Trying to get my car back on the road after years of being parked. I was planning on putting headers and new exhaust. Then it daunted on me that where I live, I have to do emissions. Anyone else have to deal with this problem? I really want to put headers on but I am afraid it wont pass emissions test.

 

Physical modifications, such as headers, don't actually have an impact on emissions tests in IL. This state is an OBD scan-only test, there is no visual and no sniff test, so as long as you don't have a Type A or B DTC (which commands a MIL, or SES light) then anything will pass. But the key with certain modifications is *proper* tuning, meaning no SES light but all applicable readiness monitors complete (though you can have one "not ready" for 2001+ and two "not ready" for 1996-00, or at least that's how it used to be).

 

EXCELLENT info here, he is correct.

 

I have a friend *cough* with a catless cammed 5th gen that passes OBDII plug in. It's tuned. You can only fail one readiness test when they plug in.

That said if you did catted headers and got tuned you should be fine.

 

search Sparkplug anti-foulers in the forum. I’m IL too, all the above is correct, obd only in IL.

mine waters the testers eyes every two years as they hand me the pass results.

 

Great! Thank you for this!

 

Some readiness tests can take quite a while to set, so you usually can't flash the computer and drive to emissions unless well you have some things tweaked in the computer.

 

Just go on illinois air teams website and search for the sport activity vehicle emissions exemption..apply for it by entering basic vehicle info, name, address etc...you should get a reply within a day. Ive done it since 2018 everytime my emissions comes due, its good for 2 years.

 

It's not that easy this year, they have changed it back to what it used to be like many years ago. I just did this for my '98 last month, had to provide event photos, various vehicle photos, and send them copies of my show car/limited use insurance documents. I submitted it all via e-mail and still got approved within about a day, but there's more hoops now and I don't think you can qualify without proper, specific insurance.

Either way, this is the last time I'll be needing to do this. Moving to an AV plate for this car when it turns 25 next year.

 

lol i went on illinois air team website last night after i posted that because i heard that was the case, i renew my registration next month so i gotta put together my "case" now. I have hagerty show car insursnce, just have to find a picture i took of the car at either a car show or the drag strip which i think should suffice since they say one of the options is a "photo of the car at an exhibition that took place" plus the additional required pictures of front, rear and both sides of the car...hopefully thats enough.

 

You should be fine with those docs. I used a picture from a show the previous year, hood up and other obvious "show cars" around mine, plus the other basic pics they asked for. I also included a copy of my "Usage Endorsement" from Grundy that stipulates the insurance is for exhibition/limited use only, and the main policy page that shows the VIN and current expiration. That was enough to get mine approved.

 

I know this is a super old thread but its been very helpful. My 97 OBDII TA has been registered in my friend's name for the last 8 years because he lives in a county in Illinois that doesn't require emissions. He lives about 20 minutes from me and they have about the same population... makes no sense. I was trying to figure out a way to get it back in my name.

For those that have experience with this... do you think its best if I just try and apply for that sport activity vehicle emissions exemption? Or would it be better to apply for Antique plates?

Appreciate any help you can give me! I'm about to get it tuned and trying to decide if I should do a PCM swap to an OBDI or just leave the OBDII and fork out the money for the JET software.

 

It's a '97, so I would go with AV plates at this point. Applying for the exemption every two years is a hassle, so I moved my '98 to AV plates in 2023 and I'm done with emissions FOREVER. No more non-sense. You can get permanent exemption with either version of AV plate (meaning standard AV, or expanded/"EA" plates). I went with regular AV because I only ever drive this car to shows or an occasional pleasure cruise, never more than ~300-500 miles per year.