Propulsion

Bought a shell that's a Gross Polluter, what do I need to do to make it legal again?

I've been told to goto a SMOG-ONLY station (why do they call it that anyways?)

What do they check? Is it as strict as the State Ref?

v4lu3s

smog only means they are not a repair shop, they ONLY do smog tests.

Stripped Honda

its not a big deal just get it done at a test only station its not like your taking it to a ref .. just make your car look legit and have all the emissions hooked up

XrcR6

Yep, its actually called "Test Only" as was mentioned. Aptly named since they can only perform the smog test, they can't diagnose or repair. For a gross polluter you can go to either a Test Only Station or a Gold Shield Station:

http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/St...p.htm

The Gold Shield could actually perform the work to bring your car into compliance if you didn't want to try yourself.

Propulsion

do smog-only stations check your engine to match the year and model of the car? Or do they just do a quick visual and proceed with the sniffer?

I want to do a B20 swap, but Im not sure if they'll notice.

XrcR6

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SilverCIVIC96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do smog-only stations check your engine to match the year and model of the car? Or do they just do a quick visual and proceed with the sniffer?

I want to do a B20 swap, but Im not sure if they'll notice.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would imagine that is part of the visual at any smog station... But what they should do and actually do varies in practice. Since Test Only's can only make their money off the testing, I would guess they are all about quantity and are probably in a rush to run cars through. You just need to spin the wheel and try your luck with the tech, maybe he'll miss something, maybe not. But I wouldn't assume they're naive to Honda swaps.

Now the fact that the shell is flagged as a gross polluter, you'll probably be scrutinized even more. Add to the fact that technically a B20 is considered a truck/suv motor, so that isn't a legal swap for a passenger car in CA. If they catch that, they'll probably just send you to the BAR ref.

TEST ONLY

That shouldn't be a problem Please email me with any CA smog or registration related questions.