How to register in VA and make it legal enough
12-15-2014, 06:16 AM
#1
How to register in VA and make it legal enough I posted this in the local section too, but wanted to see what the LTx guys are doing to get plates on your LT1s in Virginia. I know SSRRR and a few others are in VA, curious what route you had to go.
Car has:
no air pump (air fittings are crimped closed on primaries, stick out like a sore thumb that its gone)
no cat
no abs (abs light is on)
no airbags (airbag light is on)
no EGR
no crash supports
The story you can skip if you want:
I want to start to DD the Camaro on nice days, up until now its only seen 20 miles to and from the track the past 5 years and a very occasional trip to work if I was going to Old Dominion 1/8th mile (gone now). I lived in MD, had a CT drivers license (because MD sucks and I refused to get a MD license), had WV tags, worked in VA, and no issues even when I got pulled over multiple times for burnouts, speeding, etc. For the past 6 years Ive had it registered at a buddys house in WV, I just renew the registration each year, pay my taxes, and dont get it inspected. I dont drive it through WV so when I have gotten pulled over in VA or MD, the cops just cared that it was registered and insured and didnt give me a ticket for my inspection sticker having expired in 2008 since WV is not their jurisdiction. MD antique plates are 20 years, VA antique plates are 25. My fear is having it registered in WV and if I am DDing the car and get pulled over and use my "its stored in WV, I only have it here for the month" story once, and the cop starts to recognize me driving it every day, he will call BS and really burn me for having a VA license and WV tags. If I DONT get pulled over, it will just look like I drive from the WV border each day, but I wont be able to drive it to my cabin in WV. I could get antique plates in MD at a buddys house, but driving east to work each morning its pretty obvious its not stored in MD, but it would be legal everywhere, even in WV.
The VA stuff:
I just moved to Warrenton VA which is in Fauquier county, so no emissions, but I think they have a visual inspection of seeing if the equipment is there. Its not OBD2, so they wouldnt just pull the codes to see if the stuff is there, they would look I think. What do you guys do to get plates? I dont want to wait another 5 years to drive it with antique plates. Does anyone know of a shady shop that will pass anything that they can PM me their info? Are there any loop holes to use? Any tricks? Or do I put the stuff back on every 2 years make it look legal and put a fake cat on? My last resort is buy a LS1 to DD and just wait 5 years.
Car has:
no air pump (air fittings are crimped closed on primaries, stick out like a sore thumb that its gone)
no cat
no abs (abs light is on)
no airbags (airbag light is on)
no EGR
no crash supports
The story you can skip if you want:
I want to start to DD the Camaro on nice days, up until now its only seen 20 miles to and from the track the past 5 years and a very occasional trip to work if I was going to Old Dominion 1/8th mile (gone now). I lived in MD, had a CT drivers license (because MD sucks and I refused to get a MD license), had WV tags, worked in VA, and no issues even when I got pulled over multiple times for burnouts, speeding, etc. For the past 6 years Ive had it registered at a buddys house in WV, I just renew the registration each year, pay my taxes, and dont get it inspected. I dont drive it through WV so when I have gotten pulled over in VA or MD, the cops just cared that it was registered and insured and didnt give me a ticket for my inspection sticker having expired in 2008 since WV is not their jurisdiction. MD antique plates are 20 years, VA antique plates are 25. My fear is having it registered in WV and if I am DDing the car and get pulled over and use my "its stored in WV, I only have it here for the month" story once, and the cop starts to recognize me driving it every day, he will call BS and really burn me for having a VA license and WV tags. If I DONT get pulled over, it will just look like I drive from the WV border each day, but I wont be able to drive it to my cabin in WV. I could get antique plates in MD at a buddys house, but driving east to work each morning its pretty obvious its not stored in MD, but it would be legal everywhere, even in WV.
The VA stuff:
I just moved to Warrenton VA which is in Fauquier county, so no emissions, but I think they have a visual inspection of seeing if the equipment is there. Its not OBD2, so they wouldnt just pull the codes to see if the stuff is there, they would look I think. What do you guys do to get plates? I dont want to wait another 5 years to drive it with antique plates. Does anyone know of a shady shop that will pass anything that they can PM me their info? Are there any loop holes to use? Any tricks? Or do I put the stuff back on every 2 years make it look legal and put a fake cat on? My last resort is buy a LS1 to DD and just wait 5 years.
12-15-2014, 01:53 PM
#2
Staging Lane
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Posts: 85
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Virginia has an annual state inspection which you will fail outright because of the airbag sensor light. Ditto for the ABS light. No inspection sticker until that's fixed. You might be able to pass w/o AIR, but not having a CAT will definitely fail your vehicle too. Since most shops are directly monitored by the state police, finding a "shady" shop isn't that easy as the fines and potential loss of business license are a given. I recently brought an out-of-state vehicle into Virginia. I had to have a valid State Inspection pink slip in hand at DMV before they would issue a Virginia tag. (No emissions testing required in Virginia Beach, yet!)
As for obtaining a Virginia Antique tag for a daily driver, don't do it. You will be caught and subjected to all kinds of misery and fines as this is a big no-no. (State police specifically added verbiage to the the state laws to prohibit this type of use for antique vehicles years ago. Plus many localities collect their old city/county sticker taxes on regular license plates, but not antique plates so the local police are quick to confront scofflaws.)
