.
Well i have borla cat-back already i just want some headers and y pipe. But trying to decide what to get is stressing me out. What kind of exhaust are you guys running..?
TECH Regular
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Deployed
Right now I have just a cut out, the stock exhaust wasnt cutting it and I still need to save a little more to get what I really wanted plus I have to get smogged in a few months and I might as well wait until after that. As far as what LT's to get that is a well disscused topic. Depends on what your looking for. Cant beat pacesetter for the price, thats my suggestion.
Originally Posted by 8-Pack
Right now I have just a cut out, the stock exhaust wasnt cutting it and I still need to save a little more to get what I really wanted plus I have to get smogged in a few months and I might as well wait until after that. As far as what LT's to get that is a well disscused topic. Depends on what your looking for. Cant beat pacesetter for the price, thats my suggestion.
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TECH Regular
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Deployed
What branch are you in. How many tours you been on? If your worried about no tips you can extend them out the back, If its just the noise level then just go with a quieter muffler. TSP make a catted y pipe and has pacesetters for pretty damn good price
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I have the Pacesetters and TSP's ORY on right now. I got tired of always wanting headers, so I just got them. No way is it going to pass smog. I guess Iam going to have to swap them for the stock manifolds when it comes times for emissions.
If you want to pass smog legally, you cannot purchase long tube or mid-length headers. They move the location of the cats which on an OBDII car is very illegal. You can only get shorty headers made by BBK, Hooker, or JBA. However, shorty headers don't offer the performance gains that mid or LT's would give you. Now, if you are caught with LT's, its a pretty hefty fine. If you are caught without cats, bend over. California doesnt mess around when it comes to emmisions. I have LT's right now but only because I live in an area with a low amount of police, and I keep control of my car and don't attract unwanted attention.
Now, any legitamate smog shop will see that you have long tube or mid-length headers and fail you right away. Passing the actual emmisions part will not be affected by the headers, as long as you are still running cats. So if you want to run LT's, and pass smog, you can do a couple things. You can put all of the stock stuff back on the car for smog every two years, or try to find a smogging place that is LS1 friendly.
Basically the most performance your going to get out of a CARB legal set-up is with shorty headers that have CARB numbers, and a free-flowing cat-back, like Borla. Unless you are planning big mods in the future, I would leave the car as it, otherwise get LT's or mids and take your chances.
Now, any legitamate smog shop will see that you have long tube or mid-length headers and fail you right away. Passing the actual emmisions part will not be affected by the headers, as long as you are still running cats. So if you want to run LT's, and pass smog, you can do a couple things. You can put all of the stock stuff back on the car for smog every two years, or try to find a smogging place that is LS1 friendly.
Basically the most performance your going to get out of a CARB legal set-up is with shorty headers that have CARB numbers, and a free-flowing cat-back, like Borla. Unless you are planning big mods in the future, I would leave the car as it, otherwise get LT's or mids and take your chances.
Launching!
Joined: Apr 2004
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It all depends on what you want to do. If you want to risk it and get as much power as you can, get some Pacesetter LTs and a TSP catted y-pipe. If you are worried about smog, I'd just get a cutout if I were you. You can always pass smog for the right amount 
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: norcal
"Now, if you are caught with LT's, its a pretty hefty fine. If you are caught without cats, bend over."
over here where i'm from the cops are really cracking down,mainly on ricers.giving them tickets for"modified" exhaust,(legal ,ilegal they dont care and wouldnt know the difference anyway)to clear it you have to remove anything illegal and get a smog check with a referee,clearing the violation.if you dont want to remove the illegal stuff then that is when you have to pay a fine.this of course does not apply when its time for your car to have a smog check,you have to remove it or get an illegal smog cert.
over here where i'm from the cops are really cracking down,mainly on ricers.giving them tickets for"modified" exhaust,(legal ,ilegal they dont care and wouldnt know the difference anyway)to clear it you have to remove anything illegal and get a smog check with a referee,clearing the violation.if you dont want to remove the illegal stuff then that is when you have to pay a fine.this of course does not apply when its time for your car to have a smog check,you have to remove it or get an illegal smog cert.
Originally Posted by 01ls1lover
i decided to take my chances, screw it i want performance ill switch out when it comes time to smog.
Originally Posted by Ferocity02
Now, if you are caught with LT's, its a pretty hefty fine. If you are caught without cats, bend over. California doesnt mess around when it comes to emmisions.
I've got an used set of factory exhaust manifolds & cats. I'll be installing them this weekend and drive around for a week before taking it back to smog check.
Originally Posted by 01ls1lover
oh and where can i find these pacesetter headers and TSP catted y pipe..?