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New to California, Emmision ?

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Old Apr 18, 2007 | 08:59 PM
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Default New to California, Emmision ?

Hey guys, I recently moved out to Cali, love the weather but I have a lot of questions about emmisions. I was told that even if headers say they are 50 state legal that they will still fail the visual inspection. and that the original cats cant be replaced. I wasnt going to try and cheat too bad by removing cats, just wanted to run some LT and a catted Y. Does anyone have some help with this? anyone from the area have LT they are running and passing with? I can get the car tuned to pass the actual test, just mainly working with the visual problems. Thanks in advance. oh ya its a 00 Z28.....
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Old Apr 18, 2007 | 09:07 PM
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i believe in Cali the cats have to say in the factory locations, which is why long tube headers fail the visual... even being 50 state legal. someone correct me if i'm wrong. maybe you can work out some kinda trick cutout setup or something b4 the cats...
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Old Apr 18, 2007 | 09:51 PM
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Yeah, I think they're pretty strict with the visual out there. Shorty headers would keep the cats in the stock location I believe, but with a 2000 you might have the revised manifolds that flow about the same as shorties. Your best bet is probably to stick with mods that will pass visual. There are cams available that work well with stock manifolds, I hear. The California guys could give you some ideas.
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Old Apr 18, 2007 | 09:54 PM
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yep changed from long tubes to CARB legal headers that have an E/O # the fines just aren't worth it and to get that power back just juice it
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Old Apr 19, 2007 | 03:53 AM
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California is kinda a pissy state, but it depends on who you know. I am going to Pass SMOG, then install my LTs and catted Y. Then I 'll have two years to find a place that'll overlook visual. That's the route im going. Also, look into the CheatR cam from Thunder Racing. It'll pass smog after a tune. You can hardly tell the thing is in there... sometimes.

Its really in how much risk you are willing to take. Thats why im gonna pass smog first and then install the LTs!!

Oh, welcome to California, by-the-by. What part did you move to??
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Old Apr 19, 2007 | 10:18 AM
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Thanks for the info, I moved to LA, wonder if I can go to pass SMOG a year early? but I like your idea, in 2 years the camaro will hopefully be readily available....
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Old Apr 19, 2007 | 07:46 PM
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is there an under the hood visual as well? for the price of the macs with cats, i could just add a few bucks and use the NX direct port and call it a day.
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Old Apr 19, 2007 | 08:11 PM
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could go that route... i have a d/p setup gonna be for sale with a dedicated fuel system and two bottles...
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Old Apr 19, 2007 | 11:20 PM
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Oh wow that sucks ***. What do you guys that live in Cali do? Are LTs the only thing not legal? Do they still do the roller test? In IL they now only check the codes thats it no more roller test. And they only test 96+ cars.
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Old Apr 20, 2007 | 07:32 AM
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Some guys take off their LT setups and reinstall the stock stuff once every two years to pass smog.
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Old Apr 20, 2007 | 12:39 PM
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I went have QTP LT's and Maganflow OBD II cats...I found a guy who would look over the visual if I passed the sniffer...I passed the sniffer no problem and he passed me...
Find someone who will look over the visual if you are gonna put on LT's, because the guy told me that LT's move the cats from the stock position and thats an automatic fail...

My experience..
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Old Apr 20, 2007 | 05:37 PM
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well i live and cali and none of that stuff worries me. i have been pulled over plenty of times and they have never said anything about my car. i had a cop even get down and look under my car and see i had no cats. he said that he could take my car if he wanted, i ended up getting a ticket for tinted windows. there are always around smog
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Old Apr 21, 2007 | 08:41 AM
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California pretty much sucks if you're into cars.
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Old Apr 21, 2007 | 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by 98_Formula
i believe in Cali the cats have to say in the factory locations, which is why long tube headers fail the visual... even being 50 state legal. someone correct me if i'm wrong. maybe you can work out some kinda trick cutout setup or something b4 the cats...

i'm not sure about stock locations... all i know is you better have some cats. when i lived in NJ which has adopted CA inspection tests, you can fail if your SES light is on. I have the Dynatech supermaxx system with high flow cats and O2 sims and passed NJ. i'm not sure if CA does tail pipe testing w/ a sniffer... if so... let you car stay warmed up completely b/c the hotter it gets, the more cleaner your fumes will be.
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