You might be able to pass the DD by adding a gutted CAT, removing the lights for ABS and airbag displays, but realize that most state inspection stations are service stations that make money on repairing items required for passing state inspection. I've never had a state inspection that didn't last 45-50 minutes on my older cars (more than five years old). The inspectors are really looking for extra work for their shop so they'll fail you for not having the dash lights for ABS and/or the airbag!
Good luck!
As for obtaining a Virginia Antique tag for a daily driver, don't do it. You will be caught and subjected to all kinds of misery and fines as this is a big no-no. (State police specifically added verbiage to the the state laws to prohibit this type of use for antique vehicles years ago. Plus many localities collect their old city/county sticker taxes on regular license plates, but not antique plates so the local police are quick to confront scofflaws.)
You might be able to pass the DD by adding a gutted CAT, removing the lights for ABS and airbag displays, but realize that most state inspection stations are service stations that make money on repairing items required for passing state inspection. I've never had a state inspection that didn't last 45-50 minutes on my older cars (more than five years old). The inspectors are really looking for extra work for their shop so they'll fail you for not having the dash lights for ABS and/or the airbag!
Good luck!
12-15-2014, 05:14 PM
#3
I went to a shop today and they said it needs to look like it has everything stock. He said if someone didn't know LT1s and didn't recognize the air pump is missing, no big deal. Said it has to appear to have a cat, no abs light so pull the bulb, the airbag light has to come on when you hit the key then go off, and it needs a defroster. The defroster is my biggest issue, since I don't have HVAC anymore, but he said the state police may give an exemption if I ask.
12-16-2014, 11:16 AM
#4
That's crazy you need a defroster! You could option these cars without them!
You should be able to control the lights. Whether you need to interrupt the ground signal or what, I'd have to look more into it. A simple relay setup when engine is running to break the circuit would do the trick imo. They would light for "bulb test" and be off when running. I'd go that direction.
You should be able to control the lights. Whether you need to interrupt the ground signal or what, I'd have to look more into it. A simple relay setup when engine is running to break the circuit would do the trick imo. They would light for "bulb test" and be off when running. I'd go that direction.
12-16-2014, 05:00 PM
#5
Front defroster, not rear, even the 1le had Hvac, it just had no AC. I've seen people put little electric fans in, might have to look into that. The airbag light yea I could wire to come on and off with the check guages light or something, same for ABS. Crash support and air they wouldn't notice. But I do need a fake cat.
12-17-2014, 10:52 AM
#6
Front defroster, not rear, even the 1le had Hvac, it just had no AC. I've seen people put little electric fans in, might have to look into that. The airbag light yea I could wire to come on and off with the check guages light or something, same for ABS. Crash support and air they wouldn't notice. But I do need a fake cat.
12-17-2014, 04:23 PM
#7
As for looking like it has cats, best way is to cut the welds at each end, pull the tubing connectors out, knock the guts out, and pitch all that. Then slip a piece of straight tubing through it, and re-do the welds.
Simply knocking the guts out makes less power than a good, intact, cat.
Simply knocking the guts out makes less power than a good, intact, cat.
Trending Topics
12-18-2014, 11:07 AM
#10
Virginia has an annual state inspection which you will fail outright because of the airbag sensor light. Ditto for the ABS light. No inspection sticker until that's fixed. You might be able to pass w/o AIR, but not having a CAT will definitely fail your vehicle too. Since most shops are directly monitored by the state police, finding a "shady" shop isn't that easy as the fines and potential loss of business license are a given. I recently brought an out-of-state vehicle into Virginia. I had to have a valid State Inspection pink slip in hand at DMV before they would issue a Virginia tag. (No emissions testing required in Virginia Beach, yet!)
As for obtaining a Virginia Antique tag for a daily driver, don't do it. You will be caught and subjected to all kinds of misery and fines as this is a big no-no. (State police specifically added verbiage to the the state laws to prohibit this type of use for antique vehicles years ago. Plus many localities collect their old city/county sticker taxes on regular license plates, but not antique plates so the local police are quick to confront scofflaws.)
You might be able to pass the DD by adding a gutted CAT, removing the lights for ABS and airbag displays, but realize that most state inspection stations are service stations that make money on repairing items required for passing state inspection. I've never had a state inspection that didn't last 45-50 minutes on my older cars (more than five years old). The inspectors are really looking for extra work for their shop so they'll fail you for not having the dash lights for ABS and/or the airbag!
Good luck!
As for obtaining a Virginia Antique tag for a daily driver, don't do it. You will be caught and subjected to all kinds of misery and fines as this is a big no-no. (State police specifically added verbiage to the the state laws to prohibit this type of use for antique vehicles years ago. Plus many localities collect their old city/county sticker taxes on regular license plates, but not antique plates so the local police are quick to confront scofflaws.)
You might be able to pass the DD by adding a gutted CAT, removing the lights for ABS and airbag displays, but realize that most state inspection stations are service stations that make money on repairing items required for passing state inspection. I've never had a state inspection that didn't last 45-50 minutes on my older cars (more than five years old). The inspectors are really looking for extra work for their shop so they'll fail you for not having the dash lights for ABS and/or the airbag!
Good luck!
As for the OP, hang out with some local car guys... I'm sure you can find someone that knows a place where a car guy works. I've never been hassled for antique tags either and I've driven them all over and to work without issue. I even got pulled over in one and officer didnt even ask about it, just wanted to tell me I was speeding. Told him the old speedo must be off, haha.