LSX drop
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Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 62
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LSX drop how legal would it b to pull out the ls1 n drop a ls6 or maybe lsx 454 (straight from GM, w all emissions) in the bird. whats the law say bout that here in cali?? bc i hav a feeling the ls1 w 90kmi+ wont take my abuse for much longer so it eithr rebuild this puppy to specs to say **** emissions n legality or upgrade brand new no worries. so far what ive heard is if the engines gona b replaced its got to be the same displacement, of course meet emissions requirements n basically has to b an engine that was made for that vehicle.. but isnt lsx all the same class?is that a way around it. whats the law? what have yall done??
An LS6 shouldnt be a problem unless you install a bigger cam. IMO if you install an LSX 454 with a small enough cam to pass smog, its a waste of alot of money.
Arc00TA has an LS6 with a 224/224 cam and made 422rwhp and 402 rwtq.Ofcourse he has longtubes but its still pretty good power.
If it were me id say fuc* it, swap in the motor you want make awesome power, and pay a little extra ever couple years....thats what I do.
Arc00TA has an LS6 with a 224/224 cam and made 422rwhp and 402 rwtq.Ofcourse he has longtubes but its still pretty good power.
If it were me id say fuc* it, swap in the motor you want make awesome power, and pay a little extra ever couple years....thats what I do.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
my biggest fear is my car being towed when the cops find it and everythings illegal, now that would b a total waste of money.. For the swap to be legal that motor had to be offered in your type of vehicle in that year. So the only way it'll be worthwhile and still be legal in an upgrade is if u take a v6 bird and throw an ls1/ls6 in there with all smog equipment and all of that crap. With that said if this isn't your only vehicle my vote goes for the bigger motor
You can look at your emissions sticker under your hood and as long as you keep all the factory emissions that are on that sticker and you pass the sniffer it is legal. No long tube headers though. I heard the ls7 factory manifolds flow good though so they should be legal as long as they have the a.i.r fittings. If it was done you would want to definitely pay a little more and go with 427 ci+ since you cant get away with headers and big cam.
Heck I think I will try and get a look at some shorty headers stamp a carb ID on the LT's I want and use the carb ID i have from granatelli and say my car is legit if I ever get pulled over.
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You can look at your emissions sticker under your hood and as long as you keep all the factory emissions that are on that sticker and you pass the sniffer it is legal. No long tube headers though. I heard the ls7 factory manifolds flow good though so they should be legal as long as they have the a.i.r fittings. If it was done you would want to definitely pay a little more and go with 427 ci+ since you cant get away with headers and big cam.
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It doesn't have to be the same displacement. Read below..
No, it's much easier to take an LS1 and throw an LS6 in there than it is to throw an LS1 or LS6 into a V6 Bird. Ask me how I would know. 
The law for engine swaps states that it the donor engine has to be of the same class (passenger car, not TRUCK/Bus/Utility, etc.), of the same year or newer than the receiving vehicle, and maintain all emissions equipment that was on the donor vehicle the engine came with from the factory. If you have any more questions just call a Smog Referee station.
For the swap to be legal that motor had to be offered in your type of vehicle in that year. So the only way it'll be worthwhile and still be legal in an upgrade is if u take a v6 bird and throw an ls1/ls6 in there with all smog equipment and all of that crap. With that said if this isn't your only vehicle my vote goes for the bigger motor
The law for engine swaps states that it the donor engine has to be of the same class (passenger car, not TRUCK/Bus/Utility, etc.), of the same year or newer than the receiving vehicle, and maintain all emissions equipment that was on the donor vehicle the engine came with from the factory. If you have any more questions just call a Smog Referee station.
I didn't mean same displacement. I just meant that I was under the impression that it had to be a motor offered for your vehicle. Better example would be thirdgens since there are so many motor options. you have a 90 RS camaro with a 305 TBI you can take one out of a 90+ Camaro with a 350 tpi etc.
The law for engine swaps states that it the donor engine has to be of the same class (passenger car, not TRUCK/Bus/Utility, etc.), of the same year or newer than the receiving vehicle, and maintain all emissions equipment that was on the donor vehicle the engine came with from the factory. If you have any more questions just call a Smog Referee station.
So moral is that more than likely if you tried to do a legit documented engine swap, it would be more money than its worth IMO
Yep. Smog legal swaps in F-bodies are more than they're worth, unless you're doing something like a V6 to a V8, but a V8 to V8 cops are less likely to notice it as being modified if they check the VIN. For RX-7's they're totally worth it.
There are plenty of smog legal RX-7s with Ford and Chevy engines. Just has to be from the same category of vehicle (i.e. you can swap passenger car to passenger car, truck to truck, car to truck, but not truck to car) 
I didn't mean same displacement. I just meant that I was under the impression that it had to be a motor offered for your vehicle. Better example would be thirdgens since there are so many motor options. you have a 90 RS camaro with a 305 TBI you can take one out of a 90+ Camaro with a 350 tpi etc.
